Hi All, Its been a year or two since I have posted anything on here as I only just managed to discover my late grandfathers (John F. Emery Baker) history. I will paste a part the Email I received from a newly discovered relative: 'Jack (John Frederick Emery-Barker) as you must know was in the Navy and by all accounts had a rough time of it. I was told that he was the sole survivor from one ship that was sunk, and that he had spent days on a life raft before being rescued. My Dad, Arthur Emery-Barker, once showed me a photo that he had taken when he and Jack were both on mine sweepers in the same flotilla. It showed a mine sweeper sinking after hitting a mine and apparently Jack was on that boat. Dad's ship was called Rowena, I don't know the name of Jack's ship, but it might give you a lead to trace him during his time on mine sweepers. After the war Jack was apparently quite a volatile chap, and talking to cousin Brian I suspect that these days he would have been diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.' I was wondering if anyone new where to start with this research to find my grandads destroyed ships name. Would Rowena be known as HMS Rowena? Would rowena have a service record like a unit would have a war diary? would there be a flotilla record? I Also believe my grandad did not receive a medal he was entitled to, which I don't know what medal how do I find that out? I will be applying for a service record but need more information before applying. In the meantime i will be browsing photos of every minesweeper ever in existance for clues. Thank you
This ship seems to fit the bill: HMS Rowena (J 384) of the Royal Navy - British Minesweeper of the Algerine class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net
What does FL 18336 mean ? And what’s the number on the ship? I feel so stupid I know nothing of the sea and boats
Just to clarify I’m looking for the ship that was destroyed in a flotilla along with HMS Rowena which john Frederick Emery barker was the lone survivor.
When you click on the link in Post #2 it takes you to the Imperial War Museum photo catalogue. If you look, it shows the catalogue number as FL18336. Simples.... Like cars, warships need an identification, so that's known as the Pendant Number, which you can also see painted on the side of the ship, for HMS Rowena it would be J384. If another HMS Rowena were commissioned, it would have a different Pendant Number to distinguish it, much as no 2 car registrations should be the same. if you then go to the uboat net link in Post #4 you will see a list of ships in the Algerine minesweeper class. Scroll down to HMS Rowena and you'll see she was only commissioned (in service) from September 1944, so a short war. Therefore if you have a photo taken from HMS Rowena, it must be a ship sunk AFTER 8 September 1944. IF (repeat IF) the sunk minesweeper was of the same Class, then HMS Regulus was sunk off Corfu on 12 January 1945. But you'd need to know more about where Rowena served to try and reduce down the possibles..... The simplest way is to get his Service Record.
HMS Regulus, minesweeper 12th Jan 1945 Detonated mine in southern Corfu Channel (Position 39.24N 20.10E) which caused major damage to after structure with serious flooding. Ship was disabled due to propeller and shaft damage with a significant list and stern structure partially submerged. One rating working in the Tiller Flat was killed with several others injured. Ship was abandoned and survivors rescued by BYMS and MLs working with the Flotilla. Although taken in tow the ship sank 46 minutes after the explosion. The ships were all part of 8th Minesweeping Flotilla December 1944 minesweeping off Taranto January 1945 minesweeping off Corfu February 1945 to Bari for sweeping March 1945 Flotilla returned to Malta March 1946 5th Minesweeping Flotilla Malta There may be other files - I am not a naval expert Reference: ADM 232/57 Description: 5th and 8th British M/S Flotillas and Italian Navy: clearance operations in QBY 18, 46, 349 and 571 Date: 1946 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Restrictions on use: 3 working days notice to produce TD
I have forgotten how many searches I have been involved in that only had family lore as a starting point. My advice to you is quite simply that guesswork will not help you prove this and you will eventually need to obtain his service records. That said, even if you do this, it may not be conclusive based on the way the RN records were kept. But no matter, with any serviceman, the first port of call has to be his/her service record. Regards Hugh
Thank you I will be applying for service record but like I said without a service number and a list of name variations, I need to dig around more. I’m hoping to receive a photo of the moment the boat was destroyed from a newly discovered relative. Maybe it may give a clue.
According to the naval history website, only one man was lost on HMS Regulus, so if he was the only survivor, it's not Regulus.... Surely there aren't THAT many variations of John Frederick Emery Barker? Have you got the surnames reversed? Any relation to James Barker Emery? Even without a Service Number it should be possible to find him in the RN records - IF the "only survivor" story is fact - he may have thought he was, but others could have been rescued by other ships.... PS: A Winnie Barker married a Mr Emery during WW2, as shown in 1939 Register for Chatteris UD Cambridgeshire - if that's the right family, then Barker should be the surname. It does seem rather strange that an Arthur Emery-Barker should be serving in the same flotilla as a related John Emery-Barker - are you sure there's no more info to help us help you? A Family Tree shows him serving in RN from 1942 and awarded a DSM, following the link produced: D/JX 137121 Barker, J F. London Gazette p 35780 10 Nov 1942. So if he joined in 1942, it didn't take him long to distinguish himself.....
Surprisingly, yes there are different ways he used he’s name. Sometimes he would drop names or just use initials or use he’s nick name as an official name. This man has been so hard to trace. (I think he was trying to avoid being traced). I take the story of a lone survivor and days drifting in the sea with a big pinch of salt.
