Winston Specials - finding the ship and where it stopped (Guide?)

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by sri_130, Nov 26, 2020.

  1. sri_130

    sri_130 Active Member

    I thought I'd put together the process I used to find, what I thought was the impossible. It might be of use, to similar family historians who would like to track their relatives passages from the UK to the Middle East and beyond.
    This site has helped me immensely (and continues to do so) and without the searching, reading, researching and links on here - I would never have got this far. At one stage I had thought to give up and just accept he was on a 'convoy' and that was enough.

    Obviously life is not an exact science and without official paperwork, there is the probability for error. But I'm confident enough with my findings. I am lucky enough to have something written/stamped. It might be a tall order if you don't have this data.

    So here is what I did, It is written from my perspective, so obviously try to tailor it for your own searching.

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    [​IMG]
    First up, I knew my Great Grandfather was heading to the Middle East. This was on his service record.
    The Winston specials were 1940 to 1943 (via the Cape - the long way round) so the dates sit within that.

    Searching on here shows the Egyptian port was called Tewfik and this translates to Suez (on another website as shown). So try to narrow down what the port name was/is for their destination and have idea what it might be called in the 1940s.

    In my case, his embarkation is stamped as 5.1.42 and Disembarked MEF 9.3.42.
    However another entry date next the stamp is 13.3.42 and his actual posting once in Egypt was 11.4.42. So there is some creative licence initially.

    Embarkation apparently can be a 'give or take' affair. A day here or there, by all accounts. That was true of my findings also. I've seen some posts say it could be 10 days out.

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    Next, was to find the convoy dates around that time.
    Visit: WS (Winston Specials) Convoys in WW2 - 1942 Sailings
    Find the convoy(s) numbers (WS) that may have set off in/around that time. I was lucky, it was the first convoy of 1942!

    Get a list of the ships together, that made up the convoy.

    The letter next to the number denotes where it sailed from (but I've found that to be 'loose' as well). E.G 43C Laconia was part of convoy WS15. Yet it did actually sail from Liverpool 'independently' up to the Clyde... but that's for later.

    A - Avonmouth
    C - Clyde/Glasgow
    L - Liverpool
    S - Swansea

    That doesn't necessarily mean your relative boarded at those locations, but it is useful to know.

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    If you know your relative ended up in the middle east, then from the same site:
    WS (Winston Specials) Convoys in WW2 - 1942 Sailings
    Read the convoy notes.

    Did any ships break-off/Disperse and head independently to their destination?
    In my case, the destination port is Tewfik (Egypt) but the Convoy notes will end usually stating that ships heading for that destination will go to 'Suez' - obvious reference to the Suez canal and the future name for Tewfik.

    From here, you should be able to narrow down, which boats remain - going to your relatives destination. I had about 6 or 7 at this stage. If you're happy enough to leave it here, then fair enough.

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    Now visit: Arnold Hague Ports database
    click 'Search ports'

    Enter the destination port name, from your research. My example is Suez.
    Offer up the date and select the variance of a few days.
    You should see a new list appear with 'arrivals' at the port and 'departures'.

    Are any of the ships in the Convoy listed?
    They're usually 'independent' at Suez as the armed escorts did their job at Aden and thus the convoy is no longer a convoy for their journey up the relatively safe red sea.

    [​IMG]

    If you found any of the ships, click their name/link.
    A new page will open - careful how many times you open the links, as it is restricted and will limit your access if you are too trigger happy.

    The ships movements will be displayed.
    Search for the 'Arrival' date that you suspect it could be. Narrow this down by using the convoy number.
    Make a note of the arrival date.

    Repeat this process for the other ships. Noting their arrival date.

    [​IMG]

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    Hopefully you'll have a lone entry that is either similar or exactly the date recorded.
    Disembarking the ships was a lengthy process and space likely a premium at port. In my search I found that ships were often either 1 or 2 days apart as 'arriving' which helped narrow it further to my expect/recorded date that my Great Grandfather landed in Egypt.

    If you click the link to the Convoy number - it should display information about the ships - how many troops were onboard if you are lucky.

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    The Convoyweb page will also tell you whether it stopped/stayed at Capetown or Durban. This was something I struggled to narrow down, prior to searching on here.

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    In the reverse fashion, you can trace-back the departure date from Britain. Using the same process, searching the port by approximate departure date.

    In my example, my Great Grandfather was aboard WS15, later WS15A (dispersed) and the ship Laconia.
    It is shown as Laconia (43C) which meant it sailed from Clyde - to join the convoy. This was on the 10th January 1942. Some 6 days after the recorded departure on his service sheet.
    However, if you look at the ships departure list - how you found the arrival date, it was 'independent' before the convoy number. On January 4th 1941 it was at Liverpool! Just 1 day before my Great Grandads record was stamped and luckily for me, was the date recorded he left his regiment - this is hightlighted on the first picture I posted at the top - far right hand side date.

    It stands to reason, therefore - he boarded at Liverpool.
    He was from Leeds and was at Burton-on-trent at the time with the 1st reserve anti-tank, so it makes more sense to board there. Albeit, as stated, life (and the military) is not an exact science.

    If only he were here to tell me about it now, eh.....

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    Hopefully this post, might help others uncover something interesting!

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    GeoffMNZ, Owen, 4jonboy and 4 others like this.
  2. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Well done and thank you for taking the time to help others

    regards
    Clive
     
    JimHerriot and sri_130 like this.
  3. Tamzin Cater

    Tamzin Cater New Member

    Thank you so much for this. I am researching my father's wartime service; fortunately I knew the name of his ship and his embarkation date. He was in the same convoy, on board 52C Viceroy of India. Your work has answered a number of questions, and given me a clearer picture of this part of his service.
    Tamzin
     

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