HULME T. S.

Able Seaman P/JX 349484 Thomas Stanley HULME.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Egret (L75).

27 Aug 1943 aged 20.

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 75, Column 1.

Son of Frank and Mary Hulme, of Stockport, Cheshire.

H.M.S. Egret (Acting Commander John Valentine Waterhouse, DSO) was the first Allied warship to be sunk by a guided missile. About 30 nautical miles west of Vigo, Spain H.M.S. Egret was attacked by a squadron of Dornier Do 217 aircraft, one of which carried and launched the Henschel Hs-293A guided bomb which hit and sank Egret, killing 194 of its crew, and 4 R.A.F. Electronics experts.

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

MILLER J.

Air Fitter FAA/FX. 79858 John MILLER.

Royal Navy H.M.S.Ark Royal (91) Passenger on Aguila.

19 Aug 1941 aged 20.

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

Son of Margaret Miller, of Heaton Norris, Stockport.

The Aguila was part of convoy OG-71 sailing from Liverpool to Gibraltar carrying 1288 tons of general cargo and 99 passengers. At 04.06 hours on 19 Aug 1941, Type VIIC U-201 (Oberleutnant Adalbert Schnee) fired four torpedoes at the convoy.

The Aguila (Master Arthur Firth) sank within 90 seconds after being hit by two torpedoes. Out of 168 on-board 153 were lost. The master, five crew members, one naval staff member and two passengers were picked up by H.M.S. Wallflower and landed at Gibraltar. Five crew members and one passenger were rescued by the Empire Oak, but five of them were lost when this ship was sunk by U-564 on 22 Aug. Another crew member was picked up by H.M.S. Campanula and was  landed at Gibraltar. The Ciscar was also sunk with 13 dead and 35 survivors.

Among the passengers on board the Aguila were 21 women from the W.R.N.S. who had volunteered for cypher and wireless duties in Gibraltar. None of the Wrens survived the sinking. As a tribute to their memory, a lifeboat named Aguila Wren was built and launched on 28 Jun 1952 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

S.S. Aguila (photo from Alchetron) 

NUTTALL F.

Able Seaman D/JX 293607 Frank NUTTALL.

Royal Navy H.M.A.S. Albatross (I22).

11 Aug 1944 aged 44.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 87, Column 1.

Son of William and Sarah Nuttall

Husband of Ellen Nuttall, of South Reddish, Cheshire.

H.M.A.S. Albatross had been converted to a repair ship, and was involved in the Normandy landings.

On 11 Aug 1944 Albatros was hit by torpedo whilst stationed of Juno Beach and sustained major structural damage with 66 of the ships company losing their lives.

H.M.A.S. Albatross (photo fromWikipedia) 

O'DONNELL T.

Able Seaman D/JX 345120 Thomas O'DONNELL.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Isis (D87).

20 Jul 1944 aged 21.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 87, Column 1.

Thomas was the eldest of three children, of Thomas O'Donnell and Bertha Redfern who married at St.Paul's Portwood.

H.M.S. Isis (Lieutenant Commander Henry Dumaresq Durell) was mined and sunk off Normandy, France on 20 Jul 1944. The wreck is in 20 meters of water about 5 miles North-East of Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy.

155 of ship's company ware killed, with survivors spending several hours in the water. 21 of the survivors were rescued by H.M.S. Hound but one later died, others were rescued by a U.S.N. Rescue Cutter, in total 45 of the crew survived.

H.M.S. Isis (photo from Pinterest)

SAXON W. H.

Lieutenant (A) William Harold SAXON.

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve H.M.S.Vulture, 736 Sqn.

16 Jul 1945 aged 24.

Lee-on-solent Memorial, Bay 6, Panel 3.

William Taylor Saxon and Selina May Barrett were married at St.Mary in Heaton Moor, William being their only son.

He died when the Avenger he was Observer in crashed into the sea, whilst flying out of H.M.S. Vulture (R.N.A.S. St.Merryn) on a training flight. The pilot was also killed.

Grumman Avenger (photo from Britmodeller.com)

BROWN W. J.

Stoker 1st Class P/KX 139417 William Joseph BROWN

Royal Navy H.M.S.Victory III.

10 Jul 1943 aged 21

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 78, Column 1.

Son of Joseph and Annie May Brown, of Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire.

Missing presumed killed during Operation Husky the allied invasion of Sicily.

WEBSTER K. D.

Able Seaman P/SSX 33180 Kenneth Derek WEBSTER.

Royal Navy H.M.S.Malvernian (F102).

1 Jul 1941 aged 22.

Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 49, Column 3.

H.M.S. Malvernian (Commander John William Baillie Robertson) was an Ocean Boarding Vessel escorting convoy OG-66 sailing Liverpool to Gibraltar. She was bombed by a Focke-Wulf Condor and heavily damaged on 1 Jul 1941.

On the 11 Jul 1941 she was bombed again by German aircraft and the ship was abandoned. She was spotted drifting on 19 Jul 1941 and was then finally sunk.

H.M.S. Malvernian (photo from Pinterest)

Focke-Wulf Condor ( photo from Military Factory)