37

David Hennessy [37] was the last local coastguard. When he retired he became a driver for the Thomas family at the Royal Oak Pub (now the car park [view]).

The grave is also a memorial to his to sons, Charles Stideford and Ivan Thomas who were both killed in the First World War. Charles enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force in April 1916 (see his enlistment certificate below). He joined the 11th Battalion of the Australian Infantry and was killed during the capture of Le Barque by the Somme aged 28. His death is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France and his Commonwealth War Grave Commission certificate is also shown below.

Ivan died at the age of only 21 aboard HMS Good Hope at the Battle of Coronel in the South Atlantic in 1914. During the evening of the battle the Good Hope charged directly at the German ships under the command of Vice Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, but they dodged out of her way. The German armoured cruisers concentrated fire on the Good Hope and she drifted to a halt with her topsides aflame. Her magazine exploded, severing the bow from the rest of the ship and she sank in the darkness with all hands lost - a total of 926 officers and ratings.

_{HMS Good Hope}

_{Charles Stideford Hennessy's enlistment certificate}