Hi

[Ronald Moores]

Hi everyone ...I'm new to the site ..
I was at the Vindi from January '66to April '66
Would love to hear from anyone who was there at that time..
The ship I joined on leaving the Vindi was Carinthia sailing from Liverpool..
Then I joined the Oronsay... Then MV Canopic....then Port St Lawrence, then TT Bedford
The London Bridge..and a few more...

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Ronald
Welcome to the site and thank you for joining,also for the info on your Ships etc!
I think if my memory is correct our Site Owner was also on the London Bridge,not sure as to the dates! But dare say before your time!
Enjoy the site and what we have to offer!
Cheers

Added Just looked up and see that Brian (Site Owner )was on the London Bridge in 1969.
Cheers


http://www.merchant-navy.net/gallery...bridge&cat=503

[John Gill]

Hi Ronald. I was on the Carinthia in '66, topside as engineers steward. Was the London Bridge one of Bowrings?

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Ronald. I was on the Carinthia in '66, topside as engineers steward. Was the London Bridge one of Bowrings?

The one Built in 1967 was John!
309901 6707973 6707973 1967 LONDON BRIDGE 28467 V1967 #1105 Bowring SS Co Ltd GBR London

[John Gill]

Thanks for the info Doc. Reason i asked was that my father was with Bowrings as bosun for a long time and whilst aboard the Sidney Bridge in Vittoria suffered a heart attack aged 65, was treated in hospital there, flown home and effectively retired from the MN. Although he was never a member of any company pension scheme, Bowrings gave him a lifetime pension as a recognition for his loyalty. He died in 1987 aged 80. I have attempted to claim his wartime awarded medals without much success. I have been told that there are medals to be claimed but i always seem to come up with more brick walls when i reply. He was on the Atlantic convoys and the Murmansk Run and was torpedoed a couple of times. I still live in hope of seeing part of my fathers life i knew so little of, as with most people of that ilk then, rarely spoke of their experiences.
gilly

[DeepSea]

I have attempted to claim his wartime awarded medals---gilly

Have you ever left details on site in regard to your fathers full name, date and place of birth and discharge book if known for us to check to see if his medal file still exists. If not we have the knowledge on site to guide you through the full process on how to obtain any medals even if the medal file no longer exists by tracing his CRS-10 service file and if needed the Movement Cards for each ship, which are needed for claiming individual campaign stars.

Also have on file all ships which took part in convoys to Russia, plus I have details of every Merchant ship sunk or damaged during WWII. If he served with Bowring's during WWII it would be easy to trace if he was on any of the six ships which were torpedoed.

[John Gill]

#6- thank you for your interest DeepSea, Yes i do have the info you mentioned. I shall post it here and hopefully i may progress a little further foreward.

Thomas Gill
dis.1110988
d.o.b 09/2/1908, Liverpool.

[Ron B Manderson]

welcome to the site Ronald.
Enjoy
Ron the batcave

[DeepSea]

There is no existing medal file for him available, nor a copy of his Seaman's Pouch, but Kew do hold at least one file on him in BT391/38/59 This file idicated he at some point took part in the Normandy Campaign and should detail the ship he served on. You can request a copy of this file at the link given or if you can visit Kew in person can get a copy. You will note his date of birth is listed as 1907, but these are common mistakes held in these files.

As his medal file is no longer on file, you need the following:

His CRS-10 service file detailing his war service would be held at Kew in classification BT382. 1941 to 1972 Fifth Register of Merchant Seaman's Service.

Records of individual Merchant Seamen's sea service details are held in alphabetical surname order. These details include the following information: Name of seaman, Date and place of birth, Discharge (Seaman’s) book number, Rank, Details of the ships on which he served. These include: Name of ship and official number, date of engagement (Joining ship), Date of discharge (Leaving ship), whether ship was a foreign going of home trade vessel, and records in some cases National Insurance contributions. Details shown in these records are similar to those contained in an individual seaman's discharge book.

The actual files are held in block by surname and would require a visit to Kew unless you are willing to pay for a researcher. His file should be held in the following file BT 382/648 covering the surnames "Gill B to Gilland S"

Once you have a copy of the service file, we can trace copies of each ship and the Movement Cards to coincide with each ship and the time he was onboard to cover each campaign medal. Once you have all this an application can be made to the MCA Medal Officer in Cardiff.

[John Gill]

re#9. Thank you for unearthing that detailed information. It certainly seems a complicated process to obtain the information required to access these medals. My sister recently visited Kew in an effort to find some answers and even recruited the services of a researcher (not cheap), but had no success, even armed with a lot of our fathers documentation. The stumbling block may be the contradiction in relation to the date of his birth as you pointed out. I have his birth certificate in front of me now and it is correct as 1908, the same as his discharge book, but an online search gives it as 1907. Again, thank you for your efforts and i will endeavour to locate the relevant file and hope that some more progress can be made.
gilly