MOLYNEAUX C.

Able Seaman C/JX 352294 Clifford MOLYNEAUX

Royal Navy H.M.S. Welshman (M84)

1 Feb 1943 aged 19

Chatham Naval Memorial, 69, 2.

Son of George and Rachel Molyneaux, of South Reddish Lancashire.

At 17:45 on 1 Feb 1943 Type VIIC U-617 (Kapitänleutnant Albrecht Brandi) fired a spread of four torpedoes at H.M.S. Welshman (Captain W.H.D. Friedberger, DSO) and observed two hits and a boiler explosion. The ship capsized and sank by the stern after two hours, about 45 miles east-northeast off Tobruk, Libya. 

Clifford was one of Eight officers, 144 ratings and 13 passengers, who lost their lives. The commander, five officers and 112 ratings were picked up by H.M.S. Tetcott and H.M.S. Belvoir after five hours and taken to Alexandria. Another six survivors were rescued by small craft from Tobruk.

H.M.S. Welshman

WOODHEAD T. N.

Petty Officer Airman FAA/FX. 95670 Terence Neville WOODHEAD.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Urley 747 Sqdn.

27 Jan 1945 aged 21.

Lee-on-solent Memorial, Bay 6, Panel 1.

Son of Wilson and Alice Woodhead, of Heaton Chapel, Stockport.

LS954/R3K Barracuda Mk.ll of 747 Sqdn. Fleet Air Arm Crashed into the Irish Sea, off the Isle of Man during a training flight.

Fairey Barracuda (photo from Key Archive)

CONSTANCE J. R.

Ordinary Seaman D/JX 239600 John Roskruge CONSTANCE.

Royal Navy H.M.S. Matabele (F26).

17 Jan 1942 aged 24.

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 67, Column 1.

Son of John Arthur Roskruge Constance and Mabel Constance, of Heaton Mersey, Lancashire.

In Jan 1942 she formed the screen, with H.M.S. Somali, for the cruiser H.M.S. Trinidad on Convoy PQ-8 from Iceland to Murmansk. The convoy departed on 11 Jan 1942, and came under torpedo attack on 16 Jan 1942. On 17 Jan 1942 H.M.S. Matabele was hit by a torpedo from the German Type VIIC U-454 (Kapitänleutnant Burckhard Hackländer) and sank almost immediately.

Only two out of her complement of 238 survived. Many who were able to leave the stricken ship succumbed in the ice-cold water before rescue was possible. The two survivors were picked up by the minesweeper H.M.S. Harrier.

H.M.S.Matabele

BIRCH J.

Fireman and Trimmer Joseph BIRCH.

Merchant Navy S.S. Ocean Courage (Liverpool).

15 Jan 1943 aged 23.

Tower Hill Memorial, Panel 75.

Son of Joseph Birch, and of Jane Birch, of Stockport, Cheshire.

At 03:15 hours on 15 Jan 1943 the unescorted Ocean Courage (Master Thomas Harold Kemp) was hit on the port side on the bulkhead of #2 hold by a torpedo from Type IXD2 U-182 (Kapitänleutnant Asmus Nicolai Clausen) and sank by the bow within 90 seconds about 200 miles south of the Cape Verde Islands.

The crew of 48 men, eight gunners and two passengers had no time to launch the lifeboats and most of them were lost in the sinking, including the master, six gunners and both passengers. Only a few men rescued themselves on rafts and debris, but only six men on one of the rafts were found and picked up by the British motor merchant Silverwalnut on 21 January and landed at Norfolk, Virginia.

S.S. Ocean Courage

ROBINSON J. L.

Sailor John Leslie ROBINSON.

Merchant Navy S.S. Caledonian Monarch (Glasgow).

14 Jan 1942 aged 21.

Tower Hill Memorial, Panel 22.

On 7 Jan 1942 the Caledonian Monarch (Master James Valentine Stewart) straggled from station convoy SC-63 and was reported missing. One week later convoy encountered severe bad weather and was dispersed. No trace of the Caledonian Monarch or any of the 48 onboard were ever found, she was considered lost either to enemy action or marine causes on 14 Jan 1942.

Type VIIC U-588 (Kapitänleutnant Viktor Vogel) claimed an unescorted merchantman on 22 Jan 1942 but the ship was never identified. This vessel could have been the Caledonian Monarch.

Caledonian Monarch (photo from Uboat.net/Nick Chipchase)

WILLIAMS C.

Ordinary Seaman LT/JX301704 Cyril WILLIAMS

Royal Naval Patrol Service H.M.S. Europa.

13 Jan 1942 aged 19

Cheadle And Gatley Cemetery, Sec. 16. Grave 125.

Son of Edward and Sarah Williams, of Cheadle Heath, Stockport

Cyril served with the Royal Naval Patrol Service based at H.M.S. Europa in Lowestoft. H.M.S. Europa known locally as the 'Sparrow's Nest', was the central depot/base ashore for the R.N.P.S. which manned minesweeping and anti-submarine trawlers in home waters although many were also deployed abroad.

On 13 Jan 1942 at around 16:30 a Dornier 217 of 9/KG.2 and piloted by Oberleutnant Ernst Walbaum, dropped 2 High Explosive bombs on the center of Lowestoft. 71 civilians and service personnel were killed, with another 116 injured.

Grave of Cyril WILLIAMS (photo by Chris Gleave)

BOLLINGTON W.

Chief Yeoman of Signals C/224645 Walter BOLLINGTON

Royal Navy 

12 Jan 1947 aged 60

Stockport Crematorium, Panel 2.

Walter was one of six children of George and Amy Bollington. During the 1901 census the family was living on Greg Street, where he was working as a brass finisher. He married Ethel Williams at St.Mary, Reddish in 1943, and lived in Heaton Norris. In 1911 he was serving on H.M.S. Berwick in Gibraltar as part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron.

Walter became a recruitment officer during the Second World War, and died 12 Jan 1947 after an illness.

Screen Wall at Stockport Crematorium (photo by Chris Gleave)

Screen Wall at Stockport Crematorium (photo by Chris Gleave)