Francis Cromie
Francis Newton Allen Cromie | |
---|---|
Naval attaché | |
Commands held | Depot Ship HMS Onyx and British Royal Navy Devenport submarine flotilla Depot Ship HMS Rosario and British Royal Navy China Hong Kong submarine flotilla British Royal Navy Baltic submarine flotilla HMS E19 |
Battles/wars | Seymour Expedition World War I |
Awards | Order of St. Anna (2nd Class with Swords) Legion of Honour (Chevalier) Royal Humane Society (bronze medal) |
Memorials | Archangel Memorial in Arkhangelsk, Russia |
Spouse(s) | Gladys (Gwladys) Catherine Josephine (née Cromie, m. 1907-1920; remarried) |
Born in
Submarine Service
In 1901 he was promoted Acting
In August 1915 he commissioned the submarine HMS E19, the following month he forced a passage into the Baltic Sea to support the Russian Baltic Fleet, preying on iron ore transports from Sweden to the German Empire, where for a week long moment he had succeeded in entirely suspending German maritime traffic in the area.[1][2][3][4] During his service in the Baltic, he torpedoed a German destroyer and on 7 November 1915 sank the German cruiser Undine, as well as sinking or capturing 10 German steamships.[1][2][3][4][7]
Service distinction
On 31 May 1916 he received the British Empire
Diplomatic service in revolutionary Petrograd
Together with his knowledge of the Russian language and prevailing conditions, he was appointed in May 1917
Death defending the British embassy in Petrograd
Prior to the embassy incident that involved his killing,
On 31 August 1918, commissioner Hillier and a detachment of
On 3 September 1918, American Consul Haynes (the first American Consul of career)[10] at Helsinki in Finland, officially reported the murder of Captain Cromie and attack on the British embassy to the United States Department of State, that the entire British embassy personnel in Petrograd had been arrested, and similar arrests had simultaneously taken place in Moscow.[2]
British outrage at embassy attack and killing
The embassy attack and killing of naval attaché Captain Cromie was reported with intense indignation by the British news media.[2][3] The British media channeled outrage at the Bolsheviks "lawlessness" acts committed against British subjects and the murder of Captain Cromie, prompting reprisals.[2][3] In London, the Bolshevik representatives Maxim Litvinov and his staff had been placed by the British government "under preventive arrest" and taken to Brixton Prison "until all British representatives in Bolshevik Russia had been set at liberty and allowed to proceed to the Finnish border unmolested."[3] Following events, the British embassy was subsequently shut down, and the embassy staff were withdrawn from service in Petrograd.
Witness recollection of events
A firsthand recount, published in 1934 by Mary Britnieva,[11] a Red Cross nurse who had served on the Eastern Front, recounts the events witnessed by her sister-in-law, who was in the British embassy at the time of the attack:
- "My sister in law ran out into the hallway and as she emerged she saw Captain Cromie running down the steps two at a time, straight towards her. Behind him at the top of the stairs, stood a man firing at the Captain. Several bullets whizzed by her head and crashed through the glass of the entrance doors behind her. Her horror seemed to root her to the spot and suddenly, just as Captain Cromie reached the last stair, he pitched forward as if he had stumbled, staggered a little and then crashed down backwards with his head on the bottom step. My sister in law ran to him and lifted his head. He was moving his eyelids and she felt something warm trickling down the fingers of her right hand with which she was holding up his head from underneath. Suddenly a terrific blow made her drop Captain Cromie's head and sent her spinning against the right hand wall. The man who had struck her grabbed her and ran her up the stairs hitting her violently from time to time and finally pushing her into the Chancery room where she found all of the members of the Embassy and the Consulate standing with hands raised above their heads. After being searched for arms, the Embassy staff were forced to hand over their papers and then marched downstairs and on to the street."[8][11]
Marriage
Francis Cromie married Gladys (Gwladys) Catherine Josephine (née Cromie) March 1907, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.[12] They had one daughter, Dolores Anthea, born June 1907, in Fareham, Hampshire, England.[13] His widow, Gladys (Gwladys) Catherine Josephine, remarried in June 1920.[14]
Posthumous Service Award
Captain Francis Cromie was posthumously awarded the
He remains the only naval attaché to be killed in combat.[6]
Burial
Captain Cromie's body was first taken to the Bolshevik Smolny Institute, and later released to the British Chaplaincy.[8] Covered with the Union flag, his body was finally buried in Smolensky Cemetery, Saint Petersburg, by the Scottish minister Dr. Kean.[8] A memorial in Captain Cromie's memory was laid at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archangel Memorial (Archangel Allied Cemetery), in Arkhangelsk, Russia.[15]
Dramatic representations
Captain Cromie was portrayed by actor Barry Stokes in 2 episodes of popular 1983 drama
Literature
- Hoare, Sir Samuel (1930). "XIII. A BRITISH AND A RUSSIAN HERO - CROMIE". The Fourth Seal. London: William Heinemann Limited. pp. 277–296.
- O'Moore, Creagh; Humphris, Edith (1926). The V.C. AND D.S.O.; A complete record of all those officers, non-commissioned officers and men of His Majesty's naval, military and air forces who have been awarded these decorations from the time of their institution, with descriptions of the deeds and services which won the distinctions and with many biographical and other details, compiled from official publications and despatches, letters from commanding officers and other contemporary accounts, and from information from private sources. Vol. III. London: The Standard Art Book Co. Ltd. p. 230.
- Britnieva, Mary (1934). One Woman's Story. London: Arthur Baker Limited.
- Pollen, Arthur (13 November 1918). PNG "THE TRAGEDY OF CAPTAIN CROMIE. A MARTYR TO DUTY". The Oamaru Mail. Vol. XLVIII, no. 13609. Oamaru, New Zealand. p. 6.
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value (help) - Bainton, Roy (2002). Honored by Strangers: The Life of Captain Francis Cromie, Dso, RN, 1882-1918. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9781840371963.
- Ferguson, Harry (2010). Operation Kronstadt: The True Story of Honour, Espionage, and the Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy The Man with a Hundred Faces. London: Arrow Books. ISBN 9780099514657.
- West, Nigel (2010). Historical Dictionary of Naval Intelligence. Lanham, Maryland, US: Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 73–74. ISBN 9780810867604.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r O'Moore, Creagh; Humphris, Edith (1926). The V.C. AND D.S.O.; A complete record of all those officers, non-commissioned officers and men of His Majesty's naval, military and air forces who have been awarded these decorations from the time of their institution, with descriptions of the deeds and services which won the distinctions and with many biographical and other details, compiled from official publications and despatches, letters from commanding officers and other contemporary accounts, and from information from private sources. Vol. III. London: The Standard Art Book Co. Ltd. p. 230.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 5 September 1918. p. 2. Archived from the original(JPG) on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
KERENSKY'S KIN ARRESTED BY REDS; 40 BRITISH TAKEN. Intense Indignation in London Over Killing of Capt. Cromie—Threats of Reprisals.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "SOVIETS RAID BRITISH; Attack on Moscow Consulate Follows Petrograd Outrage". The Washington Post. Washington, District of Columbia. Associated Press. 6 September 1918. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
SOVIETS RAID BRITISH; Attack on Moscow Consulate Follows Petrograd Outrage.
- ^ a b c d e f g Pollen, Arthur (13 November 1918). PNG "THE TRAGEDY OF CAPTAIN CROMIE. A MARTYR TO DUTY". The Oamaru Mail. Vol. XLVIII, no. 13609. Oamaru, New Zealand. p. 6. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
THE TRAGEDY OF CAPTAIN CROMIE. A MARTYR TO DUTY.
{{cite news}}
: Check|url=
value (help) - ^ ISBN 9780099514657.
- ^ ISBN 9780810867604.
- ^ Bjurström, Erik. "Diving in the Baltic Sea, The E19 massacre". Ocean Discovery. www.ocean-discovery.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Hoare, Sir Samuel (1930). "XIII. A BRITISH AND A RUSSIAN HERO - CROMIE". The Fourth Seal. London: William Heinemann Limited. pp. 294–295.
- ^ F.F. Raskolnikov. "XI". Tales of Sub-Lieutenant Ilyin – A prisoner of the British.
- ^ "Embassy of the United States, Helsinki, Finland". Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ a b Britnieva, Mary (1934). One Woman's Story. London: Arthur Baker Limited.
- ^ United Kingdom Marriage Registry No.: 2b 867, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, March 1907; between Francis Newton Allen Cromie and Gladys (Gwladys) Catherine Josephine Cromie. Gladys Catherine Josephine Cromie was born September 1883 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire (United Kingdom Birth Registry No.: 11a 900).
- ^ United Kingdom Birth Registry No.: 2b 580, Fareham, Hampshire, England, June 1907; Dolores Anthea Cromie. Their daughter, Dolores Anthea Cromie, married Thomas W. W. Miller, March 1936, in Westbury, Gloucestershire (United Kingdom Marriage Registry No.: 6a 440).
- ^ Spouse remarriage - United Kingdom Marriage Registry No.: 1a 1381, St. Martin, June 1920; between Thomas E Blunt and Gladys (Gwladys) Catherine Josephine Cromie.
- ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Casualty details, Captain Francis Newton Allen Cromie