Leading Seaman Ernest Roland Petherbridge was born at Ellacombe, Devon in January 1882 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in March 1899. Joining the Ship's Company of H.M.S. Highflyer as an Ordinary Seaman in May 1900, he went on to serve in the Somaliland operations and was pensioned ashore as a Leading Seaman in early 1912. Recalled on the eve of the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Petherbridge served aboard the Battleship Illustrious until November 1915; the Battleship Vengeance from December 1915 until June 1916, including time in the Dardanelles; the Cruiser Hyacinth from July 1916 until March 1917; the requisitioned Liner Orama from March until August 1917, thereby just missing her loss to an enemy Submarine on 19.10.1917; the Torpedo Establishment Defiance from August to November 1917; and the Battleship Caesar from the latter date until the end of hostilities. Having qualified for his L.S. and G.C. Medal in early 1918, Petherbridge was demobilised in June 1921.