E C Cramp: photograph album

According to the log book of HMS Ark Royal, 25 December 1915 was a quiet day for the ship’s company, with the vessel lying at anchor in Salonika’s harbour.

While not mentioning the song and dance on the deck shown in Edgar’s photo of Christmas Day, the log shows there were no air operations on 25 December, with the day’s main activity being hands cleaning ship and air service ratings such as Edgar tasked with cleaning the ship’s workshops before a church service was held.

In the afternoon, some of the crew were allowed ashore for three hours, returning at 4:30pm, before the ship was blacked out at 5:50pm as a precaution against night air attack.