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Endurance Obituaries |
 Endurance Obituaries |
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LIONEL GREENSTREET
(20/03/1889 – 13/01/1979)
BORN : EAST BARNET. HERTS. ENGLAND.
DIED : GORING-BY-SEA. ENGLAND.
NICKNAME : HORACE.
DUTY : 1ST OFFICER
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Captain Lionel Greenstreet, circa. 1942
Awarded Silver Polar Medal
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Lionel, was one of three children born to Herbert E. Greenstreet and his wife Bertha ( nee Kingsford). He had a younger brother named Percival and a sister named Madeline.
Lionel’s father was himself a sea-faring man and was a Master Mariner in the Merchant Navy ,and Captained vessels for The New Zealand Shipping Company.
Following in his father’s career , Lionel at the age of around 15 became a cadet on the training ship “ Worcester “ passing out in 1904 having gained certificates in Navigation (first class) and Seamanship (first class extra). For a number of years he served on mainly sailing ships……
| 22/03/1905 - 7/11/1907 | Barque Auldgirth | (Apprentice seaman) |
| 18/01/1908 - 18/02/1908 | S.S.Winifredian | (Q/Master & A.B.) |
| 27/02/1908 - 16/05/1908 | S.S.Ingeli | (Seaman) |
| 7/09/1908 - 3/08/1909 | Combermere | (2nd Mate) |
(On one occasion whilst sailing home from Newcastle. Australia on the Combermere , he had the misfortune to be swept overboard by an immense wave , and had the good fortune to be deposited back on board , in the rigging by the next !)
| 20/08/1909 – 30/09/1909 | S.S.Ortolan | (2nd Mate) |
| 7/01/1910 – 8/05/1911 | Kensington | (1st Mate) |
| 9/06/1911 – 13/06/1911 | Kensington | (1st Mate) |
( He obtained his Master Certificate in London on 10th July 1911)
| 20/10/1911 – 9/01/1912 | T.S.S. Tongariro | (3rd Mate) |
| 11/07/1912 – 23/10/1913 | S.S.Rakaia | (3rd Mate) |
| 4/01/1914 – 16/06/1914 | S.S.Rahmaia | (2nd Mate) |
| 8/08/1914 – 8/10/1916 | S.Y. Endurance | (1st Officer) |
Shackleton’s original choice of Chief officer ( D.G.Jeffrey ) withdrew due to being called up on active service. Lionel was in Scotland when he received a call from a friend telling him of the vacancy. He wrote to Worsley in the hope of being accepted. Meanwhile Lionel had also applied for a Naval Commission but was kept waiting for an aswer. The day before the Endurance was due to sail he received a wire from Worsley asking him to “come down to Plymouth”.
Lionel arrived thinking he was to attend an interview , only to be told that the job was his and he had better go off and get his kit together. This he did and arrived 30 minutes before the “Endurance “ set sail !
Shortly after his return from the Antarctic he married Mille Baddeley Muir. They tied the knot on 26th September 1917 at Christchurch. Sutton. Surrey.
World War 1 was still raging and they were married by special licence.
Earlier that year, 5th February 1917 to be exact, he had gained a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in charge of various craft. He Captained a Royal Navy tugboat and took charge of barges on the Tigres. He even returned to the South American Continent to bring home to Britain a tug from Rio de Janeiro that had been purchased by the War Office.
After the war he was employed as a Technical Officer at Richborough , dealing with Continental Cross Channel Tug Services and Train Ferries. He also held the posts of Berthing Master and Assistant Marine Superintendent.
In 1920 he obtained employment with the shipping company Furniss Withy & Co. and became Manager of one of their Marine Insurance branch offices.
By the time World War11 broke out, Lionel was over 50 years of age, and by March 1940 he had joined the Royal Naval Reserve as a Temporary Lieutenant. He served in rescue Tugs in the Atlantic and North Sea.
It is also believed that Lionel was involved in the towing of sections of the famous “Mulberry Harbour”.
He became an advisor for the Admiralty in Henry Kaisers wartime American shipyards.
Some of his diary entries during WW11 read …..
22nd January 1942 ….arrived St. John.
24th January 1942…. arrived Washington D.C.to take up position as Rescue Tug Equipment Officer In Charge U.S.Shipbuilding programme of Rescue Tugs for the Admiralty.
10th July 1944. …left New York for the U.K..
21st July1944…. arrived U.K. Clyde.
1st October 1944….. Appointed C.R.T.B. Campbeltown.
5th February 1945….. Promoted Temporary Acting Commander.
15th May 1947….. Released Class A.
He was demobilised as a Commander Royal Naval Reserve and returned to his post with Furniss Withy & Co. He managed to negotiate early retirement and went to live in the seaside town of Brixham. Devon. England.
On 18th October. 1955 ( his first wife having died some time ago ) he married Audrey Day at St. Luke’s Church. Chelsea. London . Neither of his two marriages had produced any children of his own, but he was Uncle to a number of Nephews and Nieces. His Nephew Richard Greenstreet, writes……
“He would have made a great father. He always had a twinkle in his eye, full of fun and playing jokes. One always felt that he was up to some sort of mischief. He lived his life to the full.
He lectured on his experiences with the Endurance as well as others during his travels on the high seas. As children we found him to be a wonderful teller of stories of his life and those of his , and his shipmates on the Endurance. Fortunately he lived long enough to be able to recount the same stories for our own children to hear first hand.”
Lionel Greenstreet was the last of the Endurance party to pass away. He died on 13th January 1979. Over the years he attended many reunion parties and Naval Functions. Along with Green and How, he attended the commissioning of H.M.S. Endurance at Portsmouth in October 1970.
Lionel was cremated at Worthing . It was a cold winters day with a scattering of snow on the ground. Very appropriate conditions for the last of the heroes of the Endurance. His ashes were scattered in the grounds of the Norwich Crematorium and a tree planted in his name.
With thanks to Richard Greenstreet. ( Nephew of Lionel Greenstreet )
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