Good evening, I am new to all this so please forgive any ridiculous questions I may ask. I have recently been looking into my Great Grandfather on my Mother's side. He died in WW2 when the ship he was on was torpedoed by a U-Boat. I have some information about him but would like to know more about his time in the Navy, ideally without having to fork out money in the process (although I accept that may not be possible). Below is what I do know; but now am not sure where to go next. Name - Eric Barlow (D/JX 268421) Force - Royal Navy Rank/Role - Able Seaman (DEMS gunner) Born - 10.08.1912 Died - 04.07.1945 Ship at time of death - City Of Venice I do have one photo of him, which I've uploaded here, although I'm not sure if that has actually worked or not. Ideally I'd like to know things like how long he was in the Navy for, where he traveled to, what awards he received (if any), any stories about him etc. Generally just more information than I have currently. Any direction would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Chris
Chris, I hear you re the not wanting to spend brass thing, but everyone on here will all say the same thing...... the only way to go is to apply for his service records.... see the information at this link here...... £30 isn't too much to try and get what you need. In the meantime, others may come up with some info, but the sooner you send off for the records the better.
Hi Chris We often have people like yourself wanting to know specific answers to specific questions about a relatives service in WW2, at no cost. Unfortunately this is close to impossible - the reason for that is that yoiur relatives service records are held by the MOD and they are the only ones who have these records despite what some web sites offer. In order to have these records there is a fee of £30, and as he died in 'service' you only need to down load the .pdf version of his commerative certificate to add to the MOD forms that are available on this link - make sure you copy the Naval version - Request records of deceased service personnel CWGC link to his certificate is Casualty TD By the way you state he died in 1945 whereas the CWGC has his death as 1943
City of Venice (British Steam passenger ship) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net Crewlist from City of Venice (British steam passenger ship) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net I note he is shown as a DEMS gunner TD
First name(s) Eric Last name Barlow Number D/JX 268421 Rank Able Seaman Unit H.M.S. President Iii Regiment Royal Navy Birth date 10 Aug 1912 Birth place Middleton, Lancs Age 30 Death year 1943 Death date 04 Jul 1943 Place Hms President Iii (S S City of Venice) Death place At Sea Grave reference Panel 78, Column 3. Cemetery or Memorial Plymouth Naval Memorial Burial country United Kingdom Additional information Son of Fred and Cissie Barlow; husband of Ellen Florence Barlow, of Rhodes, Lancashire.
UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960 Name: Eric Barlow Event: Death Birth Date: 10 Aug 1912 Birth Place: Middleton, Lancs. Death Date: 4 Jul 1943 Death Age: 30 There is also another photo on Ancestry which is supposedly Eric - perhaps you can identify him - I would guess front & centre TD
There is a family tree on Ancestry that includes him and more photos of him when he was a child, there are also some letters written during his time in the RN So perhaps another avenue to follow TD
Hi Chris and welcome. He is not serving in 1939 so probably called up as HO rating. His service record may or may not give details of any D.E.M.S. service at sea so when you enquire please tell the MOD that he was a D.E.M.S. gunner so they search his P & V ledger. If there is no mention of his service on merchant ships there is the possiblility he is mentioned in MN records although, because the ship was sunk and the official logbook lost with her, you would need a bit of luck there - should you wish further information on this route let me know but as I say to all searching military seamen - get the service record first. MN records would require a visit to TNA Kew or employ a researcher. Clive - he is not mentioned in that plaque, I am afraid. Regards Hugh
Tricky, yes! That is him. Thanks so much, that is amazing. Tricky - How do I join Ancestry so I can check these photos out properly?
Ancestry: You pay to join, although they do have some offers, including free access to limited records at times. As you want to keep expense down, join your local library as they have access to Ancestry on a public access deal. You'll probably need to book an appointed time to use the library computer terminal and may need help becoming familiar with how to access files etc, but it's fairly easy, thousands of people use Ancestry or Find My Past or other similar Family History sites, but Ancestry does seem to have the high ground in terms of breadth of records. Reading about the loss of the City of Venice, it does read as if he stayed behind to fight the fires (although as a gunner on a Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship he didn't need to) Extract from U-boat net link given above A total of 19 rafts and two floats were released and all troops were clear of the ship by 21.30 hours with the exception of 25 to 30 men who volunteered to remain on board in case they could help in any way. However, the fire was spreading rapidly to the after end of the tween deck and frequent explosions were heard, presumably from tins of petrol and oil stowed in the forward holds. Due to the eminent danger of the flames reaching the ammunition magazine forward and the petrol stowed between the after end of #2 hatch and the dining saloon, the master decided to abandon the City of Venice after having considered to beach her on the nearby coast. Some men then went into lifeboat #8 which cleared the ship at about 22.00 hours to pick up men swimming in the water nearby and had not yet returned when HMS Teviot (K 222) (Cdr T. Taylor, DSC, RN) came alongside on port side near #3 hatch. The chief officer, second officer, seventh engineer officer, ten gunners and the soldiers who had remained behind boarded the frigate as quickly as possible until the ship was completely abandoned by 22.20 hours. However, the lifeboat #8 with about 60 occupants was capsized in an unfortunate accident when it fouled the starboard quarter of the rescue vessel, throwing all men into the sea between the ships. The master, eight crew members, one gunner and ten military passengers, including the officer in command of the troops, were lost from this boat. City of Venice well down by the head and on fire fore and aft by 23.30 hours and was seen to sink by the bow at 05.30 hours on 5 July. The landing craft HMS LCE-14 was lost with the ship. HMS Teviot (K 222) picked up a total of 204 survivors, the remaining survivors being rescued by HMRT Restive (W 39) (Lt D.M. Richards, RNR) and HMS Rhododendron (K 78) (Lt O.B. Medley, RNVR). They were all landed at Algiers on 5 July. What you might take some comfort from is that his actions probably helped save the lives of those that were rescued, by fighting the fires so as to enable them to get away. The U-boat was sunk about a week later... (U boat.net extract) U-409: Sunk on 12 July 1943 in the Mediterranean Sea north-east of Algiers, in position 37.12N, 04.00E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Inconstant. 11 dead and 37 survivors.
Fantastic, thanks alot for the advice and for the info. It's very nice to read that it appears he could have saved lives, albeit not his own.
