Photograph courtesy of  http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/Exning

Arthur Drake was born on 5 August 1889 at Newmarket, Suffolk.  He was the eldest of four children of Frederick Drake and his wife Hephzibah (née Rayment) of Field Terrace Road, Newmarket.  He was educated at St Mary’s and Exning Schools and joined the Royal Navy at HMS GANGES on 5 August 1907.  Before K17 he served in the battleship HMS VICTORIOUS, the cruiser HMS COCHRANE and the minelayer HMS THETIS.

He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial Panel 28 and on the Roll of Honour in St Philip & St Etheldreda’s Church, Exning Road and on the War Memorial at Exning, Suffolk.