HETHERINGTON W. H.

Leading Airman FAA/JX. 259395 William Howard HETHERINGTON.

Royal Navy H.M.S.Victorious 817 Sqdn.

20 May 1942 aged 24.

Lee-on-solent Memorial, Bay 3, Panel 2.

Son of William Arthur and Grace Lilian Hetherington, of Cheadle Heath, Cheshire.

Died when Fairey Albacore Mk.I  X9137 crashed at sea. The Observer Ty/Sub Lieutenant (A) Leslie ROWSBY was also missing, only the pilot survived.

Fairey Albacore Mk.I (photo from Wikipedia) 

BIRD E.

Third Radio Officer Eric BIRD.

Merchant Navy M.V. Harpagus (London).

20 May 1941 aged 20.

Tower Hill Memorial, Panel 55.

Son of Albert and Sarah Bird, of North Reddish, Stockport, Cheshire.

At 04.58 hours on 20 May 1941 the Norman Monarch in convoy HX-126, sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, was torpedoed and sunk by U-94. The Harpagus (Captain James Valentine Stewart) was the designed rescue ship for the column and dropped back to rescue survivors. After picking up the whole complement of 48 men, she set course to regain convoy.

At 23.20 hours on 20 May 1941 the Harpagus, having almost regained position, was struck by two torpedoes from Type IXB U-109 (Korvettenkapitän Hans-Georg Fischer) in the starboard side and sank very quickly about 250 miles south-southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland. 26 crew members, four gunners, three passengers and 26 survivors from the Norman Monarch were lost. The master, 17 crew members and 22 survivors were picked up by H.M.S. Burnham and landed at Reykjavik. 

M.V. Harpagus (photo from pinterest)

EDWARDS F.

Ordinary Seaman P/JX 175469 Frederick EDWARDS.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Valentine (L69).

15 May 1940 aged 20.

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 39, Column 3.

Son of William Charles. and Sarah Ann Edwards, of Reddish, Lancashire.

On 15 May 1940 H.M.S. Valentine (Commander Herbert James Buchanan) was one of four destroyers deployed to the Scheldt estuary to support demolition operations and the evacuation of shipping from Antwerp. While providing Anti Aircraft cover to Allied troops, H.M.S. Valentine was damaged by dive bombers, and beached near Terneuzen. 31 of H.M.S. Valentine's crew were killed, and a further 21 injured.

H.M.S. Verity of same class as Valentine (photo from naval-history.net)

LAVELLE T.

Able Seaman D/JX 212944 Thomas LAVELLE.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Lively (G40).

11 May 1942 aged 22.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 65, Column 3.

Son of John and Mary Josephine Lavelle, of Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire.

H.M.S. Lively was deployed with Destroyers H.M.S. Jervis, H.M.S. Jackal and H.M.S. Kipling to intercept a convoy sailing towards Benghazi from Crete.

On 11 May 1942 H.M.S. Lively (Lt.Cdr. William Frederick Eyre Hussey, DSO, DSC) was sunk by German Ju-88 bombers about 150 nautical miles north-west of Mersa Matruh, Egypt. 77 of Lively’s crew were reported lost.

H.M.S.Lively (photo from I.W.M.)

PAKEMAN L.

Petty Officer Stoker P/K 46187 Leonard PAKEMAN.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Victory.

8 May 1944 aged 44

Gosport (Ann's Hill) Cemetery, Plot 32. Grave 12.

The eldest of three children, of Son of Albert Edward and Lois Pakeman, he was born in Heaton Norris. Leonard married Milly Eleanor Frances Embling in Alverstoke, Hampshire in 1926, and died on 8 May 1944 in Gosport, Hampshire.

Grave of Leonard PAKEMAN (Photo from findagrave added by Steve Ellis) 

O'CONNOR C. H.

Leading Seaman D/SSX 18511 Charles Henry O'CONNOR

Royal Navy H.M.S. Drake

29 Apr 1941 aged 24

Plymouth (Weston Mill) Cemetery, Sec. C. Cons. Grave 18073.

Son of Charles and Jane O'Connor, of Stockport, Cheshire

Nephew of Margaret O'Brien, of Stockport.

One of eight killed during an air raid on 29 Apr 1941.

Grave of Charles  O'CONNOR (Photo from findagrave by Cliff Barry) 

FINDLEY A. M.

Ordinary Seaman D/JX 253980 Arthur Mills FINDLEY

Royal Navy H.M.S.Raleigh

28 Apr 1941 aged 27

Torpoint (Horson) Cemetery, Grave 35.

Arthur Married Hilda Warrington at St.George, Heaviley in 1937. He was one of 44 sailors and 21 Royal Engineers killed when a German bomb hit the air-raid shelter they were in. During the 28th some 123 aircraft attacked Plymouth with the only casualties being at H.M.S. Raleigh.

Horson Cemetery (photo from roll-of-honour.com)