The cover photograph is of Richard Jones, my great uncle, a member of the crew of HMS Tara. He survived the explosion of the German torpedo that sank his ship in 1915, scrambled onto a lifeboat to avoid drowning. He was made a POW and endured a forced march into the Libyan desert to an oasis 70 miles from the shore. He managed on meagre rations supplemented by the only food source in abundance, snail stew. A parasite in snails infected most of the men and made them ill. In March 1916, the 2nd Duke of Westminster led a small force to liberate and rescue the sailors from captivity at the oasis. Repatriated home, Richard was nursed by his three sisters. 

Richard never properly recovered and he died a bachelor, on 16th March 1920, four years after his rescue by the 2nd Duke of Westminster. He was only 35 years old. The family never spoke of the circumstances of his death. 

Now, a century later,  I am riding to raise funds for CALM as Richard is likely to have suffered from what we now term PTSD. It is important that men are given the confidence to speak about issues impacting on their mental health and set them on a road to recovery.

If you want to know more about why I was motivated to ride my bike for this charity and HMS Tara read on.

My great uncle, Richard Jones, was a crew member in the employ of the L&NWR on the Holyhead based SS Hibernia. Initially as a coal trimmer  then fireman/stoker in the boiler room. When war broke out in 1914, the ship was requisitioned and renamed HMS Tara. Richard enlisted in the Royal Navy and after training at HMS Pembroke he returned to the Tara. In November 1915 HMS Tara was torpedoed and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. The survivors were made POWs and put in the custody of Senussi tribesmen who marched them to a dry oasis at Bir Hakkim, about 70 miles from the coast. Conditions were appalling; meagre rations, no shade or shelter. Men fell ill, Richard included, as they had supplemented their food supplies with snails. A mollusc stew became their staple meal. But snails carry parasites and as the men ate them they didn't realise they were infecting themselves. When the British learned that POWs were held at Bir Hakkim, the 2nd Duke of Westminster set off to rescue them. On March 17th 1916, the small force found and liberated the sailors who were eventually repatriated to Britain. 

Richard was very ill both physically and perhaps mentally. Today it would be called PTSD, having survived the explosion of the torpedo, reaching a lifeboat to avoid drowning, exposure to the desert conditions, survivor's guilt and bereavement at the loss of his shipmates. His three sisters (One of whom was my grandmother) nursed him as well as they could. 

Richard received at least three medals for his service when the war ended. I like to think he gave each of his sisters a medal as a token of thanks for looking after him on his return to Britain. My grandmother was given the Victory Medal but it is suspended on the ribbon of the 1914-18 Star. I would like to reunite the three medals  at the display to HMS Tara in the museum at Holyhead.

Sadly Richard died on 16th March 1920. He was a bachelor and only 35 years old. He never really recovered from the 'privations of captivity in the desert'. 

My bike ride will take me from the grounds of the church in Eccleston Cheshire, next to the estate of The Duke of Westminster. There is a memorial monument to the 2nd Duke of Westminster in the churchyard. I will finish the journey at the HMS Tara display, in the  Maritime Museum overlooking the harbour in Holyhead,  once again completing  the link between Richard and the Duke of Westminster.      Thank You