CWGC lists the following ten Merchant Navy deaths on the 5th December 1943. S.S. Itria Bhandary Rahm Ali [BCWM] S.S. Necaragua (Panamanian) Bhandary Mubarak Ullah [BCWM] S.S. Sir Harvey Adamson Boy Mihammad Husain (55) [BCWM] Tindal Kala Mian (41) [BCWM] Topass Gonari (38) [BCWM] S.S. Varela Oiler Abdul Haq (53) [BCWM] Fireman Dula Mian (45) [BCWM] Trimmer Harish Muhammad [BCWM] General Servant M.A. Almeida (34) [BCWM] Cook Nicolas Domingo [BCWM] I believe that they may all have been victims of the Japanese air raid targeting Calcutta on this date. The book 'Air war for Burma, Vol 3' says that 'three merchant vessels and a naval ship were damaged at anchor' during the attack. I've been able to identify two damaged merchant ships; the Clan Matheson, which is noted by Lloyd's as being damaged (with 6 dock workers killed onboard) and US Liberty Ship William Whipple which the USN Chronology lists as having sustained splinter damage (1 gunner wounded). So it's possible that some of the above seafarers may have been killed ashore or their ships were some of the unidentified damaged merchant vessels. Any ideas? Regards, Steve
Steve, "This rings a bell". This might give context: RAF in India, a very interesting story. Post 18 in: The India Army in WW2 is being erased from history About the main (now) airport.
The seamen were all aboard said vessels during the attack and yes I concur with your thoughts that the casualties were from the raid on Calcutta. One interesting data point is that the British Admiralty shipping casualty section determined that rather than three cargo ships slightly damaged, eight had been damaged in varying degrees. All remained afloat and none was deemed seriously damaged. Six of these ships were British, one American and one registered in Panama. The nature of the damage these ship received is unclear but there are indications it was not minor in all cases. Source: Japanese Air Raid on Calcutta – December 1943 From my own research: All those losses against the British ships: ITRA, HARVEY ADAMSON and VARELA show the seamen as being killed or drowned on that date. Further confirmation that the ships were damaged in the Calcutta raid comes from the ships' Movement Cards. VARELA - Damaged in air raid on port 5/12. Splinter damage. SIR HARVEY ADAMSON - Air raid on Calcutta 5/12. Damaged but not seriously. ITRA - Damaged by shrapnel fore and aft in air raid on Calcutta. 5/12/1943. I am also sure that checking with all the ship's Official Logbooks will have mention of same. Regards Hugh
Update: Did some more research on the shipping damage caused by the Japanese air raid. In addition to the six ships listed in the initial post (though it should be noted that the CWGC have spelling mistake with the Panamanian ship, as the ship was the Nicaragua), I've identified two more. USS LST176- Near missed by one bomb whilst in a dry dock, with 1 crew wounded US Liberty ship S.S. Louis A. Sengteller- Damaged with 1 gunner wounded
