Bulletin Board: War at Sea Messages

Any information in regards to the the naval traing center at DunDonald 1 Scotland during WW2 for crew members for the HMS Scawfell.

Does anyone have any information in reagrds to the HMS Scawfell which accompanied the US Troop 128 to Normandy. Any information would be greatly appreciated i.e list of crew, name of Ships Captain etc.

My late father Ralph Morris served on HMS Egret in WWII. It was sunk by the first German guided missile in the Bay of Biscay. There were only 36 survivors of which he was one. I am intersted if there are any relatives of the other survivors (or the ones who sadly perished) who have any stories that they would care to share with me me as I do have one or two about my father.

I am interested in hearing from descendents of crew of HMS Trooper who were lost on 17th. October 1943. My father, Peter Milne Adam was an SPO on this boat and perished with everyone else on board. I was a 6 month old infant and I am sure there are many like me who were left in similar positions and would appreciate talking to others and to share our common grief. I would particularly like to know if anyone has a photograph of the crew between her launch and final patrol. I am indebted to David Grant, author of "The short life of HMS Trooper" for the invaluable information he has given me thus far and would urge anyone with an interest to get the book. Any information at all regarding Trooper, her crew or family would be welcomed.
Allan Adam.

At the time of her sinking, Charles Sulivan, my grandmother's younger brother, was a marine on board her. She was part of Convoy QP 11 leaving the Kola Peninsula [near Murmansk in Russia]. She was the flagship in a fleet of 17, and carrying 4.5 tons in gold bullion [worth then about 2.5 million pounds]. Part of Stalin's payment for the supplies that the Allies were shipping to the USSR. She was attacked by a German U-Boat [2 torpedos hit her], and while heading back to Murmansk, three torpedo bombers and three German destroyers! Although under fire, and badly damaged, she fought back. Before she was sunk - ironically by the HMS Harrier and HMS Foresight - over 800 men had been taken safely off. Sadly, of the 56 ratings and 2 officers killed my great-uncle was one of them. The gold was finally salvaged in 1981, worth now about £43 million, to prevent the Soviets reclaiming it!

please can any one help im renovating a dunkirk little ship called Dorian.
If any one could help I want to turn her into a floating information centre on Dunkirk and would appreciate any help with colecting information on Dunkirk and Dorians history if you would like to have a look at my web site please go to www.projectdorian.co.uk.
thank you

I am trying to find out about the above ship which before he died my Great Uncle said he was on in WWII. When he was alive my brother and I tried to find out about it but could not find it in any of the sunk ship lists so if anyonecould shed any light I would be very grateful.

My uncle said the SS Attikirk was 14,000 tons and registered at Rotterdam in Holland. It was part of a decoy convoy heading for Malta and 10-12,000 tons of ammunition was loaded at Port Said where my uncle got on.

However at midday on a day in June 1942 while the men were out on deck eating lunch a bomb came over and sunk the ship. The SS Attikirk sank 14 miles off Tobruk which Rommel took the next day.

My uncle said that only three people survived and he was with one of them on a piece of the boat. However when a rescue ship arrived they took my uncle on board but even though the other man was alive but unconscious his back was blown away and they left him to the sea.

My uncle said that when they were rescued he and the other survivor were kept securely and not really treated quite as if they were survivors of a sinking. This part never quite made sense to me but someone said that this ship may not be part of the official lists for one reason or another.

If anyone has any advice about how to find out about this I would be very grateful.

Many thanks,
Jon Wicken
jonwicken@yahoo.co.uk

I am researching the sinking of HMS Medway following the death of my father Dennis Lendrem in 2003.

My father lost two very close friends during the sinking of HMS Medway. See the account that follows. I have photographs taken by my father and any additional information would be much appreciated.

Built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, U.K. HMS Medway [1] was the first purpose-built submarine depot ship constructed by the Royal Navy. Launched on 19th July, 1928 with a displacement of 14,650 tons she carried two 4" guns and 4 4" AA guns and a complement of 1100 men.

HMS Medway served on the China Station at the outbreak of the Second World War but left in April 1940 for Alexandria. Here she supported the allied submarine fleet in the Mediterranean. In June 1942 captained by Capt. P. Ruck-Keene, CBE, RN she assisted in the evacuation of troops from Alexandria. Accompanied by eight destroyers she headed for Haifa. On the 30th June 1942 she was torpedoed and sunk by U-372 [2] captained by Kptlt. Heinz-Joachim Neumann off Alexandria.

Eye witness account of the sinking of HMS Medway by ABS Dennis Lendrem (Age 19):

"I left my bunk to go to the toilet and made my way to the upper decks. I was several levels up when the ship suddenly shuddered. Quickly, I made my way up to the upper deck. Already the ship was beginning to list to one side. The men gathered on the deck and the order was given to abandon ship. By now the ship was listing dangerously. I wanted to get away from the ship - I knew it would be dangerous to be too close to the ship when it went down. I climbed the handrail and slithered my way down the side of the ship before jumping into the water. I was a good swimmer and put as much distance as I could between myself and the ship before turning to watch her go down. I swam to a group of the lads treading water. We were in the water for about an hour before being picked up by another vessel. I asked around about my two bunk mates - one of whom was my best friend Jack. It was not until I got to Alexandria that I learned they had both been lost."

Allied submarine operations [3] in the eastern Mediterranean came to a standstill as a result of the loss of the Medway with all her facilities, including 114 spare torpedoes and spare submarine equipment.

Retrieved from
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Medway_%281928%29"

Hello- I am the daughter of one of six US marines that went into the invasion of Oran aborad the HMS Hartland or the HMS Walney. He was part of Operation Reservist and we are in search of any other surviors. He is 83 years old and would like to know if there is anyone out there to contact. His name if Norman Boike Thank you

I am researching some family history, in particular a relative who was sent to help clear up the aftermath of the bombing of the WRENs barracks in Plymouth in march/April 1941. I would like to contact any WRENs or Sailors who were involved at that time.

Many thanks!

My name is Robert Dempster. I was fireman, greaser and timmer on the Canadian WWII "Park" Ships(Highland Park, Kootenay Park,
Elk Island Park, Moose Mountain Park, Noranda Park, Fairmount Park, Evangeline Park). I voluntarily joined at the ripe old age of 18 yrs. I am now 83 yrs old and trying to locate colleages who remember me during those bygone days. I live in Scarborough Ontario and am writing this e-mail message with the help of my daughter.
I was also known as "RED".

New Zealander Colin White leaves for Malta soon on one of the toughest missions he has ever undertaken
The 85-uear-old war veteran leaves for the tiny mediterranean island next Friday ( 09 September 2005 ) to join a Battle for Malta Veterans Re-union ,marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Malta
Colin White ,who was awarded the Distinguished service Cross for his service there will be laying a wreath in memory of New Zealanders who died helping defend Malta
He had arrived on Malta in June 1942 as a 21-year-old aboard the fast minelayer HMS Welshman,having taken up a commission in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm
HMS Welshman repeatedly came to Malta's aid with food , medicine , aircraft parts and Bofors shells ,several times running its blockade before finally being sunk

I read with interest the articles featuring Corporal John Best, I served with him and was present when my best pal Tex was killed. I would like to get in touch with him, as would Les Scott, Fred Allen and Duke Hastings, all fellow Royal MArines.
Thank You