7th May 1941 STANWIX, Ronald, Able Seaman, C/JX 152811, killed [GREENOCK CEMETERY] His ship was corvette HMS Eyebright. He is listed as killed by bombing. I believe he was a victim of the German air raid on Greenock, rather than an attack on the escort. Any ideas? Regards, Steve
Just in case anyone else is looking, most sources give service number as 152871 Casualty Details | CWGC Gro War Death Naval Ratings Indices (1939 To 1948) just states died on war service
Welcome aboard. Always apply for his Service Record, even if the turnaround is reported as a year plus now. See: Request records of deceased service personnel Upload the records here once you've obtained them and then the forum can get to work on them. Please do not pay for any site on the internet who promise you his service records they will not have them, and you would have wasted your money. Have you got the CWGC details? I see Ronald was serving on a HM Canadian Ship, so was he a with the Royal Navy or the Canadian Navy? That would determine which place to contact for his service record. HMCS Eyebright is a corvette that only became Canadian in May 1941, having crossed the Atlantic partly completed in January 1941. Alas no mention on Wiki of where she was in May 1941, except she was built for convoy duties and Greenock was one of several ports in the Firth of Clyde, where I expect convoys assembled. See: HMCS Eyebright - Wikipedia and a photo: HMCS EYEBRIGHT A little more on: Flower-class corvette - Wikipedia There was a RCN shore base at Greenock HMCS Niobe. Within: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica....e3856d27b4efee64b2a906/lawrence_inventory.pdf One website hit via Google states: Looking at the thread I cannot see that detail! Royal Canadian Navy 1930 -1950 Ronald is buried in a 'joint grave' - the meaning of which escapes me - alongside Edward John Hughes. See: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2456468/EDWARD JOHN HUGHES/ Who also has the service number with the prefix C/JX - unsure what that means and his number was: 231532. A soldier in the Royal Artillery also died the same day: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2456424/ALEXANDER BELL COPELAND/#&gid=1&pid=1 The Greenock Blitz on two nights in May 1941 has a brief outline here: From: Greenock Blitz - Wikipedia and Greenock Blitz 80th anniversary
HMS Eyebright was commissioned into the RN and not commissioned into the RCN until 15 May 1941. ADM 104/137 (Record of Deaths of Naval Ratings) has Stanwix's death recorded as 'At Sea' and has his Official No. as C/JX 152871. C/JX The C indicates the Rating's Base Port was Chatham and the JX indicates he was in the Seaman or Communications Branch. Tim
Tim, If HMS Eyebright was Royal Navy until 15/5/1941, why do the CWGC records refer to him as a crew member of HMCS Eyebright, when he died a week before? Just a mistake. My own suspicion is that he was on the crew that brought the ship from Canada to the UK or he was assigned once she reached the UK, as she originally went to Sunderland (from Wiki) and was present prior to her handover. I do not exclude his death could have been aboard the ship whilst away from Greenock, on trials / handover introduction etc. I found this entry, which may help: From: HMCS Eyebright - Canada.ca For those not familiar with Tobermory it is a small port on the Isle of Mull, on the west coast of Scotland. Although the Luftwaffe raid was aimed at the dockyard and ships berthed it appears from a quick read of the history online for this Blitz that very few service personnel were killed, possibly four from CWGC section at Greenock Cemetery. From Wiki:
Almost certainly an error by CWGC. ADM 104/137 has him being killed in HMS Eyebright. HMCS Eyebright - Canada.ca Tim
Thanks Gents, Yes, HMS Eyebright didn't become HMCS until the 15th May (despite the CWGC listing). So as suggested, AB Stanwix was probably part of the Royal Navy delivery crew. Regarding his joint grave with O/Sig Hughes, he was one two casualties related to HMT Norwich City, namely BOWMAN, John G, Ordinary Telegraphist, P/JX 214575, killed [HUNTINGTON (ALL SAINTS) CHURCHYARD] HUGHES, Edward, Ordinary Signalman, C/JX 231532, killed [GREENOCK CEMETERY] [Listed by CWGC as dying on 6th or 7th] I am not sure if these two men were killed onboard the trawler or caught in the Greenock air raid. Regards, Steve
I have scrolled through the CWGC Index for those in the RN who died between 6-9th May 1941, there are two other possibles who are buried relatively at nearby Hunstanton and further away on the Isle Of Skye. It appears that the RN did not suffer many deaths between those dates. No RCN or Merchant Navy died and were buried locally in Greenock, although two merchantmen are buried / commemorated at an isle of Bute cemetery, for same time period. I do wonder after the earlier Clydebank bombing whether naval vessels did not moor at Greenock and dispersed in the Firth of Clyde - there is ample room to do so. Steve49 did post in the OP: To my knowledge, after separate research into a local Firth of Clyde story about a U-Boat being there for sometime early in the war for a long time, I did not identify any vessel being attacked in the Firth in WW2. It is possible that HMS Eyebright was caught in the deluge - with minimal damage, there were 200+ bombers involved. I would dismiss the possibility the ship was strafed.
