‘Too old at thirty-three’: the log of William Henry O’Brien, 1908–10

On 19 September 1908 Petty Officer Second Class William O’Brien left Dublin on the 9.20pm boat bound for Devonport and Portsmouth, the Royal Navy bases in the south of England. On 10 September he had been ‘warned for draft to Pandora, fitting out at Portsmouth for service on Cape of Good Hope and West Coast ... Read more