Henry Martin Joce – Merchant Navy, S.S. Rydal Force

Fireman Henry Martin Joce – Merchant Navy, S.S. Rydal Force

Early Life and Family Background

Henry Martin Joce was born in 1907 in Swansea, the son of Henry Martin Joce and Sarah Ann Bond, who had married in 1898 at Swansea.

1911 Census

At the time of the 1911 Census, the Joce family were living at 40 Fleet Street, Swansea, a home that would remain their address for many years. In 1911, Henry M. Joce, aged 33, was employed as a Labourer at the Gas Works, while his wife Sarah A., aged 29, was caring for their children: Caroline, aged 11; George, 8; Frank John, 6—all attending school—together with Harry M., aged 4, and Nellie Irene, aged 10 months. Also present in the household was Elizabeth Harris, a 63‑year‑old boarder, reflecting the typical extended and working‑class household structure of early twentieth‑century Swansea.

The Family in 1921

1921 Census

By the time of the 1921 Census, the family were still residing at 40 Fleet Street. Henry M., now 43, continued his work as a Labourer at the Gas Works, and Sarah A., aged 39, remained at home. Their older children were beginning to enter the workforce: George, aged 18, was a Baker, though out of work at the time, while Frank J., aged 16, was employed as a Fish Merchant. The younger children—Henry M., aged 14; Nellie J., 11; Olive, 6; Frederick, 3; and Florence J., 1—were all recorded as attending school, illustrating a large and active family rooted firmly in the community of Fleet Street.

Merchant Navy Service

Merchant Seamen Deaths

As an adult, Henry Martin Joce entered the Merchant Navy, serving as a Fireman, a physically demanding role deep within the ship’s stokehold, responsible for feeding and maintaining the boilers that powered the vessel. According to Merchant Seamen Deaths, Henry—still of 40 Fleet Street, Swansea—lost his life following the sinking of the S.S. Rydal Force on 24 April 1940, during the dangerous early months of the Second World War, when merchant shipping faced relentless threats from mines, aircraft, and U‑boats.

Losses in the Thames Estuary, April 1940

S.S. Rydal Force 
credit - wrekcsite

The loss of the S.S. Rydal Force formed part of a tragic sequence of events in the Thames Estuary on 23–24 April 1940, when three British cargo steamers were sunk by aerial mines laid by German aircraft. The Lolworth (1,969 grt), sailing from Portsmouth to the Tyne in ballast, was struck first, resulting in two men killed and eight wounded. Soon afterwards the Stokesley (1,149 grt), travelling from Antwerp to London with a cargo of ammonium sulphate, was also mined, leading to the deaths of fifteen crew members. The Rydal Force (1,101 grt), on passage from Sunderland to Cowes with a cargo of coal, met the same fate, with eleven men losing their lives, including Fireman Henry Martin Joce of Swansea. These near‑simultaneous losses highlight the deadly effectiveness of German aerial mining operations in British coastal waters during the early months of the war, a period when merchant ships were often unescorted and acutely vulnerable.

Henry Martin Joce
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Histroical Research Resources.
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Commemoration

With no known grave but the sea, Henry Martin Joce is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, where his name is inscribed among those of thousands of Merchant Navy personnel who gave their lives to keep Britain supplied during its darkest hours. His sacrifice, like that of so many Swansea seafarers, forms part of the city’s enduring maritime heritage and its profound contribution to the national war effort.