BORN HULL 12/11/1889. ELDEST SON OF THOMAS (1865-1952) & ANNIE CUNNINGHAM (1868-1927), OF 6 FERN VILLAS, FLINTON STREET, HULL AND 23, BOYNTON STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION & CWGC ADDRESS). HE HAD TWO BROTHERS AND TWO SISTERS.
SERVED AS A STOKER, IN THE ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE, ON HMS “NATAL”. KILLED WHEN THE SHIP EXPLODED, AT CROMARTY, ON 30/12/1915, AGED 26. HIS NAME WAS LISTED ON HULL’S ST BARNABAS CHURCH MEMORIAL. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL. HIS BROTHER, PRIVATE, THOMAS CUNNINGHAM, SERVED IN THE 12TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, MACHINE GUN SECTION. HIS OTHER BROTHER, WAS SAPPER, LEONARD CUNNINGHAM, ROYAL ENGINEERS, IN FRANCE. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH AND HIS BROTHERS ON 12 JANUARY 1916. *
HIS BROTHER, THOMAS STANLEY CUNNINGHAM, SERVED DURING THE WAR, AS 346, EYR. HIS OTHER BROTHER, JAMES LEONARD CUNNINGHAM, SERVED AS, 474064, WITH THE EAST RIDING FORTRESS.
HMS Natal, British, Warrior class Armoured Cruiser, blew up and sank at her moorings in the Cromarty Firth, Scotland. Over 400 lives were lost. The cause was speculated about at the time and there were conspiracy theories; sabotage was feared by some, but the official inquiry put it down to a cordite explosion. This material becomes unstable when overheated. Other ships had suffered a similar fate, and this is the most likely explanation.
