b. 1867 Seaham, Durham. d. 04/05/1949 Low Fell, Gateshead, County Durham.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 14/10/1919 Novorossisk, Russia.
Thomas was one of four children of William Willis and Margaret Knill (nee Stratford). In January 1897 he married Helena Blanch Hodgson, and they had three children, William Cuthbert, Thomas Hodgson, and Margaret Hodgson. He served in the Merchant Navy throughout the Great War and received his AM from King George V at Buckingham Palace on June 8th 1920.
AM CITATION:
At Novorossisk on the 14th October, 1919, when the steamship ” War Pike,” laden with stores and several hundred tons of explosives, took fire, Captain Knill, although deserted by most of his crew, and in spite of the intense heat and frequent explosions, remained on board his ship, casting, off hawsers from the quay and making fast others to a tug, only abandoning ship by order of the Captain of His Majesty’s .Ship “‘Grafton” as his vessel was being towed out of the entrance of the harbour. He then boarded a tug, stood by his ship after she had grounded; and later, though the bridge, boats and. starboard coal bunker were a mass of flames, boarded her and assisted in getting hoses to work, successfully preventing the fire from spreading aft, where there were still large quantities of explosives. The vessel was then towed towards shallow water, where she grounded. By his gallantry and devotion to duty Captain Knill undoubtedly averted an explosion, and thus probably saved many lives.
BURIAL LOCATION: SALTWELL CEMETERY, GATESHEAD, COUNTY DURHAM.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
