Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of George Henry Dewey, a grocer and draper, born 1861 in Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire and baptised on the 30th June 1861 in the Parish Church, Croxton Kerrial and his wife Elizabeth Dewey (nee Wright, married on the 26th April 1886 in the Parish Church, Saxby, Leicestershire), born 1864 in Croxton Kerrial. George Henry was born in the 3rd quarter of 1894 in Croxton Kerrial and was baptised on the 7th October 1894 in the Parish Church, Croxton Kerrial, he had one sibling, John William, born 1888 in Croxton, Kerrial, in March 1901 the family home was at Turnpike Street, Croxton Kerrial. In April 1911 George was absent from the family home at Turnpike Road, Croxton Kerrial, residing there was his father, a grocer and draper, his mother and brother John, a clerk. George had a younger brother, Lawrence Silverwood, born 1907 in Croxton Kerrial and baptised on the 12th May 1907 in the Parish Church, Croxton Kerrial.
The background information, and circumstances relating to how George lost his life are as follows; The SS Persia was sunk off Crete, while the passengers were having lunch, on the 30th December 1915, by German U-Boat, U-38 under the command of Max Valentiner. SS Persia sank in five to ten minutes, killing 343 of the 519 aboard. One reason for the large number of casualties, was that only four of the lifeboats were successfully launched. The sinking was highly controversial, as it was argued that it broke naval international law which stated that merchant ships carrying a neutral flag could be stopped and searched for contraband and could only be sunk if the passengers and crew were put in a place of safety (for which, lifeboats on the open sea were not sufficient). In this case the SS Persia was a British ship presenting itself openly to another belligerent. The U-Boat fired a torpedo and made no provision for any survivors. This action took place under Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, but broke the Imperial German Navy’s own restriction on attacking passenger liners, the Arabic pledge.
At the time of sinking, SS Persia was carrying a large quantity of gold and jewels belonging to the Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, though he himself had disembarked at Marseilles. Among the passengers to survive were Walter E. Smith, a British Member of Parliament, Colonel Charles Clive Bigham, son of Lord Mersey, and John Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. His secretary (and mistress) Eleanor Thornton, who was the model for the Rolls-Royce “Spirit of Ecstasy” mascot by Charles Sykes, died. Also among the dead were Robert M. McNeely, American Consul at Aden and a former North Carolina state senator from Union County, Robert Vane Russell, and American missionary Rev. Homer Russell Salisbury
The survivors on the four lifeboats were picked up during the second night after the sinking by the minesweeper HMS Mallow. Only 15 of the women on board survived, among them British actress Ann Codrington (The Rossiter Case), who was pregnant with her daughter, Patricia Hilliard. Ann lost her mother, Mrs. Helen Codrington.
Sixty-seven crewmen from the Portuguese colony of Goa perished. Most of them were stewards.
Also among the dead was Marconi wireless operator George Henry Dewey. After finishing his education, he had initially entered the post office as a telegrapher and clerk, and then studied at the British School of Telegraphy and entered the service of the Marconi company. In his short career, he had served aboard five other ships before his appointment to his position aboard the SS Persia.
The captain’s wife who was en route to Malta to spend the winter with her husband, was advised by wireless of his death.