Barry Sutton

[Barry Sutton]

I want to thank everyone who helped me in my search and viewed my message. I am the son of a member of the British Merchant Navy. I was born in 1943 and my father died in 1943.
I have been searching on and off for about fifteen years. In 1944 my mother married a Canadian soldier and in 1946 the family emigrated to Canada. I am wondering what the status of
the merchant navy was during the war and if my father was entitled to some honour or recognition.


Thanks again , Barry Sutton

[Ron B Manderson]

welcome to the site Barry.
I am sure you will get the info you seek.
Ron the batcave

[Hugh]

Hello Barry,

As you are now aware, he was lost in an accident on SELBY in 1943 and under the present rule set he is not commemorated by the CWGC as he was not lost to enemy action or increased war risk. This is totally shameful in my opinion and I am sure no one who visits these pages would disagree with me.

If he joined the MN in 1939, then he will have seen service during WW2, and therefore may have a medal entitlement. I know he was born in 1917 but do you have his full date of birth so we can check it out for you and let you know how to proceed?

Regards
Hugh

[Barry Sutton]

Thanks Hugh

The Birth date I have is 23 March 1914, the age recorded at his death is 27. John's home address at time of death was 103 Parchmore Road Thornton Heath. According to the death certificate he was
declared dead on the 14th Feb. 1944, the body in Gateshead was interned the 14th of Feb. According to my brothers birth certificate his occupation was assistant steward in the merchant service and
on my birth certificate his occupation is listed as merchant navy fireman and general labourer so he may have been in the service before 1939. My mother remembers him being on a mine sweeper, she just
turned 93 and there are somethings that she can't remember. I sent an email to the Tower Hill memorial a while ago there is no record of a John Sutton listed.

Thank you very much: Barry Sutton

[john sutton]

you might want to go on the ancestry site.my wife has traced my ancesters back several generations.they all come from lancashire and most of them have a john in the family.
we might be related although there are hundreds of them round that particular part of the UK
john sutton

[Hugh]

Hello Barry,

Re medal entitlement: The nearest I can find is a Jack Sutton, 30 March 1917 - so according to your data, not the same person.

This suggests to me that his medals were never claimed by either himself or his family or the record has been lost. Personally I think as he died in 1943 his medal entitlement would have gone unclaimed.
The onus now is for the family to prove his medal entitlement and his NoK to send the details to the Registry of Shipping and Seamen. Only then will they send you his medals free of charge.

The documentation you need to prove his medal entitlement will be either his Discharge Book or his CRS 10 to show the ships he served in together with the relevant movement cards to show the theatres of the war that he operated in. It's not a quick or easy process but well worth it when you get to the end point and the medals are delivered.

If you wish to go down this road we will give you as much help as we can. The first step as I have said would be to obtain his CRS 10 from Kew unless you have his Discharge Book. I will point you to the relevant file that you need to obtain first should you wish to proceed.

Regards
Hugh

[Barry Sutton]

Yes Hugh I would appreciate your help. I would like to get his medals issued if he is entitiled and if that is my father in Gateshead cemetary I would like to get a memorial for the grave. I do not know how to prove it is my father but all the evidence points that way. Do you know who would have to make the final determination? My mother did not apply for his medals and i don't believe his family did not either. My mother never recieved his personal effects he had with him, I wonder where they went, after 67 years I suppose no one knows. my wife and I are planning to go to england in the spring or summer of 2013 if we are able. Maybe I can have all the hard work accomplished before we go. It is hard searching on the computer when I am not sure what I am doing. I do not have any of John's merchant navy papers, I only have a copy of his death, birth and marriage certificates.

Thank you for all you help

Barry

[Barry Sutton]

Hi John, Do You have a Henry Valentine Sutton in your Family tree? That was the name of my Grandfather the family lived around thornton heath surrey. He owned a laundry there.

Barry

[Hugh]

Hello Barry,

From the information that you have given and the information provided back to you, I have little doubt that the person interred at Gateshead lived at 103 Parchmore Road, Thornton Heath and died on SELBY in 1943 and is your father.

First thing you need to do is get hold of your dad's CRS 10 [service record from Jan, 1941] self-explanatory, but will detail all his ships from Jan 1941 until his death in 1943. For details of service prior to Jan, 1941, you will have to note the first ship shown on this crew agreement as this should list his previous ship then you need to get that crew agreement and work backwards until he joined the service.

Unfortunately this is not a very easy task to accomplish without visiting Kew as it can get expensive to hire researchers to obtain this information for you.
His CRS 10 should be held at Kew within piece BT 382/1746 the file is held in block so it contains other peoples files as well - this is why it can be difficult to obtain online.
So you have a bit of work to do before you can put a case together for his medals but everything starts with this file so you need to get that to begin with and see what it tells us.

Regards
Hugh

[Barry Sutton]

Hugh

Thank you for the help and information . Another question, when may father died my mother received a widow's and orphan's pension, I wonder if there is some way to get a copy of her pension records. She received the pension for us children until we turned 16.

Barry