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PO/8250 HMS Queen Mary, Royal Marine Light Infantry
Isaac Felton was born 28 September 1876 in Sudbury and was the second son of James and Mary Ann Felton. His father was employed as a bricklayer’s labourer and later as a machinist’s labourer, his mother as a laundress. The family lived at 8 Walnuttree Lane, before later moving to 33 Gregory Gardens. At the age of fifteen Isaac was employed as an errand boy. He enlisted as a regular soldier in the Royal Marines in 1895 and served all around the world. He was wounded whilst serving on HMS Centurion during the Boxer Rebellion in China. By 1911 Isaac was serving as a Corporal at HMS Fisgard, a shore establishment at Portsmouth.
In 1916 Isaac was serving onboard the battle cruiser HMS Queen Mary. The ship saw action on 31 May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland when 250 ships of the British and German naval fleets fought for supremacy of the North Sea. At the end of the day 25 ships lay at the bottom of the North Sea including HMS Queen Mary which blew up after German shells detonated the magazines in two of her gun turrets There were only nine survivors from a crew of 1,275.
Isaac died on 31 May 1916. There is no known grave and Isaac is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire.
He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory medal.
A Cross was laid close to his name on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial in April 2010, May 2015 and May 2016, close to the 100th anniversary of his death.
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