CRIMES S. G.

Lieutenant Samuel Geoffrey CRIMES

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve H.M.S.Sarawak (K591).

31 Mar 1945

Belfast City Cemetery, Glenalina Extn. Sec. B.S. Grave 132.

One of five who drowned in Belfast Lough on 31 Mar 1945 whilst serving on H.M.S. Sarawak (Lieutenant Commander Francis Harden Gray).

H.M.S. Sarawak (photo from Forces War Records)

MILLS E.

Leading Seaman P/JX 256985 Ernest MILLS

Royal Navy H.M.S. Laforey (G99).

30 Mar 1944 aged 33.

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 81, Column 2.

Son of David and Agnes Mills.

Husband of Edith Mary Mills, of Reddish, Lancashire.

On 29 Mar 1944, Type VIIC U-223 (Oberleutnant Peter Gerlach) was located by asdic from H.M.S. Ulster, which was carrying out a routine Anti-Submarine sweep together with two other destroyers of the 14th Flotilla, H.M.S. Laforey (Capt. Harold Thomas Armstrong, DSO, DSC) and H.M.S. Tumult. The U-boat was heavily depth-charged, but carried evasive manoeuvres in an attempt to evade destruction.

In the early morning on 30 Mar, the U-boat was forced to surface and was attacked by the destroyers with gunfire, which now included H.M.S. Hambledon, H.M.S. Blencathra and H.M.S. Wilton, which had replaced H.M.S. Ulster. Shortly before being sunk, U-223 fired a Gnat and hit H.M.S. Laforey which sank about 60 miles northeast of Palermo, Sicily.

H.M.S.Laforey (photo from Imperial War Museum) 

YATES T.

Able Seaman C/JX 168689 Thomas YATES.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Dasher (D37).

27 Mar 1943 aged 24.

Chatham Naval Memorial, 70, 1.

Son of Thomas and Mary Ann Yates, of Adswood, Cheshire.

Husband of Elsie Yates.

On 27 Mar 1943, H.M.S. Dasher (Capt. Lennox Albert Knox Boswell, DSO) was in the Firth of Clyde with one of her Swordfish planes practicing take-offs and landings. Suddenly a violent internal explosion occurred, sending her aircraft lift 60 feet in the air. H.M.S. Dasher went to the bottom in only 5 minutes, stern first in. Aviation fuel and fuel oil from the ship caught fire and spread across the water to the survivors. In total 379 men drowned and 149 men were picked up by rescue vessels.

H.M.S. Dasher (photo from The Scotsman)

CONWAY J.

Marine PLY/X 105763 James CONWAY

Royal Marines R.M.B.P.D.

23 Mar 1943 aged 20

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 102. Column 3.

Son of Thomas Conway, and of Mary Ann Conway, of Stockport, Cheshire.

On 7 Dec 1942, at 07:17 H.M. Submarine Tuna surfaced near the mouth of the River Gironde off the coast of Occupied France.The aim of Operation Frankton, consisting of 6 Cockle two-man collapsible canvas boats, led by Major Herbert (Blondie) Hasler, was to row up to Bordeaux to blow up ships known as blockade runners. 

Cuttlefish was crewed by Lieutenant John MacKinnon and Marine James Conway. They had to abandoned their canoe after  it hit an underwater obstacle. Both swam to shore. MacKinnon was treated in hospital in France following a leg injury. The German's found them and were both interrogated and then executed.

The other cockles were.

Coalfish. Sergeant Samuel Wallace and Marine Robert (Bobby) Ewart. Surrendered after swimming ashore but were shot.

Conger. Corporal George Jellicoe Sheard, and Marine David Gabriel Moffatt. Both drowned.

Crayfish. Corporal Albert Laver and Marine William Mills. Managed to plant limpet mines, but were captured and later executed.

Catfish. Major Herbert 'Blondie’ Hasler and Marine Bill Sparks survived the raid.

Cachalot.  Marine W. A. Ellery and Marine E. Fisher. Their canoe was damaged and didn't take part in the raid.

James Conway Memorial Stockport (photo by Chris Gleave)

ROBERTS F.

Stoker 1st Class D/KX114267 Fred ROBERTS.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Exeter (68).

22 Mar 1945 aged 32.

Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia, 28. F. 5.

Son of Fred and Mary Ann Roberts, of Stockport, Cheshire.

Husband of Lilian Roberts, of Heaton Norris, Stockport.

On 1 Mar 1942 H.M.S. Exeter (Captain Oliver Loudon Gordon, MVO) was sunk in the East Indies, north west of Surabaya in Java Sea, by torpedoes and 8-inch gunfire from a Japanese cruiser force.

The Japanese rescued 652, including the captain, who became prisoners of war. Fred was one of 152 who died in captivity.

H.M.S. Exeter (photo from naval-history.net)

BLACK A. & GOODGER J. A.

Stoker 2nd Class D/KX 179142 Arthur BLACK.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Lapwing (U62).

20 Mar 1945.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 94, Column 3.

Son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Black, of Stockport, Cheshire.

Gunner John Arthur GOODGER

Royal Navy H.M.S. Lapwing (U62).

20 Mar 1945 aged 30.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 93, Column 3.

Son of Frederick William and Clara Goodger.

Husband of Ethel Ruth Goodger, of Tivington Heights, Somerset.

In the afternoon of 20 Mar 1945, Type VIIC U-968 (Oberleutnant Otto Westphalen) attacked Arctic convoy JW-65 north of Murmansk. H.M.S. Lapwing (Commander J.A. Binnie) was hit amidships by a T5 homing torpedo at 13:25 and broke in two, with the stern section remaining afloat for about 20 minutes. There were 158 killed and with 61 survivors who were rescued by H.M.S. Savage.

H.M.S.Lapwing (Photo from Imperial War Museum, FL-9971)

HALLOWELL C. G.

Engineer Officer Clifford Goodison HALLOWELL

Merchant Navy S.S. Empress of Canada (London)

14 Mar 1943 aged 21

Tower Hill Memorial,Panel 47.

Stanley Hallowell and Ethel Wood were married at the Mount Tabor Church on Wellington Road, in 1919 with Clifford being born three years later in 1922

  

On 13 March 1943, the S.S. Empress of Canada was sailing from Durban in South Africa to Takoradi, Ghana carrying Italian prisoners of war along with Polish and Greek refugees. The S.S. Empress of Canada was torpedoed at midnight and sunk by the Marconi-class submarine Leonardo da Vinci (Lieutenant Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia) approximately 400 miles south of Cape Palmas, Liberia.

Of the approximate 1800 people on board, 392 died. Nearly half of the fatalities reported were Italian prisoners. British rescuers saved 800 of those aboard.

S.S. Empress of Canada (photo from wikipedia) 

LEWIS J. E. C.

Ordinary Seaman P/JX 523839 James Edward Corlett LEWIS.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Erebus (I02).

12 Mar 1944 aged 18.

Stockport Borough Cemetery, Sec. H.N. Grave 75.

Son of Harold Bertram and Eleanor Jane Lewis, of Cale Green, Stockport.

One of four who died in a boat accident.

H.M.S.Erebus (photo from MilitaryImages.Net)

grave of James LEWIS (photo from findagrave)

ATHERTON H.

Stoker 1st Class C/KX 171743 Harry ATHERTON

Royal Navy H.M.S. Lanka

11 Mar 1946 aged 22

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand, Plot 10. Row P. grave 11.

Harry Atherton and Elizabeth Cook were married in 1923 at St.Matthews in Edgeley, the following year they had a daughter, followed by Harry.

Killed in a road accident whilst serving at H.M.S. Lanka a shore establishment in Colombo, Ceylon.

Grave of Harry ATHERTON (Photo from findagrave.com added by GulfportBob)

SCHOFIELD T.

Chief Petty Officer D/J 29108 Thomas SCHOFIELD

Royal Navy

11 Mar 1945 aged 47

Manchester Southern Cemetery, Sec. M. Nonconformist. Grave 129.

Son of Mr. and Mrs. Silas Schofield

Husband of Julia Schofield, of Levenshulme, Manchester.

A Recruiter based in Manchester who died as the result of an illness.

BROCKLEHURST F. C.

Able Seaman Francis Charles BROCKLEHURST.

Merchant Navy M.V. Empire Light (Liverpool).

7 Mar 1943 aged 51.

Tower Hill Memorial, Panel 43.

Francis was the eldest of William and Jane Brocklehursts two sons. He married Esther Jones on 5 Dec 1918 at the Houghton Memorial Church in Ancoats

At 18:20 hours on 7 Mar 1943 Type VIIC U-638 (Kapitänleutnant Hinrich-Oscar Bernbeck) attacked a straggler from convoy ON-168 in bad weather southwest of Cape Farewell. Bernbeck thought that he had missed, but the Empire Light (Master A.L. Lewis) was damaged and abandoned. 39 crew members and six gunners were lost. The master, three crew members and one gunner were picked up by H.M.S. Beverley and landed at St. John’s, Newfoundland.

At 22.12 hours on 12 March, another Type VIIC U-468 (Oberleutnant Klemens Schamong) sank the abandoned Empire Light with two coups de grâce.

Tower Hill Memorial (photo from minube)

APPLEBY S.

Stoker LT/KX 149192 Stanley APPLEBY.

Royal Naval Patrol Service H.M.T. Southern Flower (FY 332).

3 Mar 1945 aged 28.

Lowestoft Naval Memorial, Panel 17, Column 2.

Stanley left behind a wife, Elsie Jane Ryder who he married in 1944, and a daughter that was born the following year. 

The R.N.P.S. operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to protect coastal Britain and convoys. H.M.T. Southern Flower was a former whaler launched in 1928 for the Southern Whaling and Sealing Company. It was requisitioned by the Navy in 1940 and  converted to an anti submarine trawler. 

At 11:32 hours on 3 Mar 1945 H.M.S. Southern Flower (Skipper William George Brown) was hit by a torpedo from Type VIIC/41 U-1022 (Kapitänleutnant Ernst Hans-Joachim), and sank almost immediately four miles off Skagi in the north of Iceland. 25 crew members were lost, with the only survivor being the commander.

Royal Naval Patrol Service Memorial, Lowestoft (photo from Wikipedia)

ROSE L. E.

Leading Seaman D/JX 186091 Louis Edward ROSE

Royal Navy H.M.L.S.T. 362

2 Mar 1944 aged 29

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 85, Column 3.

Son of Frederick Alfred and Eleanor Ann Rose

Husband of Doris Mary Rose, of Offerton, Cheshire.

At 02:50 hours on 2 Mar 1944 Type VIIC U-744 (Oberleutnant Heinz Blischke) fired a spread of four torpedoes at a convoy of four small tankers about 370 miles southwest of Cape Clear and reported sinking three of them. The U-boat retreated after being attacked by a destroyer and unsuccessfully firing a Gnat from the stern torpedo tube at it.

In fact, the attacked ships were a group of four landing ships (H.M.L.S.T.-324, H.M.L.S.T-362, H.M.L.S.T-413 and H.M.L.S.T-427 ) that were detached from the combined convoy MKS-40/SL-149 on 1 March and escorted by H.M.S. Rockwood, only H.M.L.S.T-362 (Lieutenant R.W. Newton) was actually hit and sunk in this attack. Of the 180 on-board 15 crew and 73 army personnel were killed.

H.M. Landing Ship Tanks the same type as H.M.L.S.T. 362 (photos from Wikipedia and Navsource)

DEPLEDGE W. M.

Ordinary Seaman D/JX 563849 William Marshall DEPLEDGE.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Gould (K476)

1 Mar 1944 aged 18.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 88, Column 1.

William was the youngest of two sons of Jack Depledge and Olive Clayton who married at Stockport St.Mary, and lived in Bramhall.

On 29 Feb 1944, H.M.S. Gould (Lt. Daniel William Ungoed) was operating as part of the First Escort Group when she, H.M.S. Affleck, H.M.S. Gore, and the frigate H.M.S. Garlies detected the German Type VIIC U-358 (Kapitänleutnant Rolf Manke) in the North Atlantic north-northeast of the Azores and began a depth-charge attack which continued through the night and into 1 Mar 1944, the four frigates dropping a combined 104 depth charges.

H.M.S. Gore and H.M.S. Garlies were forced to withdraw to Gibraltar to refuel on 1 Mar, but H.M.S. Affleck and H.M.S. Gould continued to attack U-358. During the afternoon of 1 Mar, U-358 succeeded in torpedoing and sinking H.M.S. Gould with a G7es, known to the Allies as "GNAT", torpedo at position. The commander, six officers, and 116 ratings died in the sinking, with only 14 of H.M.S. Gould's crew survived. U-358 was soon forced to surface after 38 hours submerged and was sunk by gunfire from H.M.S. Affleck.

H.M.S. Gould (photo from Uboat.net)

POLLITT W. T.

Able Seaman P/SSX 30750 William Thomas POLLITT.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Manistee (F104).

24 Feb 1941 aged 19

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 49, Column 1.

William Thomas Pollitt and Emily Chadwick were married at St.Aidan’s in Bradford, Manchester, with William being the eldest of eight children.

H.M.S. Manistee (Lieutenant Commander Eric Haydn Smith) an ocean boarding vessel formed part of convoy OB 288 sailing from Liverpool on 19 Feb 1941. 

The convoy was dispersed at 21:00 hours on the 23rd at a point northwest of Ireland and south of Iceland due to U-boat activity. At 22:42 the German Type IXV, U-107, (Kapitänleutnant Günther Hessler), and the Italian Marconi-class Michele Bianchi (Commander Giovannini) fired torpedoes with at least one hitting the engine room. At 07:58 on the 24th U-107 again fired on Manistee, sinking her at point south of Iceland. U.S.S. Herndon, H.M.S. Heather and Free French Léopard were dispatched to search for survivors but none of the 141 crew were found.

H.M.S.Manistee (Photo from Uboat.net)

TURNER H. B.

Leading Seaman D/JX 30326 Harold Buchan TURNER

Royal Navy H.M.S.Kite (U877)

21 Aug 1944 aged 21

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 85, Column 3.

Son of Thomas and Bessie Turner, of Stockport, Cheshire.

On 20 Aug 1944 H.M.S. Kite (Lieutenant Commander A.N.G. Campbell) was escorting the aircraft carriers H.M.S. Vindex and H.M.S. Striker, which in turn were escorting convoy JW-59 to Northern Russia when the convoy was sighted in the Barents Sea by German aircraft. Soon a pack of U-boats attacked the convoy with one U-boat being sunk by Fairey Swordfish aircraft from one of the carriers. Two more were sunk by other destroyers.

At 06:30 on 21 August, H.M.S. Kite slowed to 6 knots to untangle her "foxers" (anti acoustic torpedo noise makers, towed astern). The decision to do so, rather than severing the foxers' cables and abandoning them, was made by her temporary commander, a submariner. At that speed H.M.S. Kite was a sitting duck, and she was hit by two torpedoes from Type VIIC U-344 (Kapitänleutnant Ulrich Pietsch) and sank.

Of H.M.S. Kite's crew of 10 officers and 207 ratings, 60 survived the attack, but from the freezing Arctic water only 14 sailors were picked up alive by H.M.S. Keppel. Five of the rescued died on board, leaving only nine to make it to shore.

H.M.S.Kite (photo from uboat.net)

KITCHEN H. H.

Sick Berth Attendant P/MX 94619 Harold Holden KITCHEN.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Penelope (97).

18 Feb 1944 aged 40.

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 87, Column 1.

Samuel Holden Kitchen and Annie Birkett had four children with Harold being the third. In 1940 Harold married Annie Whittaker at the Thompson Street Baptist Church in Stockport.

On 18 Feb 1944, H.M.S.Penelope (Capt. George Devereux Belben, DSO, DSC, AM) was leaving the Anzio area to return to Naples when she was torpedoed by the German submarine Type VIIC U-410 (Oberleutnant Horst-Arno Fenski). The torpedo struck her in the after engine room and was followed, 16 minutes later, by a second one which hit in the after boiler room, causing her immediate sinking. 

The commander, 24 officers, 368 ratings and 24 Marines were lost. The 208 survivors were picked up by H.M.S.L.S.T.-165 and H.M.S.L.S.T.-430.

H.M.S. Penelope (photo from Imperial War Museum)

FAULKNER J. N.

Ordinary Signalman P/JX 330130 John Noel FAULKNER

Royal Navy H.M.S.President II on H.M.S.Pelican .

15 Feb 1943 aged 21

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 76, Column 3.

James William Faulkner was married in 1917 at St.Luke’s in Goostrey to Bertha Thompson they had at least four children with John being the eldest son.

John was lost overboard whilst serving on H.M.S. Pelican on escort duty for convoy OS-043 on the Freetown route. 

H.M.S.Pelican (photo from pinterest)

CROWTHER C. E.

Engine Room Artificer 5th Class D/MX. 509466 Charles Edward CROWTHER

Royal Navy H.M.S.Lanka passenger on Khedive Ismail

12 Feb 1944 aged 22

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 89, Column 1.

Son of Albert and Frances Crowther, of Stockport, Cheshire.

Husband of Mary Kathleen Crowther.

In the early afternoon of 12 Feb 1944 whilst south-west of the Maldives, a Japanese Type B1 submarine I-27 (Lt-Cdr Toshiaki Fukumura), attacked the convoy KR-8, which was enroute from Mombasa bound for Colombo. The Khedive Ismail was carrying 1,511 personnel including 178 crew, 996 officers and men of the East African Artillery's 301st Field Regiment, 271 Royal Navy personnel, and a detachment of 19 Wrens. Also on board were 53 nursing sisters accompanied by one matron, and 9 members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry.

The I-27 fired a spread of four torpedoes with two hits sinking the Khedive Ismail. Commander Fukumura had a history of machine-gunning survivors of ships she had sunk, including the Liberty ship S.S. Sambridge and the Fort Mumford. There were many survivors in the sea and the I-27 hid beneath them and the flotsam. H.M.S. Paladin lowered boats over the side to begin rescuing survivors but H.M.S. Petard released depth charges in an attempt to sink the submarine. On H.M.S. Petard’s third run, her depth charges forced I-27 to the surface. H.M.S. Paladin rammed the submarine, causing herself considerable damage. A torpedo from H.M.S. Petard finally destroyed the I-27.

1,297 people, including 77 women, lost their lives in the two minutes it took for the Khedive Ismail to sink. Only 208 men and 6 women survived. The sinking was the third worst Allied shipping disaster of World War II and the single worst loss of female service personnel in the history of the Commonwealth of Nations. Many of those who perished did so from the depth charges released from H.M.S. Petard.

SS Khedive Ismail (photo from britisharmynurses.com)

WARD E. H.

Able Seaman P/SSX 33207 Eric Hugh WARD.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Worcester (D96).

12 Feb 1942

Shotley Royal Naval Cemetery, Coll grave 2. A. 7-11.

Son of Francis Albert Edward and Harriet Ward, of Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire.

On 12 Feb 1942 German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen were steaming to Germany via the English Channel, Strait of Dover, and North Sea in what was to become known as the "Channel Dash." Several destroyers were sent to intercept them with H.M.S. Worcester being one of them.

During an unsuccessful torpedo attack, H.M.S. Worcester (Lieutenant John Anthony Hodnot Hamer) was hit by 11-inch shells from the battlecruisers and 8-inch shells from Prinz Eugen, 26 were killed or mortally wounded with 45 injured. The German gunfire inflicted severe structural damage on Worcester, starting several fires and flooding to her No. 1 boiler room, causing her to go dead in the water. The  surviving crew put out her fires, and got back underway, proceeding to Parkeston Quay (Harwich) for repairs. Most of the dead are buried Shotley Naval Cemetery, Harwich.

Grave of Eric WARD (photo from findagrave added by Len)