Churchill's atlantic convoys

[WG Smith]

My second book 'Churchill's Atlantic Convoys - Tenacity and Sacrifice' is to be published by Pen and Sword in April prior to commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic in Liverpool on 23/24 May 2023.

For details see:

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Chur...rdback/p/23189

[WG Smith]

Publication is now scheduled for 30 April 2023.

[Colin McClelland]

Just watched a movie , GREYHOUND. Tom Hanks plays the captain of an American destroyer Greyhound on convoy protection in the North Atlantic.
A lot of the action is by computer , but it is quite well done.

[Ronnie MacLean]

Look forward to the book. My father William Alvin McLean was first mate on the Donaldson Line Sulairia, from May 1939 to April 1940, before he escaped (apart from the Clydebank Blitz) to become a Clyde Pilot. There were increased war risk payments for the later voyages. The master was Robert Clarke Young, then James Cook, of the torpedoed Athenia (in Feb to April 1940). Voyage 87 was in HX-4 home, Voyage 88 in HXF-11 home, Voyage 89 HX-17 home and Voyage 90 HX-29 home, probably when my father was acting master as R C Young was indisposed. On Voyage 94 the Sulairia was torpedoed in the stern and sank slowly when a straggler from OB-217, master Robert Clarke Young, 400 nautical miles West of Ireland, by U-43 (Ambrosius) with 1 casualty from 57 onboard. Ronnie.

[WG Smith]

You might find this link of interest:

No Higher Purpose. The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World Warr 1939 – 1943
https://publications.gc.ca/collectio...02-2-1-eng.pdf

[WG Smith]

Churchill's Atlantic Convoys - Tenacity and Sacrifice was released on 5 May and now available.

[Brenda Shackleton]

Hello
Hope that Convoy ONS7 is mentioned!
Rescue of the crew of SS AYMERIC. "17th May 1943 .10pm. torpedoed on port side forward. Many dead and injured. She went in about 7 minutes. 25 survivors in a very numbed condition suffering from shock & exposure. 6 Lascars died from shock & exposure (burial at sea.)" Dad's notes on COPELAND.

In later years he told me that it was really terrible; oil burning on the water and men screaming in pain and in the dark. It affected him greatly.

William Nichol Moffat ( Boatswain) was awarded the B.E.M and Lloyds Silver War Medal for Bravery at Sea; on Dad's recommendation. I have the Citation if you are interested.

Brenda

[Keith Tindell]

Anyone who, like me, did not fully understand how the rescue boats operated, should read the book, very interesting and informative.

[WG Smith]

Battle of The Atlantic 80th Anniversary Commemorations.

Various events will be held in the city of Liverpool from 26 to 28 May 2023 to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic.

For details see - https://battleoftheatlantic.org/boam-events/

[Hugh]

Rescue of the crew of SS AYMERIC. "17th May 1943 .10pm. torpedoed on port side forward. Many dead and injured. She went in about 7 minutes. 25 survivors in a very numbed condition suffering from shock & exposure. 6 Lascars died from shock & exposure (burial at sea.)" Dad's notes on COPELAND.

In later years he told me that it was really terrible; oil burning on the water and men screaming in pain and in the dark. It affected him greatly.

Brenda

Hi Brenda,

Captain S. Morris and the crew of the AYMERIC suffered a terrible ordeal after the ship sunk and they entered the water. Captain Morris was critical of one of the escorts, a navy frigate, which stopped so close to him in the water that he could shout to them to pick up his crew who would not last in the freezing water. The frigate did not stop but simply signaled to the Rescue Ship Copeland: "There are men in the water here"... "If only the frigate had stopped to pick us out of the water whilst the COPELAND was steaming towards us, many more lives would have been saved, as in the icy water it was only a question of a few minutes before a man became stiff and sank".

AYMERIC.jpg

Regards
Hugh