People
Horace Batchelor was born in the Kent village of Leigh on 31 January 1898 and was baptised there that spring, on 1 May. His parents were Alfred and Esther Batchelor, and the family home was at 20 Powdermills in the village.
Like many young men of his generation, Horace joined the Royal Navy while still in his teens. He held the rank of Boy 1st Class, and his service number was J/28285. His ship was HMS Formidable, a battleship serving with the Royal Navy in the Channel, carrying a crew of 780 men.
On New Year's Day 1915, Horace was aboard as the fleet made its way back from gunnery practice. Six battleships, accompanied by two cruisers, steamed in a single line through Lyme Bay. During the passage HMS Formidable suffered engine trouble and dropped to the rear of the formation. Unknown to those aboard, a German submarine had been shadowing the ships as they sailed.
In the early hours, under a bright moon, the submarine struck. At 2.30am a torpedo hit the battleship in the English Channel. The loss of life was terrible: close to 600 of the crew were drowned, or perished from the cold of the winter sea. Among them was Horace Batchelor, who died on 1 January 1915. He was just 17 years old.
Today his name is recorded on the Chatham Naval Memorial, which commemorates sailors of the Royal Navy who have no known grave. Closer to home, he is also honoured on the Leigh War Memorial, standing in the village where he was born, and on the war memorial at neighbouring Hildenborough.
Horace's story is a reminder of how the war at sea reached into small Kentish communities, taking young men barely out of boyhood and leaving their names carved in stone at home.