Billany, Archie

BORN HULL 1897. SECOND SON OF JAMES & EMILY ANN BILLANY, AT THIS 1911 CENSUS ADDRESS. ONE OF NINE CHILDREN. A FORMER SAW MILL WORKER. ENLISTED IN THE ROYAL NAVY RESERVE. LOST AT SEA 10/03/1917, AGED 19.
HIS ELDER BROTHER JAMES HENRY BILLANY ALSO DIED AT SEA ON 14/10/1917.
S.S. Polandia was built at Hamburg in 1898 by Blohm & Voss for the Woermann Linie. Her original name was the Paul Woermann and she operated on the East African routes for the company. In the first year of the war was she captured at Douala, Cameroon by H.M.S. Cumberland. Her name was changed to Polandia. On the 10th March 1917 she was en route from Birkenhead to Cherbourg, France, with government material when she disappeared without trace. Thirty-one crewmen were lost.
PEOPLE ON BOARD SS POLANDIA
AHERN, RICHARD (42), Leading Seaman (no. 1465C), S.S. Polandia, Royal Naval Reserve, †11/03/1917, Son of the late Daniel and Mary Ahern (nee Gibbons), of Barryscove, Ballymacoda, Co. Cork, Memorial: Plymouth Naval Memorial
BILLANY, ARCHIE (19), Mess Room Steward, S.S. Polandia, †10/03/1917, Born at Hull, lived at 1 Granville Terrace, Courtney Street, Hull. Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
CONWAY, J (25), Seaman, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Born at Dublin, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
CRONIN, PATRICK , Seaman (no. 2189C), S.S. Polandia, Royal Naval Reserve, †11/03/1917, Memorial: Plymouth Naval Memorial
DICK, J W (26), Third Engineer, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Husband of Mrs. Dick, of 22, Blundell St., Hull. Born at Hull, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
FERGUSON, H (24), Second Mate, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Husband of Mrs. Ferguson, of 43, Holland St., Holderness Rd., Hull. Born at Durban, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
GORDON, JAMES BEGG (25), Third Mate, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Son of the late William Robert Gordon and Marion Gordon. Born at Edinburgh, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
HAMMOND, ARTHUR WILLIAM (32), Carpenter, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Son of Henry John and Annie Hammond; husband of Florence Hammond (nee Hope), of 112, Herrington St., Sunderland. Born at Sunderland, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
HERDMAN, LEIGHTON (16), 2nd Steward, Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Son of Margaret Morris Gillespie (formerly Herdman, nee Leighton), of Briardene, Garwick, Isle of Man, and the late William Herdman. Born at Holyhead, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
HOUSTON, JOHN (33), Able Seaman and Lamps, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Born at Port William, Wigtownshire, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
HUGHES, ROBERT (48), Second Engineer, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Son of the late Thomas and Jane Hughes; husband of Elizabeth Hughes, of 150, Longmoor Lane, Aintree, Liverpool. Born at Liverpool, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial
HUNTER, HAROLD ALBERT (38), Chief Engineer, S.S. Polandia, Mercantile Marine, †10/03/1917, Son of the late Hugh a