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12th December 2017, 06:50 PM
#1
Hello - Dad's memorial
Hello all,
I am researching the service history of my father, Alfred Trevithick of Wellington NZ.
Dad passed away many years ago now, but we are having a memorial gathering in the new year and I am researching his early life and time in the merchant navy before and during WW2. We have no log books etc, so I am going largely by oral history. He would have served from about 1934 till at least 1943. He was out of the service by the 1950s.
I recently found a clue in A merchant navy man's story: an engineer officer's wartime experiences in the New Zealand Shipping Company, 1939-1945. The author David Lionel Hodgson had served on the Rangitiki in the early 1940s, and repeated a story told to him by other officers of how the ship survived an attack by Admiral Scheer in 1940. His version was very close to a story Dad told, so I did some digging around the incident.
This lead me to this old newsreel clip on youtube taken in Liverpool in November 1940. The clip shows a group of officers on board the ship Erodona, and I recognised Dad in the group, aged 22. He has four stripes on his sleeve, which makes him an (engineering) first officer, I believe.
It is a long shot, but I'm trying to track which ships he sailed on (I am fairly sure it was the Rangitiki in 1940, and later the Josiah Parker in December 1943.) Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I haven't searched this forum yet. Will do that now I have introduced myself.
I hope others will find the linked footage insightful.
Kind regards,
John Trevithick
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12th December 2017, 07:01 PM
#2
Re: Hello - Dad's memorial
Hello John T
Welcome to the site,and I hope that with time you will be able to get a lot of info on what you are looking for.
I will also try and see what I can find and will post whatever I can later!
Thanks for joining
Cheers
Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website
R697530
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12th December 2017, 07:09 PM
#3
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12th December 2017, 08:28 PM
#4
Re: Hello - Dad's memorial
Hi Doc,
Yes, thank you! I'm browsing the links now.
That was very navy-efficient of you.
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12th December 2017, 08:53 PM
#5
Re: Hello - Dad's memorial
Let us know how you go and what you find.
Any other info I get will post!
Crew lists are also available at the Archives of the university OF Canada on many ships,thousands of Documentations were transferred there over the past Years!
https://www.mun.ca/mha/about/orderagreements.php
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14th December 2017, 06:51 AM
#6
Re: Hello - Dad's memorial
This info kindly supplied by Ex Member Marian in Email to me Today (As she says Old Habits die Hard)
Thank you for this Marian
Name: |
Alfred Trevithick |
Arrival Date: |
2 Nov 1943 |
Birth Date: |
abt 1917 |
Age: |
26 |
Ethnicity/ Nationality: |
British (English) |
Port of Arrival: |
New York, New York |
Ship Name: |
Vacport |
|
|
Name: |
Alfred Trevithick |
Arrival Date: |
3 Jan 1944 |
Birth Date: |
abt 1920 |
Age: |
24 |
Ethnicity/ Nationality: |
British (English) |
Port of Departure: |
Augusta, Italy |
Port of Arrival: |
New York, New York |
Ship Name: |
Athelviking |
|
Signed on Wellington 25th July 1942 |
Rank:Sen 4th [Engineer?]
Height 5' 8 '' |
Weight 167lbs |
New Zealand, World War II Ballot Lists, 1940-1945
VIEW
Name: |
Alfred Leslie Trevithick Marine Engineer |
Embarkation: |
1945 |
Army Number: |
454083 Pte Inf Reinfs |
Last Residence: |
Wellington, New Zealand |
Relative Name: |
Mr G D Rogers |
Relationship: |
Uncle |
Nominal Roll: |
1 Jan 1945 - 31 Dec 1945 |
Place of Enlistment: Wellington |
Married, 1945, Paddington, NSW Australia
Passenger Lists leaving UK 1944
Stayed in Stork Hotel, Queen Sq Liverpool due to travel on ship below but did not, no reason given
First name(s) |
Alfred |
Last name |
Trivithick |
Gender |
Male |
Age |
25 |
Birth year |
1919 |
Occupation |
3RD ENG M N |
Departure year |
1944 |
Departure day |
6 |
Departure month |
4 |
Departure port |
Liverpool |
Destination port |
New Zealand |
Destination |
NEW ZEALAND |
Country |
New Zealand |
Destination country |
New Zealand |
Ship name |
Brisbane Star |
Ship official number |
165365 |
Ship master's first name |
F N |
Ship master's last name |
RILEY |
Shipping line |
BLUE STAR |
City |
LIVERPOOL |
Ship destination port |
NEW ZEALAND |
|
|
Ship registered tonnage |
7948.38 |
Number of passengers |
13 |
|
Last edited by Doc Vernon; 14th December 2017 at 06:54 AM.
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15th December 2017, 06:12 AM
#7
Re: Hello - Dad's memorial
Wow, brilliant!
That helps fill in some gaps. I'd been looking on the Canadian site for the ships, but HMS Rangitiki (#1149561) and SS Josiah Parker (#242368) aren't listed there, and I can't find Erodona's official #.
But the journey in 1943/44 from Augusta, Italy to New York on the Athelviking is interesting. Family story has it that his ship was due in to Bari, Italy on Dec 3 1943, and had to divert to Taranto due to the big bombing raid there on Dec 2nd. Maybe the ship wasn't Josiah Parker as I first thought.
Thanks heaps, Marian. I'll cross-reference convoys and see what that produces.
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