William Homewood was probably born in England in 1882, and although nothing is known about his origins and family, the family home may have been in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
He was a mechanic, and in 1915, had been living and working in Toledo, Ohio, in the United States of America. It is stated that he arrived in the city around 1912, and he resided as a lodger at the home of Mrs. Emma Morgan, 3047. Munroe Street. He was employed as an auto body builder at the Overland Automobile Company in Toledo.
In the spring of that year, he decided to return to England to enlist in the army, and eventually join the Royal Flying Corps, and as a consequence, he booked second cabin passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania from New York to Liverpool. Travelling with him from Toledo was another Englishman, Harry Lindley, who was also returning to his homeland to enlist. The two men had only met a short time before they decided to return to England. Harry Lindley had booked third class passage.
Having left Toledo some time in April 1915, they arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York on the morning of 1st May, in time to board the liner for her scheduled 10 o’clock departure. This was then postponed until just after mid-day, however, because the Lusitania had to take on board cargo, and embark passengers and crew from fellow Anchor Lines vessel S.S.
Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship at the end of April.
Six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania
was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, and sank within 18 minutes. At that stage of her voyage, she was only about fourteen hours steaming time away from her home port and ultimate destination.
William Homewood was killed as a result of this assault and as his body was never recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 32 years at the time of his death. Harry Lindley also perished.
Cunard Records, 1915 Toledo City Directory, Toledo News Bee, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/387, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.