DEMS gunner losses

Steve,
All of the gunners bar one were lost aboard ARABISTAN the exception being.

WATSON, Lance Bombardier, JOHN A., 2089944, 5/3 Maritime Regt., Royal Artillery. (SS Empire Corporal) 14 August 1942. Age 42. 67, 1.

Edwin Goodridge was the chief engineer of ARABISTAN [and the only survivor] who was a POW of the Japanese.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hi Hugh,

Thanks for that. Do you have only nine gunners lost with the Arabistan?

I have the above Army gunners, plus four RN ones.

BANKS, George, Act/Able Seaman (DEMS), P/JX 228589, (President III), MPK [PoM]
CROSS, Stephen J, Act/Able Seaman (DEMS), P/JX 289444, (President III), MPK [PoM]
DRAKE, Bertram F, Act/Able Seaman (DEMS), P/JX 249957, (President III), MPK [PoM]
GRANT, Joseph, Ty/Act/Leading Seaman, RNVR, C/HD/X 90, (President III), MPK [ChM]

Regards,

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

Yes, 9 Army gunners were lost on the ship + the 4 RN gunners. I have really only been listing the Army gunners as that was what you were concentrating on.
Just post if you are missing any RN gunners. I don't have them convieniently listed as with the Army DEMS but have a mixture of sources to find them.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hi Hugh,

It's ok I have the four RN gunners, I was just wondering if Lloyd's was in error. They stated 10 gunners lost with the Arabistan, but I can only see the four RN and five Army gunners casualties and can't identify any additional unassigned gunner losses over this period.

Regards,

Steve

 

Yes, I would agree that Lloyd's is in error again with the gunners. I have Lloyds Vol I & II for WW2 and it, like many other research books, gets it wrong at times. To name those DEMS gunners with their ships requires cross referral of many sources as no single source does it all.
Regards
Hugh

 

Re #41- #44 - The prisoner of war information in the casualty reports, see below, appear to be incorrect. It was corrected in 1942 to read killed in action.


Both were lost at sea when the Canadian ss MAPLECOURT was torpedoed and sunk by U-107 (Günther Hessler) with the loss of all hands. 6.2.1942.


BRIMICOMBE, George F, Private, Army, 6101787, age 27, Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey), killed 6 February 1941 (MAPLECOURT)
RIDDLE, Wilfred H, Private, Army, 6102539, Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey), killed 6 February 1941 (MAPLECOURT).

Regards
Hugh

 

Sunday 6th September 1942

WILKINSON, Walter S, Gunner, RA (4 Maritime Regt), 914021, killed [GRIMSBY (SCARTHO ROAD) CEMETERY]

Gnr Wilkinson died on this date, no obvious shipping incident and a shore burial, so I believe an accidental/illness related death. Any ideas?

Regards,

Steve

 

Hi Steve,
It appears he died in a Northern Ireland hospital. The headline from a newspaper archive - I don't have a sub.
Other articles state his parents donated blood but he did not survive.


Regards
Hugh

 

Thanks to Hugh's reference here is the article:


Tim

 

Thanks for that Tim. No obvious 'bombed' merchant vessel during this period, so I wonder which ship it was.

Regards,

Steve

 

Tuesday 8th September 1942

HENTY, Albert, Gunner, RA (3 Maritime Regt), 1609732, killed [SIMON'S TOWN (DIDO VALLEY) CEMETERY]

Buried in South Africa and no obvious shipping incident. So was Gnr Henty's death due to an illness/accident? Any ideas?

Regards,

Steve

 

HENTY, Gunner, ALBERT, 1609732, 3 Maritime Regt., Royal Artillery. 8 September 1942. Age 21. Son of Charles and Mary Henty, of Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Grave Ref. Naval Allotment Row D. Grave 43.

RN Hosp Simonstown cause of death T.B. Meningitis.
Regards
Hugh

 

Sunday 13th September 1942

GRAHAM, Henry, Gunner, RA (2/1 Maritime Regt), 3194692, killed [PoM]
MICHAEL, Charles, Gunner, RA (2/1 Maritime Regt), 3194722, killed [PoM]

I believe one gunner each was lost after the sinkings of S.S. Empire Beaumont and Dutch S.S. Suriname on this date. Does anybody have any idea who was lost on which ship?

Regards,

Steve

 

Hi Steve,
The gunners were not aboard either ship.

MICHAEL, Gunner, CHARLES, 3194722, 2/1 Maritime Regt., Royal Artillery. (SS Empire Stevenson) 13 September 1942. Age 28. Panel 72, Column 1.
GRAHAM, Gunner, HENRY, 3194692, 2/1 Maritime Regt., Royal Artillery. (SS Empire Stevenson) 13 September 1942. Age 27. Son of Thomas and Mary Helen Dickson Graham, of Nevtongrange, Midlothian. Panel 71, Column 3.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hi Hugh,

Thanks for that. I had the following gunners for S.S. Empire Stevenson.

CADDY, Thomas J, Bombardier, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1544131, killed [PlyM]
DAVIS, William H, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1707687, killed [PlyM]
DUTHIE, Robert, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 2980202, killed [PlyM]
HICKLIN, Henry H, Lance Sergeant, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1485736, killed [PlyM]
JENKINSON, Arthur E, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 4687667, killed [PlyM]
JONES, Iowerith I, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1482556, killed [PlyM]
PEDLIHAM, Frank C, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1639437, killed [PlyM]
SCULLION, Andrew, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1615889, killed [PlyM]
STEPHENSON, Robert W, Gunner, RA (7/4 Maritime Regt), 1799956, killed [PlyM]

CHAMBERS, Hugh M C, Act/Able Seaman, C/JX 333486, (President III), MPK [ChM]
CHIPLIN, Edward J, Act/Able Seaman, D/JX 312866, (President III), MPK [PlyM]
DRURY, Alan, Act/Able Seaman, P/JX 311598, (President III), MPK [PoM]
McCLOSKEY, James, Act/Able Seaman, P/JX 289739, (President III), MPK [PoM]
NORTH, William, Act/Able Seaman, D/JX 174181, (President III), MPK [PlyM]
ROBB, William D, Act/Able Seaman, C/JX 267893, (President III), MPK [ChM]
STURMAN, Frederick E, Act/Able Seaman, P/JX 311475, (President III), MPK [PoM]
YOUNG, Norman T, Act/Able Seaman, C/JX 248880, (President III), MPK [ChM]
YOUNGS, Leslie J, Act/Able Seaman, P/JX 221813, (President III), MPK [PoM]

I see Lloyd's says 19 gunners lost in the sinking, so with the two additional Army gunners, does that mean one of the above Naval gunners was actually lost with the Empire Beaumont?

Regards,

Steve

 

All of the Naval gunners I can confirm were lost with the EMPIRE STEVENSON.

I believe your source for the above is navalhistory.net. As you are aware, no one single source can account for the loss of the DEMS gunners so I try and use as many as I can find. For EMPIRE BEAUMONT, Lloyd's does state 1 gunner and 1 passenger killed along with 4 crew. I can find 5 crew deaths and no passenger or gunner lost.
I can confirm from my copy of the WW2 Deaths at Sea Register that gunner's Michael and Graham were aboard EMPIRE STEVENSON and the only discrepancy I have is with gunner Iowerith Idris Jones who is not listed against the ship but is listed in other sources.
As always, I suspect/hope the last crew agreement for EMPIRE STEVENSON and EMPIRE BEAUMONT would help and where I would want to look next.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hi Hugh,

Thanks yes the two missing gunners report was indeed from naval-history.net, which I was lead to believe after seeing Lloyd's report one missing gunner from each the ships. I see uboat.net lists 12 crew deaths for Suriname, but no gunner casualties. As they indicated that gunner detachment onboard the Dutch ship were actually US personnel, it showed that I had been following the wrong theory regarding the gunner death for that ship. I've had a look through my USN/USMC casualty lists and can see that the gunner lost on the Dutch ship was actually.

BUCHERT, Frank W Jr, SEA2, 6442282, USNR

With the 5 crew losses identified for Empire Beaumont, but no gunner, I guess it stands to reason that it is possible that one UK gunner of the deaths listed on this day was actually on this ship, but in the absence of documentary evidence, we've presently no way to confirm it.

Regards,

Steve

 

Thursday 24th September 1942

PORDAGE, George W, Gunner, RA (3/2 Maritime Regt), 11276035, [BUCEO BRITISH CEMETERY, MONTEVIDEO]
HICKS, Dennis A, Sergeant, RA (3/2 Maritime Regt), 3962118, killed [PoM]

Two gunner losses on this date and no obvious hostile shipping losses to associate with their deaths.

With a shore burial in Uruguay, I presume that Gnr Pordage died from an accidental/illness related cause.

As for Sjt Hicks, I wonder if his death is related to the loss of M.V. Defoe, which was wrecked after a fire and explosion on this date. Six of the ships crew were lost in this incident, so I wonder if he was also a victim of this accident. Any ideas?

Regards,

Steve

 

Hi Steve, he died of Acute Peritonitis in hospital he was serving aboard ss MARGALAU.

PORDAGE, Gunner, GEORGE WILLIAM, 11276035, 3 Bty. 2 Maritime Lt. A.A. Regt., Royal Artillery. (SS Margalau) 24 September 1942. Age 19. Son of William George and Mary Ann Elizabeth Pordage, of Bromley-by-Bow, London. Grave Ref. SC. 224. (Died from Acute Peritonitis in hospital)

You are correct.
HICKS, Serjeant, DENNIS ALFRED, 3962118, 3/2 Maritime Regt., Royal Artillery. (SS Defoe) 24 September 1942. Age 20. Son of Lily Hicks, of Newport, Momnouthshire. Panel 72, Column 1.

Regards
Hugh

 

Friday 25th September 1942

STEVENSON, Harry, Gunner, RA (6/3 Maritime Regt), 782919 [OTLEY (NEWALL-WITH-CLIFTON AND LINDLEY) CEMETERY]

The 25th was a terrible day for Army DEMS gunners, with ten being lost in the sinkings of S.S. Boston and S.S. New York. But with a shore burial, it seems likely that the days eleventh gunner loss, Gnr Stevenson, suffered an accidental/illness related death. Any ideas?

Regards,

Steve