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Who was Jutland Jack?

Jack Cornwell saluting

Jack Cornwell, known as 鈥楯utland Jack鈥, was a young sailor who died during the Battle of Jutland, the biggest sea battle of World War One.

For his bravery during the battle, he was awarded a Victoria Cross, Britain鈥檚 highest award for acts of outstanding bravery in battle.

Jack was one of the youngest people to be awarded a Victoria Cross during World War One.

Jack Cornwell saluting

Watch: the life of Jack Cornwell

Watch this animation for a short summary of Jack Cornwell's life.

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Jack's early life

An image of Jack Cornwell
Image caption,
Fun fact: the person in the picture is not actually Jack. Jack's brother was used instead for portraits of Jack.

Family

Jack, whose real name was John Travers Cornwell, was born on 8 January 1900 in Leyton in Essex, now known as the London borough of Newham.

Jack came from a large family and had five other siblings. He did not come from a rich background.

Jack鈥檚 father worked as a soldier, a milkman and a tram driver to earn more money.

School

When Jack moved to his new home in Little Ilford he attended Walton Road School.

In the early 1900s every child between the ages of 5 to 14 was supposed to go to school. Some children aged 12 to 13 left early to go to work.

When Jack was 13 he left school to become a delivery boy, where he worked on vans delivering goods for a tea company.

Boy Scouts

Jack鈥檚 love of outdoor adventures began when he became a Scout. He was proud of his badges and was praised for rescuing a girl stuck in a drain.

An image of Jack Cornwell
Image caption,
Fun fact: the person in the picture is not actually Jack. Jack's brother was used instead for portraits of Jack.
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How Jack joined the Navy

An image of Jack Cornwell helping out during the Battle of Jutland
Image caption,
A painting of Jack Cornwell manning a Navy gun during a battle out at sea.

Jack didn鈥檛 work as a delivery boy for long.

In August 1914 the war began and Jack plus thousands of other men left their jobs to volunteer for the Army or the Navy.

When Jack first applied to the Navy he was turned away because he was too young.

In July 1915 he tried again without his parents鈥 permission. He gave the names of his boss at work and his old headmaster as references.

This time Jack was accepted into the Navy.

Jack was sent to Devonport near Plymouth for training as a gun layer or 鈥榮ight setter鈥.

He learned how to aim the guns at a target, plus how to obey orders and work as part of a ship鈥檚 crew.

An image of Jack Cornwell helping out during the Battle of Jutland
Image caption,
A painting of Jack Cornwell manning a Navy gun during a battle out at sea.
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The Battle of Jutland

An image of the HMS Chester

After completing his training, Jack joined the crew of HMS Chester on 2 May 1916.

Jack, with around 400 other men, sailed to the North Sea to fight the German ships that approached them.

On 31 May 1916 British sailors spotted German ships off Jutland in Denmark, so the guns opened fire.

The Battle of Jutland had begun.

An image of the HMS Chester
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What happened to Jack?

Sailors on a German destroyer attempting to repair the damage on the ship
Image caption,
This illustration shows sailors on a German destroyer attempting to repair the damage on their ship, demonstrating how violent the Battle of Jutland was.

After firing their guns for hours, Jack鈥檚 ship came under fire from four German ships.

Big missiles known as 鈥荣丑别濒濒蝉鈥 hit Jack's ship. All of Jack鈥檚 gun-crew were killed or badly wounded.

Only Jack was left standing. Although he was in pain and with shells still hitting the ship, he stayed by his gun waiting for orders.

When rescuers found him, he was alive but terribly wounded by flying splinters of metal.

Even though the ship was damaged, HMS Chester got back home and Jack was taken to hospital in Grimsby.

The doctors sent for his mother. Before she arrived Jack died on 2 June 1916.

Sailors on a German destroyer attempting to repair the damage on the ship
Image caption,
This illustration shows sailors on a German destroyer attempting to repair the damage on their ship, demonstrating how violent the Battle of Jutland was.
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How do we remember Jack?

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 4, Daily Mirror front page article about Jack Cornwell, Jack's life story was spread across newspapers and books The story of Jack's death circulated across multiple sources, as seen with the Daily Mirror article above, and it generated a lot of public interest during the First World War.
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Activities

Activity 1: Quiz 鈥 Life of Jack Cornwell

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Activity 2: History Explorer game

Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about World War One.

History Explorer: Secrets through time

History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History

History Explorer: Secrets through time
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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