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A Good Joke & Chumming

On the reverse: Dedication of the Naval Memorial Wards at Lord Mayor Treloar Cripples' Hospital and College, Alton, Hants. 31st May 1917.

The Dedication took place on Founders Day, as it was also the 1st Anniversary of the Battle of Jutland (31st May - June 1st 1916), the Lord Mayor and other dignitaries who attended were accompanied by men who had served in the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla* during the battle of Jutland, and the widow of the Flotillas Commander Mrs Katherine Wintour.

It was widely reported across the country, including this article in the London Daily News 1st June 1917:

‘JUTLAND DAY AT ALTON. Command of the Sea Above and Below the Water.

Jutland Day coincided with Founder's Day at the Lord Mayor Treloar's Cripple Hospital at Alton. The anniversary was celebrated there by the dedication of the naval memorial wards which have been established as a tribute to the heroism of our seamen, one of them having been specially founded in memory of the officers and men of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla who lost their lives in the battle.

The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, Sir William Treloar, Mrs. Wintour, the widow of the commander of the flotilla, who suggested that the wards should be established, Commander Marsden, the sole surviving officer of H.M.S. Ardent, and others attended the ceremony. A detachment of sailors who took part in the Jutland battle’

I have seen several postcards and images of Founders Day in 1917, up until now they have all been formal or obviously posed pictures. These images show perhaps a lighter side of the day, a chance for the sailors to stand down for a while, chat to the patients, smoke their pipes etc.