HENRY BACON

Sit down friend, and pause a bit,
And I'll tell you of a famous ship.
Her crew were heroes brave and bold,
Her story was not often told.

They were sailing back from Russian shore,
The numbing cold hard to ignore.
Across a vast engulfing sea,
The BACON sailed for liberty.

They left their cargo at old Murmansk,
Those men were up to any task.
They carried on as seamen do,
To bring the BACON to Loch Ewe.

The Germans found them broken down,
An ugly duckling, homeward bound.
Her crew had fought the raging sea,
And bombing by the enemy.

Burbine, Reed, Tatosky too,
Heroes all of world war two.
They did not shirk or hesitate,
Ask them of bosun Lammon's fate.

Today some sleep beneath the wave,
Aboard the ship they fought to save
A few came home again to sail,
With men like these we could not fail.

Ian Adrian Millar

In memory of the crew of the S/S HENRY BACON which was attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe on it's way back to Scotland from Russia. Aboard the BACON 22 crewmen including the Captain Alfred Carini and Chief Engineer Donald Haviland with seven Navy gunners were lost. Also aboard were nineteen Norwegian Men women and children, refugees all of whom survived. At some point the Chief Engineer Haviland gave up his place in a lifeboat to a younger member of the crew saying to the effect of "It's not so important I get back" It was a day of heroism for the merchant seamen and Navy gunners but few people know of it today.