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)
