William “Billy” Stokes was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, at the end of 1912, the son of George Edward and Mabel Stokes (née Elliott). His parents had emigrated from England in 1907 and his father was a building contractor.
In the spring of 1915, the family decided to travel to Great Britain, perhaps to visit relatives, and consequently they booked passage on the May sailing of the Cunard Steam Ship Company liner, R.M.S. Lusitania. Having arrived in New York during the last few days of April, they went to Pier 54 on the morning of the 1st May to board the vessel in time for her scheduled 10 o’clock sailing. On arrival at the Cunard berth, they were shown to their second class cabin, and had plenty of time to settle in to their surroundings as the liner’s departure was delayed due to the transfer of passengers, cargo, and some crew members from the Anchor Lines vessel, Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for use as a troop ship. Thus, it was almost 12.20p.m. when the Lusitania finally left her berth and proceeded out of New York harbour on her 202nd trans-Atlantic voyage. She would never make port and complete this voyage.
Following an uneventful and relatively pleasant journey, the Lusitania arrived off the southern coast of Ireland on the morning of 7th May. As she progressed along the coast, within sight of land, she was intercepted by the German submarine, U-20, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Walter Schwieger who fired a torpedo which struck the great liner on her starboard side, causing catastrophic damage. The damage was so severe that the Lusitania sank within eighteen minutes, with the loss of 1,198 lives.
Among those lost were the entire Stokes family, and none of their bodies were every recovered and identified. They have no known grave.
Cunard Records, Daily Mirror, Times Colonist, UniLiv. D92/2/359, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.