Places > Book of remembrance for Tweeddale > Burgh and Parish of Peebles

BURGH AND PARISH OF PEEBLES. 297
251. Stoker James flDauIe.
1bis /IBajestB's Sbip, "Emperor of Jnoia."
1918 — November 18.
VERY few Peebles lads have ever found their way into the Royal
Navy, the great majority evidently preferring" military service. One
of the few was Stoker JAMES MAULE, of His Majesty's ship "Emperor
of India," eldest son of Mr and Mrs James Maule, 44a Rosetta Road,
Peebles.
Stoker Maule was in and out of the Navy before the war began,
and it was after the sinking of the "Good Hope"— he had been on
the "Good Hope" about two years previously — that he joined up, in
January 1915. In his own words, he felt he had lost an old friend,
and was going to do his little bit to avenge the loss. The first few
weeks he put in in Naval Barracks, Portsmouth, then he was
transferred to His Majesty's ship " Agincourt," a vessel which was
being built for the Turkish Government, but which the British
Government retained. Afterwards he was sent to His Majesty's ship
" Emperor of India," and was aboard her until discharged.
He never was in any engagements at sea: no fault of his — rather
because the Germans scuttled home. Admiral Jellicoe was coming
up with the big battleships to assist Beatty at the Jutland battle, but
was too late. Stoker Maule saw some of the effects of that
engagement, as he assisted in the taking off of the wounded, none of
whom were struck with shell, but all of them burned. As he
explained, a battleship is a mass of electric wires, encased in lead,
and of course when a fire happens, it seems to rain lead. Stoker
Maule's friends thought he made a mistake joining up as a stoker, as
they believed it would have been better had he joined up as a seaman.
Having been in the Navy before, he could have been useful in many
waj^s, and could have served on a torpedo boat, as he was on one for
about two years. He, however, summed up the situation thus:— "I
have a wife and bairns depending on me, and I'll get more money
stoking." It takes a strong constitution for the work; emerging from
the stoke hole into a North Sea blizzard is more than most people
could stand. Stoker Maule evidently contracted a cold, which was
neglected, and which he never could throw off. In fact, when he
visited his parents after his discharge they did not know how he had
been able to work. He said to his father — "I am afraid two and a
half years in the North Sea has been too much for me." It was some
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