TOPIC:

Harold Edward Kitcat

Chief Officer, P & O Line – Anglo Boer War
Commander, Royal Navy Reserve (Retired)

- Transport Medal with clasp South Africa 1899 – 1902 to H.E. Kitcat
- Royal Naval Reserve Officer’s Decoration to H.E. Kitcat, Commander, R.N.R. (Ret.)

Harold Kitcat came from a family who, in the Victorian definition of the term, were by all accounts “upper class”. His father was a Gentleman and two of his brothers were clergymen in the Church of England. Born 3 February 1862 he was the son of James Butler Kitcat and his wife Jane, born Hart. Kitcat first saw the light of day in the Parsonage at Waltham Abbey in Essex. His father wasn’t the Rector but his uncle, Robert Paley Hart – his mother’s brother, was the Curate of Waltham Holy Cross. He had many siblings in the form of Henry, Vincent Howard, Gertrude Ethel, Robert Paley, Percy Herman and Margaret Ellen.

The interesting thing about the Kitcat family is that, certainly in all the earlier census returns, Harold is nowhere to be found. Even as a young boy of 8 or 9 he is conspicuous by his absence in the 1871 return and is equally missing from the scene in the 1881 return ten years later. What is known is that he was baptised in Waltham Abbey in March 1862.

Unlike his siblings Harold was to make his life at sea with the Peninsula and Orient Line. He obtained his Certificate of Competency as Second Mate from the Board of Trade on 10 May 1882 at the age of 20 before going on to pass his First Mate’s Certificate on 11 October 1883 and then, finally, the Master’s Certificate on 8 January 1885. Now fully qualified he was set to go to sea on the 18 February that year with his first posting as the 5th Officer aboard the 3500 ton "Nepaul" and then the "Rosetta" of the same tonnage on 29 July 1885. The "Rosetta" took him to Hong Kong when there was threat of a war with Russia with the ship taken over by the Admiralty to be converted into an armed merchant cruiser. When the tensions eased the ship was duly returned to the P & O Line.

Kitcat gradually worked his way up until he became Third Officer eventually finding himself back on the "Nepaul". She left Calcutta on 7 November 1890 with her last port of call at Marseilles before reaching England. Her cargo included 18 000 packets of tea.1 500 bags of rice and five boxes of indigo. Although there were only 25 passengers on board the crew of 146 were swelled by four members of the shipwrecked "Rothesay". On Wednesday, 10 December 1890 as the "Nepaul" was approaching Plymouth at 6.10 p.m. she passed the Eddystone lighthouse by two miles on her port side. She had missed the pilot cutter and fog lay across Plymouth Sound, yet her captain attempted to bring her in himself.

At 7.20 p.m. she struck rocks, about a mile from the Plymouth breakwater, on Shagstone Reef. The trawler "Baroda" was following the "Nepaul", in the belief that she was on a safe course, and ran aground on the same rocks becoming a total loss in the process. Although the "Nepaul" had only been steaming at six knots the damage to her hull proved fatal. She could not be reversed off and the pumps could not cope with the rising water. By 11 p.m. there were ten feet of water in her holds and, an hour later, the water reached the engine room. Luckily the passengers had already been taken off by a pilot cutter.

Salvage operations commenced at daylight in order to save all cargo that wasn’t damaged by the sea. Divers examined the "Nepaul’s" hull and confirmed that she was penetrated by a number of needle shaped rocks. The crew, including Kitcat, were taken off and soon the tide covered her stern. No lives had been lost and in the evening of 11 December the P & O ship "Kaiser i Hind" embarked the crew of the "Nepaul" for London. It was only a few weeks later that Kitcat was back at sea aboard the very same "Kaiser i Hind", sailing on 19 January 1891 on his last voyage as a Third Officer.

Over the course of the next five years he made eight voyages as Second Officer – the ships he sailed in included the "Shannon", the P & O’s last iron-built vessel, and the "Ravenna", the company’s first steel ship. He made his maiden voyage as Chief Officer in May 1896 when he left for the Far East on the 4000 ton "Thames". He held this rank for seven years, during which time he made thirteen trips. In December 1897 he made his longest voyage – to Yokohama in the "Malacca".

Despite his bustling schedule he still found time for romance, his efforts culminating in a marriage at St James Church, Spanish Place, George Street, London on 23 May 1896 to Sarah Elizabeth Dodge – a 33 year old spinster resident at 6 Beaumont Street, Marylebone. He was 34 years old and listed as a First Officer with the Mercantile Service, P&O Company resident at 33 Overstrand Mansions, Battersea Park.

As will be mentioned elsewhere Kitcat, as did so many of his compatriots, enjoyed a career in the Royal Naval Reserve – his service record indicated that aboard the "Defiance" and "Cambridge" he served “With sobriety and to my satisfaction. Desirable for service in H.M. Fleet. Hardworking and painstaking and likely to make a good officer (J.J. Hamilton).” Aboard the "Hannibal" his character was regarded as “With sobriety and has complied with printed instructions and has kept regular watch in a most satisfactory manner. (Captain Sir D.W. Walker)”

Harold Kitcat was at Greenock on the Clyde in October 1899 when the P & O’s latest ship, the "Assaye", was hastily being fitted out for service. Haste was important for the Anglo Boer War had broken out only a few days before, on 11 October, and the "Assaye" had been earmarked for use as a troopship. On 28 December 1899 the "Assaye" left England on her maiden voyage, carrying men of the Norfolk and Hampshire Regiments. Nearly 6000 miles of sea lay between England and Cape Town, a journey which took 17 days. She made a second trip to South Africa in May 1900.

It can be imagined that life on board for the troops was similar to life in the barracks but with the added air of excitement mingled with anticipation. The return journeys for these troopships was an altogether more sober affair as they carried wounded and incapacitated men heading home for treatment and rehabilitation – a reminder of the undeniable realities of war.

According to the 1901 England census Kitcat, 39 years old, was a Visitor at No. 9 Orchard Place, Southampton, the home of Emily Harding, a Lodging House Keeper. Along with him was a lady, Magdalene, 38. Interestingly she is listed as being a Boarder implying that he was visiting her at her lodgings – it is assumed that his wife, Sarah, perhaps went by the name Magdalene as well.

On Wednesday, 4th November 1903 Kitcat found himself not only at the gates of Buckingham Palace but as one of the privileged few on the inside. What was the occasion? He was one of the 142 officers of the Merchant Navy, representing 23 different shipping lines, to receive the Transport Medal from His Majesty Edward VII. At 11h30 His Majesty, in the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet, stepped out onto the terrace from a French window in the library. As Rear-Admiral Boyes announced each officer Rear-Admiral Durnford handed the King the recipient’s Transport Medal in a small case. After each officer had received his medal from the King the band played the National Anthem and the ceremony ended. Kitcat was but one of the 21 P & O officers and one of 30 Chief Officers present.

At this point it would be worthwhile explaining what the Transport medal was awarded for. The medal was instituted for officers of the Merchant Navy who had been on ships engaged in taking troops to the wars in South Africa and China over the period 1899 to 1902. It was seen as a campaign medal for the Merchant Marine (as the Merchant Navy was then called) with clasps issued for the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. 1272 of the former were issued and 323 of the latter. The recipient’s name is to be found impressed in block letters on the rim, without rank or ship unless the recipient was the Captain.

After the war was over Kitcat and his employer, the P & O Line, resumed their normal operations. Up until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 he made 33 voyages in 9 different ships to ports mainly in the Far East and Australia. Importantly, however, he had also developed a parallel career in the Royal Navy Reserve in which he was appointed an officer on 3 April 1891; Lieutenant on 8 December 1898 and Commander on 7 August 1906. In 1898 he had been attached to the Royal Navy for training which entitled him to be classed as an Executive Officer. This lasted for twelve months and he went on to obtain certificates for gunnery and Torpedo short courses. He was conferred with the Royal Naval Reserve Officer’s Decoration in May 1912.

Harold Kitcat’s last ship was to be the 9 000 tom "Khyber", one of a series of six ships ordered by P&O for secondary services to the Far East and all named after places in Central Asia beginning with the letter “K”. Kitcat (with his surname he fitted right in) was her first commander in March 1914. A month later she made her maiden voyage from London to Yokohama and back – this was to be her only journey before Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. The "Khyber" was in Port Suez, Egypt the day war was declared. In 1915 the war was well under way and the first of her three voyages ended dangerously, when, just after she had docked at Tilbury, a fire was discovered in her bunkers. This was extinguished with great difficulty, using thousands of gallons of water, but her cargo was landed undamaged.

The "Khyber’s" bad luck continued when she was again returning from Australia, this time the problem was a propeller which literally dropped off not far out from Port Suez. Notwithstanding this she completed this and two other voyages in 1916 before a final trip to Australia in January 1917. After this the government stepped in and requisitioned her for the North Atlantic route. This meant steaming west in ballast and returning east loaded with war supplies and food. Kitcat took the ship across the Atlantic for only one journey – when returning through the Straits of Dover in December 1917 she collided with a steamer near the Elbow Buoy. The collision damaged her port side near the bridge, causing water to flow into two of her holds. Later that same day she arrived at Tilbury and, after she was offloaded, moved for repairs.

This might have proved too much for his superiors as Kitcat’s life at sea came to an abrupt end shortly thereafter. In fact, on 11 January 1918, he was classed as “unattached on leave” and four days later “retired on pension”. He was now all of 56 years old, not quite in his dotage considering that the war effort was in very short supply of trained nautical men to replace those lost in the war.

He passed away on 12 September 1923 at the age of 61 - from peritonitis caused by a perforated duodenal ulcer - at Ealing in Middlesex and was buried at Hillingdon Cemetery on 15 September after a service conducted by his brother Henry, the Vicar of the Parish. His probate gave his address as 16 Eaton Rise, Ealing and his place of death as 2 Montpelier Avenue, Ealing (a Nursing Home). A wealthy man by the standards of the day he bequeathed an estate of £5 763 in equal measure to his brothers Henry and Robert.

His wife, in her last will and testament dated 6 June 1929 bequeathed the residue of her husband’s as well as her entire estate to “Our Lady’s Young Priests Fund” – despite “the wishes of my husband who was a Protestant.”

Bravo Zulu ....... Rory......

Hearts of Oak Forever.......

Mike ex-RCN