Joe Buntin WW2 Arctic Convoys

[Sharon Sorensen]

Hello,

I’m looking for any information regarding my Grandfather, Joseph Buntin, a Merchant Navy man who served in the WW2 Arctic Convoys.
He didn’t speak about it much, but I have documents to say he at one point served as a gunner on HMS London. I don’t know exactly when though.
He only really told us 3 stories, all of them horrific.

I’m a filmmaker and am currently writing a shirt animated film about the Arctic Convoys as well as writing and illustrating a children’s picture book of the same story.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Certainly, may be worth contacting the Russian Arctic Convoy Project.

https://racmp.co.uk/

Contact us:

https://racmp.co.uk/contact/

Keith.

[Sharon Sorensen]

Hi Keith, thanks for the response. I already have contacted RACP who advised I go to Kew to search for his records. Unfortunately that’s just not possible at the moment as I live in Edinburgh.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Can you please provide his place / date of birth etc.

Touch wood a few here will assist.

Keith.

[Sharon Sorensen]

Can you please provide his place / date of birth etc.

Touch wood a few here will assist.

Keith.

Yes, no problem.

D.O.B 1st June 1924
Place, Mary Street, Glasgow, Scotland
7AF748BD-38EB-4176-BBAD-569BC458D803.jpg

[Keith at Tregenna]

HMS LONDON - County-type Heavy Cruiser
including Convoy Escort Movements

https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Ch...6CA-London.htm

[DeepSea]

First of all we need to establish whether he was Royal Navy or Merchant Navy and going by your post he was Royal Navy if he served on HMS London. These records are still held by the MOD and can be applied for by downloading application form at the following link.

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military...-elses-records

[Keith at Tregenna]

Appreciated.

K.

[Sharon Sorensen]

He was Merchant Navy, it was quite a common practice for the RN to ask MN sailors to sign a T124x agreement so that they could be deployed on

B56DA8ED-E510-4862-933F-0E97B14A99B2.jpg

any ship.

[DeepSea]

I am well aware of the T124 Agreements, but in 20 years of research I have never known a Merchant Seamen be assigned to a Royal Navy Cruiser. The T124X & T124T Agreements covered auxiliary vessels.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, it was evident that the Royal Navy would not be able to man all the auxiliary vessels that would serve with it. To deal with the shortfall in manpower, a number of officers and men of the Merchant Navy agreed to serve with the Royal Navy under the terms of a T.124 agreement, which made them subject to Naval discipline while generally retaining their Merchant Navy rates of pay and other conditions. The manning port established to administer these men was at Liverpool. More than 13,000 seamen served under these conditions in various types of auxiliary vessels, at first mainly in armed merchant cruisers, but also in armed boarding vessels, cable ships, rescue tugs, and others on special service.