Richard Willis (deceased)

[Christine Couper]

SHIPS NAME AND SERVICE RECORD

Full Name

Richard Willis (deceased)

Discharge Book Number

R205792

Department

Engine Room

Your Rank/Rating

Fireman & Trimmer

Which Ships were you on and When

Tewkesbury - 1940-41
Cable Ships 1944 - 1947:
HMS Ubiquity
HMS Latimer
HMS Algerian
HMS Lasso

S/S Calvin Coggin 1947
S/S Empress of Scotland 1947
S/S Rondo 1948
S/S Deeness 1948
S/S Queensland 1948; 1966 - 1970
S/S Norman Queen 1948
S/S Ardgantock 1948-1949
S/S Ficus 1949 -1950
M/V Nuttallia 1950-1951
Cardiff Brook 1962 - 1963, 1964 -1965
M/V Greenland 1963 - 1964
S/S Charles H Merz 1965 - 1966
M/V British Willow 1970
M/V Pulborough 1970
M/V Wadhurst 1970 - 1972

Notes:

Dad joined the MN as a mess room boy on the Tewkesbury just before he was 15. He joined at his home town of Blyth, Northumberland.
He was on HMS Lasso at Heligoland when the German fortifications were destroyed in 1947.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Hope Christine does not mind but adding the below as I think she meant to:

Hello,
I am the daughter of a merchant seaman and am trying to put together his working life aboard ship. His name was Richard Willis, born 1925 in Blyth, Northumberland. He died in 1977.
Very early on, he served aboard the cable ships during WW2 and later (1944-1947), then returned to the Merchant Navy in 1947. I presume he applied to do this but I can find no record of his actually signing up to the RN so maybe merchant seamen were recruited? He did a 3 week training course in Newcastle upon Tyne at the Fireman's Training School (Shipping Federation Ltd) just before joining HMS Ubiquity in February 1944.
I would love to hear about anyone else's stories if they were similar, or if anyone can add to my (scant) knowledge?
thank you
Christine

[j.sabourn]

I may be wrong here , but I get the inference that the poster maybe think the cable ships were not the MN. Cable and wireless may have given the impression they were RN by calling their masters Commander and various other naval ranks I believe, that is if they were the same in 1966 when I applied for a job.If he was in cable ships in1944 then he was in the MN from that date. JS

[Keith at Tregenna]

Hope Christine will continue both looking in and updating.

K.

[Maureen Wright]

That’s an amazing record Christine . Thanks for posting.

[j.sabourn]

I am a bit intrigued about this cable ship reference. A short discription about my brief correspondence with them in 1966. The Seamans strike affected a lot of seamen in different ways, myself I made the decision to get out of what appeared to me to a situation heading for the rocks.I applied for 3 different jobs 1. The London Inner council was applying in the National newspapers with the advert saying “ Merchant navy seafarers now is the time to work a 5 day week “ this was on the Sludge vessels on the river. I applied and went for the interview in London which was a disaster , just before the interview it was pointed out to me in the small print that preference would be given to anyone with an injury or illness that deprived him from deep sea duties , so was one down. 2. Applied to Cable and wireless , I was too old at 29 years of age , and their cut off age was 28. I wrote back and said I didn’t require seatime as had all my certificates and thought it was two down. Mark 3 I applied for a job out on a ship looking for a ch. officer carrying passengers and cargo Eastern Canada to the West Indies through the agency in London of John Kilgours and was snatched out of the jaws of starvation and being thrown out of house and home for non payment of mortgage. After arriving Canada I received communication from Cable and Wireless that an exception was being made in my case , and what part of the world did I want to be stationed the West Indies, Hong Kong the Philippines Gibraltar and other places where they had their ships stationed , it meant living ashore and accomodation and schooling was provided for family , it appeared to be a Bobby’s job, and there was I tied up for the next 12 months. How our lives , whoever it is , could have been different but for the hand of fate , or some simpleton sitting in an office not doing his job properly. I suppose Kismet appears in everyone’s life. So reading the original post about Richard Willis it is confusing when it comes to cable ships which are merchant navy. His service on HMS vessels I can only assume he was scooped up by the navy as a hostilities only rating , others will know the description number it was assigned . Regards JS...

[Kieran Quinn]

Hi Christine, sorry to hear about your dad.
I just missed meeting him as I joined the Wadhurst in Feb 73.
Best wishes.
Kieran

[Christine Couper]

Thanks for that information, it's really useful. I had just assumed that he'd been assigned to the RN for that period of time when he served on the cable ships. The ships he served on were all titled HMS so that's what made me think this. There are a couple of photos of him in what looks like an RN uniform, about 1944, but maybe there was a similar uniform for the MN serving on those ships?
How I wish I'd asked him these things when I was younger! He died at a young age so I didn't get the chance. CC

[Christine Couper]

Hi Kieran,
Thank you very much for that. How I wish dad had been able to work another year or two on the Wadhurst now!
My dad loved the sea and his health was always improved once he was away, even though his area of work wasn't perfect for his respiratory problems!

best wishes
Christine

[j.sabourn]

Christine my wife is a Gateshead girl. Your not from the Rawling Road area are you ? JS