[Photograph Courtesy of Julia Haydock]

Joseph Frederick Whiting (1917-1974) from notes by his daughter Julia Haydock

Around 1932, Sarah 'Nellie' Whiting became seriously ill and had to give up work. Sarah 'Nellie' Whiting died at her home at No. 12 Albion Square, Tunbridge Wells on 4th July 1933 at the age of 50. Sarah Nellie Whiting's death certificate indicates that she died from kidney failure. The 'cause of death' given on her death certificate reads "uraemia ... chronic nephritis". In other words, a kidney infection ("chronic nephritis") leading to kidney failure ("uraemia").

When Sarah 'Nellie' Whiting was forced to give up her job through ill-health in 1932, her two eldest sons were young men and were able to support themselves through their own labour. Robert Leonard Whiting (born 1908, Tunbridge Wells, Kent), 'Nellie' Whiting's eldest son, was working as a bus conductor and had recently married. 'Nellie' Whiting's son, twenty-three year old William James 'Jim' Whiting (born 1909, Hove, Sussex), was also employed by the Maidstone & District Bus Company.  Mrs Whiting's youngest son, Joseph 'Joe' Frederick Whiting (born 1917,Tunbridge Wells, Kent) who was only fifteen, had found work as a mechanic, but, unlike his older brothers, had no-one to look after him. (Robert Leonard Whiting, Joe's elder brother, married in 1932, and his other brother, 'Jim' Whiting took a wife the following year).

In his teens, without a father and mother to support and care for him, 'Joe' Frederick Whiting decided to join the Royal Navy. Effectively an orphan at the age of 15, Joe Whiting was given the choice of entering some kind of children's home or enlisting in the Royal Navy. Joe Whiting chose the Navy.

Joe Whiting joined HMS Pembroke, the Royal Navy's training establishment in Chatham, as a fifteen year old naval cadet or "scout" on 2nd September 1932. It was at Chatham that Cadet Joseph Whiting received instruction and training for a life at sea. (Cadet Whiting's Royal Navy Workbook, complete with Joe's lecture notes and diagrams, are still in the possession of his daughter Julia). After a period of basic training and instruction as a naval cadet at Chatham and nearly 18 months at sea serving aboard HMS Kent as a Stoker 2nd Class, Joe Whiting signed up as a long-term volunteer in the Royal Navy on 2nd September 1935. Joe Whiting's enlistment record provides a physical description of the 18 year old recruit - fresh complexion, dark brown hair, greenish-grey eyes, 5 feet, 7 inches tall with a 38 inch chest.

Between 21st February 1934 and 24th October 1936, Joe Whiting served as a stoker on board HMS Kent, Flag Ship of of the China Fleet, a County Class cruiser which served in the Far East, attached to the 5th Cruiser Squadron patrolling the seas around China (known as the "China Station"). During his tour of duty in the Far East, Stoker Joe Whiting visited naval bases in Hong Kong, Manila in the Philippines and Belawan Deli on the north-east coast of Sumatra (Indonesia). Joe probably witnessed an air attack on the China Fleet at anchor near Wei Hai Wei on1st September1934 and was on board HMS Kent when the cruiser ran aground near Saigon (Vietnam) in 1935.

[ABOVE] HMS Kent, the Royal Navy cruiser on which Joe Whiting served as a stoker between 1934 and 1936.	[ABOVE] A 1902 illustration showing a stoker at work.

Joe Whiting passed his Royal Navy examinations and was promoted to the rank of Stoker First Class in 1936. Stoker Whiting completed Part One of his Educational Test on 14th March 1939 and at the outbreak of the Second World War was serving on HMS Widgeon, a patrol vessel of the Kingfisher Class. On 21st February 1940, Joe Whiting was promoted to the rank of Stoker Petty Officer (SPO). During the Second World War, SPO Whiting served on a variety of vessels, including Minesweepers, Motor Gun Boats (MGBs) and Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs). It was after serving on a Motor Gun Boat that SPO Joseph Whiting was awarded the DSM (Distinguished Service Medal). SPO Whiting was presented with the DSM (Distinguished Service Medal) on 3rd September 1942.

Joe Whiting's naval career was brought to an end in 1945, when he was seriously injured during an enemy attack. On 27th September 1945, SPO Whiting was discharged from the Royal Navy Hospital Shotley, Suffolk

It was around 1945, the year that he was invalided out of the Royal Navy, that Joe Whiting met May Nina Louvain Rogers (born 1915, Tunbridge Wells, Kent). When Joe Whiting first met May Louvain he could not walk and was confined to a wheelchair. In 1933, at the age of eighteen, May Louvain Rogers had married Frederick Richardson. When May Louvain met and fell in love with Joe Whiting she was already the mother of five children. May Louvain set up home with Joe Whiting and the couple started a family, producing four children between 1948 and 1954 - Robert (born 1948), James (born 1949), Stewart (born 1951) and Julia (born 1954). May Louvain, had children from her previous marriage and so throughout his life, Joe Whiting had to take on numerous additional jobs to support his large family (a total of 9 children).

[ABOVE] Mrs May Louvain Whiting, photographed on holiday, with her daughter Julia (born 1954) sitting on her lap. [ABOVE] Stewart Whiting (born 1951) Joe's youngest son. [ABOVE] JamesWhiting (born 1949) and Robert Whiting (born 1948), Joe's two eldest sons. [ABOVE] Joe Whiting with his wife May Lovain pictured on an outing. [ Family Photographs Courtesy of Julia Haydock]

Joe Whiting and his family lived in West Farleigh, near Maidstone, until the mid 1950s, when they moved to Marden, a village 8 miles south of Maidstone. After the Second World War, drawing on his experience as a stoker in the Royal Navy, Joe Whiting worked as a "boiler maintenance" man at the Tovil Paper Mill near Maidstone. When he first left school Joe Whiting had trained as a mechanic and, after leaving the Tovil Paper Mill, he went to work for Mrs Tippins, who owned the motor-car garage in the village of Marden. As well as running Tippins' Garage, Joe Whiting drove goods lorries overnight, carrying local produce up to the markets in London. As a skilled mechanic in a rural area, Joe Whiting was in demand to fix farm machinery and to repair motor vehicles owned by the local inhabitants of Marden. A keen motorist and mechanic, Joe Whiting was known to take part in motorcycle side-car racing at tracks in the local area.

After settling in Marden with his family in the mid 1950s, Joe Whiting took a full part in village life. For years, Joe served as a volunteer "stand-by" fireman for the local fire brigade. A talented dancer and musician (Joe played piano, "squeeze-box" - accordion or concertina - trumpet and drums) and would have been a valuable contributor to village dances and entertainments. Joe Whiting was also a bit of an artist. Joe's daughter still owns several of his drawings and it is known that his artwork used to hang on the walls of the local pub.

In 1970, Louvain and Joe Whiting left Marden and moved to the nearby village of Loose, a parish situated 2 miles south of Maidstone. Joseph Frederick Whiting died on 27th February 1974, the day after his 57th birthday. Joe's wife, May Louvain Whiting died in 1998, aged 83.

[ABOVE] Joe Whiting, photographed in his Royal Navy uniform around the time he was serving as a stoker during the Second World War.

[ABOVE] HMS Kent, the Royal Navy cruiser on board which Joe Whiting served as a stoker between 1934 and 1936.

[ABOVE] Mrs May Louvain Whiting, Joe Whiting's wife, photographed around 1957. May Nina Louvain Rogers was born in Tunbridge Wells in 1915. May Louvain Rogers was the daughter of Sergeant Alfred Rogers of the Royal West Kent regiment, who, like Joe's father, had died during the Arras offensive of 1917. At the age of 18, May Louvain Rogers married Frederick Richardson. When Mrs Louvain Richardson first met Joe Whiting around 1945, she was already the mother of five children.

[ABOVE] Joe Whiting taking part in a motorcycle side-car race, possibly at the Brands Hatch racing track near Swanley, Kent.

[ABOVE] Joe Whiting and his wife May Louvain Whiting, pictured in the garden of their home in the Kent village of Marden where they lived from the late 1950s until Joe's death in 1974. Joe Whiting is wearing his volunteer fireman's hat.

[Photograph Courtesy of Julia Haydock]

[ABOVE] Julia Whiting, the youngest daughter of May and Bob Whiting, photographed wearing her father's fireman's hat in the garden of the family home in the Kent village of Marden (c1958).

[Photograph Courtesy of Julia Haydock]