Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of George Jayes, a butcher, born 14th October 1860 in Enderby, Leicestershire, and his wife Hephzibah Jayes (nee Marston, married in the 4th quarter of 1880 in the Blaby, Leicestershire. district), a shoe trade machinist, born 1860 in Enderby, Leicestershire. George William was born on the 19th February 1881 in Enderby, Leicestershire, in April 1881 he was residing at Townsend Road, Enderby, Leicestershire, this being the family home of his maternal grandparents, William Marston, a stocking framework knitter, born 1831 in Enderby, Leicestershire, and his wife Mary Marston (nee Wilson, married in the July quarter of 1852 in the Blaby, Leicestershire district), a stocking framework knitter, born 1833 in Enderby, Leicestershire, also residing with the family was his widowed maternal great grandmother Mary Marston, a stocking trade seamer, born 1805 in Enderby, Leicestershire. In April 1891 George was a schoolboy and was residing at Station Road, Ratby, Leicestershire, this being the family home of his maternal grandparents, William Marston, a grocer and his wife Mary. In March 1901 George’s family home was at Conery Lane, Enderby, Leicestershire, residing there was his father an estate labourer, his mother and siblings, Edgar, a shoe trade polisher, born 6th September 1882, Percy, a shoe trade worker, born 6th July 1886 and Ada May, born 1892, all his siblings were born in Enderby, Leicestershire. In April 1911 George was a retired seaman and was residing in John Street, Enderby, Leicestershire, this being the family home of his father, a butcher, his mother and sister Ada, also residing with the family was George’s wife, Ethel Jayes (nee Dawkins, married in the April quarter of 1907 in the Leicester district), a machinist, born 1886 in Leicester. In the January quarter of 1920, George’s widow married Isaac J. Towe in the Leicester district, they resided at 92, Willow Bridge Street, Leicester. In 1939 George’s widowed father, an old age pensioner was residing in the family home at 16, King Street, Enderby, together with George’s brother Edgar, a shoe trade wood heel fitter and his wife Emma E. Jayes, born 7th October 1884.
George was killed at the Battle of Jutland. The background leading to the circumstances in which George lost his life is as follows. HMS Good Hope rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron at Vallenar Roads in the remote Chonos Archipelago of Chile on 27th October to re-coal. They departed two days later, just as HMS Canopus arrived, Cradock ordering the battleship to follow as soon as possible. He sent the light cruiser HMS Glasgow to scout ahead and to enter Coronel, Chile to pick up any messages from the Admiralty and acquire intelligence regarding German activities. The cruiser began to pick up German radio signals from the light cruiser SMS Leipzig on the afternoon of 29th October, and delayed entering Coronel for two days with Cradock’s permission to avoid being trapped by the fast German ships. A German supply ship was already there and radioed Spee that Glasgow had entered the harbour around twilight. The cruiser departed on the morning of 1st November, but Spee had already made plans to catch her when informed of her presence the previous evening. HMS Glasgow departed Coronel at 9.15am after having picked up the squadron's mail and rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron four hours later. Cradock ordered his ships to form line abreast with a distance of 15 nautical miles (17 miles) between ships to maximize visibility at 1.50pm, and steered north at a speed of 10 knots (12 mph). At 4.17pm SMS Leipzig spotted Glasgow, the easternmost British ship, to its west and she spotted SMS Leipzig’s funnel smoke three minutes later. At 5.10pm Cradock ordered his ships to head for HMS Glasgow, the closest ship to the Germans. Once gathered together, he formed them into line astern, with HMS Good Hope in the lead, steering south easterly at 16 knots (18 mph) at 6.18pm. As the sixteen 8.3-inch guns aboard the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were only matched by the two 8.3-inch guns on his flagship, he needed to close the range to bring his more numerous 6-inch guns to bear. The Force 7 winds and high seas, however, prevented the use of half of those guns as they were too close to the water. He also wanted to use the setting sun to his advantage so that its light would blind the German gunners. Spee was well aware of the British advantages and refused to allow Cradock to close the range. His ships were faster than the British, slowed by the 16-knot maximum speed of the armed merchant cruiser Otranto, and he opened up the range to 18,000 yards until conditions changed to suit him. The sun set at 6.50pm, which silhouetted the British ships against the light sky while the German ships became indistinguishable from the shoreline behind them. Spee immediately turned to close and signalled his ships to open fire at 7.04pm when the range closed to 12,300 yards. Spee’s flagship, Scharnhorst, engaged HMS Good Hope while Gneisenau fired at HMS Monmouth. Cradock’s flagship was hit on the Scharnhorst’s third salvo, when shells knocked out her forward 9.2-inch turret and set her forecastle on fire. Cradock, knowing his only chance was to close the range, continued to do so despite the battering that Spee’s ships inflicted. By 7.23pm the range was almost half of that when the battle began and the British ships bore onwards. Spee tried to open the range, fearing a torpedo attack, but the British were only 5,500 yards away at 7.35pm. Seven minutes later, HMS Good Hope charged directly at the German ships, although they dodged out of her way. Spee ordered his armoured cruisers to concentrate their fire on the British flagship and drifted to a halt with her topsides all aflame. At 7.50pm her forward magazine exploded, severing the bow from the rest of the ship, and she later sank in the darkness. Spee estimated that his flagship had made 35 hits on HMS Good Hope, suffering only two hits in return that did no significant damage and failed even to wound one crewman. HMS Good Hope was sunk with all hands, a total of 919 officers and enlisted men. Four of the midshipmen aboard the ship were the first casualties of the newly formed Royal Canadian Navy.
On Saturday November 28th 1914 The Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury published the following article under the heading. “LEICESTERSHIRE AND THE WAR.” – ENDERBY’S ROLL OF HONOUR. Although Enderby is not yet by any means exhausted its resources as far as recruits are concerned, it has set a good example for some 60 of its men are serving with the colours. Two have given their lives, three have been wounded, and one is a prisoner at Gustrom, Mecklenberg. Geo. Wm. Jayes, who was on the Good Hope, when it sank, was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Jayes, of John Street, Enderby and leaves a widow and two children. He had served his full period in the Navy, and three years in the Naval Reserve. He was at the taking of the Takn forts during the Boxer rising and was wounded in the knee in the subsequent march to Tientsin. He left home for the annual manoeuvres, and never returned. Private Joseph Simpson, a Reservist of the 1st Leicester’s, fills a grave on foreign soil. He also leaves a widow and two children, residing at Enderby. Quartermaster Sergeant Neal and Private F. Timson (both 1st Leicester’s), Private and P. C. William Page of the 2nd Worcester’s, are wounded, and Private Fred Handley, of the 1st Kings Royal Rifles, is a prisoner at Gustrom, Mecklenberg. In a letter to his wife he says he is being well treated, although of course he has lost all the things which had been sent him by his friends.
On Saturday January 9th 1915 The Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury published the following article under the heading. “A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD.” – ENDERBY MAN ON GOOD HOPE. During Christmas week, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Jayes, of John Street, Enderby, received a letter from their son, William, who, twelve days after he had written it, went down with the Good Hope. The writer was a Reservist, having been called up in July, and never saw his wife and family again. Seaman Jayes, dating his letter October 19th, 1914, from the Falkland Islands, gives an account of the last voyages of his gallant but ill-fated ship. He wrote: “We are still on the go! We go out again to try to find the Germans. We have chased them about 14,000 miles so far, but we are bound to have them in time. They don’t mean to give us the chance if they can help it, for they are trying to keep out of the way. We have cleared the Atlantic, and we are now going into the Pacific after them.” The letter recalls the ports at which the ship called, and the writer continues: “We were in the tropics about a month, and then we came down here. When we first came the mountains were all covered with snow and ice, so you can guess how we felt it. The spring is coming on here, and it will be mid-summer about Christmas, so we shall have it a bit warmer if we remain down here. We may get to Australia in time. We are further south at present, and still a long way from there. We have not had a mail since the war started, so I have no idea how you are all getting on. We may get one before long. What do you think of the war now? Don’t you think our fleet will beat the Germans when they come out? They will have to come out sooner or later. Of course, our fleet is running big risks from mines and submarines while they are blockading, but when the Germans make a move, they will have to pay for all the damage they do beforehand. The German China Squadron has come out. This was to join their other squadron, so we have been strengthened as well. We have only caught one of them so far, and she is at the bottom now, so that is one less. The Carmania did it.” We have learned since how the Good Hope went down in the unequal fight off the Chilian coast, and how her loss was avenged in the Battle of the Falklands.
On Monday, November 1st, 1915 The Leicester Daily Post published the following article under the heading. “LOCAL NEWS.” – IN MEMORIAM – JAYES, - In memoriam of George William Jayes, who was lost on H.M.S. Good Hope, Nov. 1st, 1914. “He has fought the good fight; He has finished his course.” From Father and Mother, Brother and Sister.