Subject

Andrew Behan has kindly carried out some research on this man: Able Seaman Christopher Eric Kenneth Tasker was born on 23 September 1904 in Ide Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent, the son of Owen Tasker and Rosetta Tasker, née Lane. His father was a Farmer. His mother died when he was two years old and the 1911 census shows him living with his family at Hendon, Ide Hill, Sevenoaks. On 20 January 1920 he joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Class II serving at HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy’s training establishment in Suffolk. On 23 September 1922, his eighteenth birthday, he signed up for 12 years as an Ordinary Seaman and was promoted to Able Seaman on 11 July 1923. His Service Number was D/J.96441. After having served aboard a number of vessels he transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve on 23 September 1934, Service Number DevB15681. He was awarded the Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 5 November 1937.

The electoral register for 1937 shows him living at 15 Bourne Terrace, Paddington and those for 1938 and 1939 show him at 33 Shirland Road, Maida Vale. On 6 September 1939 he was appointed as a Postman in the London Postal Region. He returned to the Royal Navy and was a casualty in an air raid on HMS Drake, the Royal Naval Barracks at Devonport, Devon. He died on 21 April 1941, aged 36 years and was buried in Sec.C.Cons. Grave 17943 at the Weston Mill Cemetery, Plymouth, Devon.