Concordia Magazine 2025

Lieutenant George Leslie Drewry VC George Drewry attended MTS from 1907 to 1909, before becoming an apprentice in the Merchant Navy. In 1912, aged 18, he joined the P&O Line as an officer cadet, then enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve. Two years later, in September 1914, he was attached as a Midshipman to HMS Hussar , a torpedo gunboat of the Royal Navy tasked with supporting the Mediterranean fleet by ferrying supplies and personnel. Converted into a minesweeper, HMS Hussar played an active role in the Gallipoli campaign, helping to land troops

on V beach at Cape Helles via a converted collier ship ( SS River Clyde ). Midshipman Drewry’s involvement in this action on 25 April 1915, while wounded and under constant Turkish gunfire, earned him the VC. After his recovery, George was promoted twice to become Acting Lieutenant on HMS Conqueror in November 1915. In March 1918, and by now a full Lieutenant, he was given command of HMT William Jackson , a decoy trawler used for mine warfare. He was killed accidentally a few months later, on 2 August 1918, when a boom on the ship fell on him while on patrol in Scapa Flow.

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