Wars and ConflictsΒ permalink
Ark Royal
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Message 1.Β
Posted by Bessiebennett (U14200483) on Thursday, 27th October 2011
I remember a friend of my mother called Mrs Matthews. She had a son, Bobbie, and daughter and lived in Huyton, Lancashire. Her husband was a Chief Engineer on the Ark Royal before the war.
He was due to retire when the 1939 war started so he stayed on the ship. He went down with it when it was sunk and I remember how devestated his family were.
They moved to the Plymouth area and I am enquiring if any of their descendents are still there?
Bessie Bennett -
Message 2
Posted by raundsgirl (U2992430) on Thursday, 27th October 2011
Bessie, remember we can't discuss living people or mention their names or personal details on here (see House Rules on the right) -
Message 3
Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Friday, 28th October 2011
According to those sources I have consulted, only casualty of Ark Royal's sinking was an Able Seaman Mitchell.
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Message 4
Posted by raundsgirl (U2992430) on Friday, 28th October 2011
U-L is right, the only casualty was killed when the ship was struck. The rest of the crew were taken off and expected to rejoin the ship next day, but it sank during the night.
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Message 5
Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Friday, 28th October 2011
I've had a look at the RN casualties lists for WWII for Matthews. Those lost serving in a carrier were:
MATTHEWS, David J A, Stoker 2c, D/KX 99773, Glorious, 8 June 1940, ship loss, MPK
MATTHEWS, Francis E, Stoker Petty Officer, D/KX 80282, Glorious, 8 June 1940, ship loss, MPK
MATTHEWS, Sidney H, Able Seaman, D/J 11046, Glorious, 8 June 1940, ship loss, MPK
Sidney was 32, Francis 30, David - unknown.
I wonder if your memory is playing you tricks? -
Message 6
Posted by Bessiebennett (U14200483) on Saturday, 29th October 2011
I am going on what my mother told me. He was a Stoker Petty Officer so maybe the ship's name was wrong but he deffinitely went down with his ship in the early days of the war. He would have been due to retire from the navy when the war broke out.
I am going to look into his wedding date to get his actual Christian name.
Will post what I learn.
Bessie Bennett. -
Message 7
Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Saturday, 29th October 2011
I'd say Francis looks like your man - the loss of Glorious was a farily melancholy chapter of errors - gives a reasonable summary.
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Message 8
Posted by raundsgirl (U2992430) on Sunday, 30th October 2011
Family stories are full of people getting the wrong end of the stick! Something is misheard, or mixed up with a different story. Anything can happen. Once on the FH board we had someone whose 'story' was about a family member being shot dead by a sniper in Ypres and had their name on the Thiepval memorial. Well, that was handed down, but Thiepval commemorates the dead of the Somme etc and is in France, whereas Ypres is, of course, in Belgium! We got it sorted eventually.
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Message 9
Posted by Bessiebennett (U14200483) on Sunday, 30th October 2011
My half brother has spent a great deal of time visiting war graves in Europe. Checking names with his County's War dead and if a name has not been put onto the War memorial of where the deceased came from, he would ask the family's permission and then get the local authority to put it on.
Now he does research for his local Library. -
Message 10
Posted by MB (U177470) on Monday, 31st October 2011
My half brother has spent a great deal of time visiting war graves in Europe. Checking names with his County's War dead and if a name has not been put onto the War memorial of where the deceased came from, he would ask the family's permission and then get the local authority to put it on.
Now he does research for his local Library.Β
I went through our local war memorials and found quite a lot of names missing, it seems to be quite common.
MB -
Message 11
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Tuesday, 8th November 2011
Yes, my husband's family always talked of his Uncle Ceorge being killed at Dunkirk. When we went to visit his grave at L'Ile de Noirmoutier, it all became rather puzzling, since this didn't seem to fit, and now it seems he was actually on the Lancastria which went down with thousands of people in June 1940 (still doesn't fit perfectly with the date of his death which is put in August 1940).
At the same time, I take written records with a grain of salt too, since the war records of my great-uncle say he was 5 '9" when he was actually quite a tall man. I thought perhaps my memory as a child had put him taller than he was (though he lived with us and was considerably taller than my father, called 5'8" in the records). However I have talked to people older than me who say he was definitely taller than that. But anyone relying on records will assume they are correct.
Cheers, Caro.
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