Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Charles Bond, a domestic gardener, born 1860 in Overton, Hampshire and his wife Emily A. Bond, born 1863 in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Edward Arthur, a schoolboy, was born on the 15th February 1887 in Holdenby, Northamptonshire, his siblings were, George, a schoolboy, born 1885 and Gertrude Phoebe, born 1889, both his siblings were born in Holdenby, Northamptonshire, in April 1891 the family home was at Holdenby, Brixworth, Northamptonshire. In March 1901 Edward was employed as a post office telegraph messenger and was residing in the family home at Georges Square, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, together with his father, a domestic gardener, his mother and siblings, George, a gas fitter, Gertrude, Charles, born in the 1st quarter of 1892 in Holdenby, Northamptonshire, Percy, born 1895 and Lilian Annie, born 1898, the latter two siblings were both born in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. In April 1911 Edward was absent from the family home at The Tile House, Denham, Buckinghamshire, residing there was his father, a domestic gardener, his mother and siblings, Charles, a domestic gardener, Percy, a domestic gardener, Lilian, a schoolgirl and Henry Pryer, born 1902 in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, Edward was serving as a Royal Navy Signaller and was residing as a boarder at 128, Stanley Road, Stamshaw, Portsmouth, Hampshire. His younger brother Charles, fell in action in May 1915. Edward enlisted into the Royal Navy to serve a 12 year engagement on the 9th May 1904, his reckonable service to commence on 15th February 1905 and was allocated the service number 230609 in Portsmouth, Hants. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 4 inches in height, his complexion was described as fresh, his hair colour was brown and he had bluish grey eyes, he gave his trade or calling as carpenter. On attaining 18 years of age a further medical examination recorded his height as 5 foot 5 inches. His record of service began when he joined HMS Pembroke I as a Boy 2nd Class on the 9/5/04 – 7/7/04. HMS Northampton on the 8/7/04 – 7/8/04. Promoted to Boy 1st Class on the 8/8/04 – 14/11/04. HMS Hawke on the 15/11/04 – 30/11/04. HMS Hercules on the 1/12/04 – 31/12/04. HMS Firequeen on the 1/1/05 – 14/2/05. Promoted Ordinary Signalman on the 15/2/05 – 31/3/05. HMS Victory on the 1/4/05 – 3/4/05. HMS Duncan on the 4/4/05 – 27/11/05. HMS Victory I on the 28/11/05 – 21/2/06. HMS Dryad on the 22/2/06 – 6/5/07. HMS Victory I on the 7/5/07 – 20/8/07. Promoted to Acting Signalman on the 21/8/07 – 2/9/07. HMS Edgar on the 3/9/07 – 30/9/07. Promoted to Signalman on the 1/10/07 – 9/10/07. HMS Powerful on the 10/10/07 – 12/1/10. HMS Terrible on the 13/1/10 – 24/2/10. HMS Victory I on the 25/2/10 – 2/4/10. HMS Vernon on the 3/4/10 – 6/12/10. HMS Victory I on the 7/12/10 – 18/2/11. HMS Mercury on the 19/2/11 – 12/5/11. HMS Blake on the 13/5/11 – 22/8/11. HMS Victory I on the 23/8/11 – 4/9/11. HMS Hecla on the 5/9/11 – 31/1/12. Promoted to Leading Signalman on the 1/2/12 – 30/4/12. HMS Victory I on the 1/5/12 – 1/6/12. HMS Bulwark on the 2/6/12 – 26/11/14. Died when HMS Bulwark was sunk on the 26/11/14. The background relating to the circumstances in which Edward lost his life are as follows: HMS Bulwark, a battleship of 15,000 tons, was moored to No.17 buoy in Kethole Reach on the River Medway, almost opposite the town of Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. It was one of the ships forming the 5th Battle Squadron. She had been moored there for some days, and many of her crew had been given leave the previous day. They had returned to the Bulwark at 7 o'clock that morning and the full complement was onboard. The usual ship's routine was taking place. Officers and men were having breakfast in the mess below deck, others were going about their normal duties. A band was practising while some men were engaged in drill. Then disaster struck. A roaring and rumbling sound was heard and a huge sheet of flame and debris shot upwards. The ship lifted out of the water and fell back. There was a thick cloud of grey smoke and further explosions. When the smoke eventually cleared, the Bulwark had sunk without trace, with the loss of 736 men. Two of the 14 survivors died later in hospital. The explosion was likely to have been caused by the overheating of cordite charges that had been placed adjacent to a boiler room bulkhead. The scene was described by an eye witness, who was on board a ship nearby, to a local newspaper: “I was at breakfast when I heard an explosion, and I went on deck. My first impression was that the report was produced by the firing of a salute by one of the ships, but the noise was quite exceptional. When I got on deck I soon saw that something awful had happened. The water and sky were obscured by dense volumes of smoke. We were at once ordered to the scene of the disaster to render what assistance we could. At first we could see nothing, but when the smoke cleared a bit we were horrified to find the battleship Bulwark had gone. She seemed to have entirely vanished from sight, but a little later we detected a portion of the huge vessel showing about 4ft above water. We kept a vigilant look-out for the unfortunate crew, but only saw two men.” The explosion was heard in Whitstable, 20 miles away, and in Southend where the pier was shaken by the explosion but not damaged. Ships anchored off Southend holding German civilian prisoners also reported hearing the explosion. Residents in Westcliffe-on-Sea claimed they saw “a dense volume of greenish smoke which lasted for about ten minutes”. The nearby areas of Sheerness and Rainham took the brunt of the blast with reports of damage to property being made. Rumour began to run wild amongst the residents. Some claimed it was the expected and feared Zeppelin raids commencing, others said that a periscope had been sighted and the Bulwark had been sunk by a submarine. Others thought that espionage had taken place and were on the look-out for suspicious people in town. All these rumours were later discounted. Boats of all kinds were launched from the nearby ships and shore to pick up survivors and the dead. Work was hampered by the amount of debris which included hammocks, furniture, boxes and hundreds of mutilated bodies. Fragments of personal items showered down in the streets of Sheerness. Initially 14 men survived the disaster, but some died later from their injuries. One of the survivors, an able seaman, had a miraculous escape. He said he was on the deck of the Bulwark when the explosion occurred. He was blown into the air, fell clear of the debris and managed to swim to wreckage and keep himself afloat until he was rescued. His injuries were slight. None of the Bulwark's officers survived, although 11 of them were recovered for eventual burial.
On Saturday December 5th 1914 The Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury published the following article under the heading. “THE ROLL OF HONOUR.” – LUTTERWORTH MAN ON THE BULWARK. Mr. Edward Bord, a native of this town, an A.B. seaman on board the ill fated Bulwark, is believed to have been on board when the vessel blew up. He is a brother of Mr. Geo. Bord, ironmonger, of Church Street, and “Ted,” as he was familiarly called, was a general favourite among the young men of the town.