Alexander Mason, Alec to his family, was born in Hemel Hempstead on Monday, 2nd December 1872 the second son of Alec (Alexander) Mason and Emily Dean. Alec and Emily had eleven children during their thirty-seven-year marriage and the children were; John, Alexander, Thomas, Albert, Emily, William, Herbert, Charles, Edward, Joseph, and Alice. At one point six of the Mason boys were on active service in the Great War, resulting in a congratulatory letter from King George. The oldest brother John fought in the South African war and Thomas was killed along with Alec at the Battle of Jutland. 

The family grew up around the Caitlin Street and Two Waters area of Boxmoor and many of the family, including Alec, worked with Dickinson & Co. Ltd. at Apsley Mills.

He left Dickinsons and enlisted with the Royal Marines on the 2nd August 1890 when he was seventeen years old and went to Chatham to begin training. He was described as 5 feet 7¾ inches in height, with a fresh complexion, brown hair and grey eyes and throughout his naval career his character and ability were rated as ‘good’ or ‘v. good’.

Towards the end of his first period of service, he met Rebecca Harrington from Boxmoor and they were married on Saturday, 11th October at St John’s Church in Boxmoor, only two months before Alec’s discharge from the Royal Marines after twelve years. He benefitted from the award of a ‘Gratuity’ of £50 on discharge, which equates to approximately £4,300 today and would have been a welcome start to the couple’s married life.

Alec and Rebecca had three daughters together; Norah, Alexandra and Iris and in December 1907, Alec left Apsley Mills for a second time and re-enrolled in the Royal Marines. He served until July 1911 before leaving and enrolling in the Royal Fleet Reserve.

On the outbreak of war, Alec was recalled as a ‘Reservist’ and enlisted with the Royal Marine Light Infantry and was posted to HMS Queen Mary the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before World War I. Like most of the modern British battlecruisers, she never left the North Sea during the war.

As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, she attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914 but was unsuccessful. Following a refit in early 1915 Alec re-joined his ship and then participated in the largest fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916.

Early on the first day of the Battle Queen Mary was hit twice by the German battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz and then twice more in late afternoon by another German battlecruiser, SMS Derfflinger. Queen Mary’s magazine exploded shortly afterwards, sinking the ship in just six minutes. In all 1,266 crewmen were lost and only eighteen survivors were picked up by the destroyers HMS Laurel, HMS Petard, and HMS Tipperary, and two by the Germans.

Alec was killed when the ship exploded, and he died on Wednesday, 31st May 1916. The wreck site of HMS Queen Mary is designated as a protected place under the “Protection of Military Remains Act 1986” as it is the grave of the officers and men.

Alec’s death was reported in the Hemel Gazette shortly afterwards in June 1916. 

He is commemorated at St Mary’s Church in Apsley.

Alec is Remembered with Honour on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon, United Kingdom on Panel 18.

He was 43 years old when he died.

Alec was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.