Hi everyone, Whilst examining the memoirs the Belgian Major Vanhalle, I have discovered two pieces of evidence of British supplies being delivered by sea to the Belgian army during the final phase of the invasion of Belgium. In May 1940 Major Vanhalle was the commanding officer of the 1st Group of the 2ème Corps d'Intendance Territorial, the Belgian equivalent of the Royal Army Service Corps. His group comprised a field bakery, field butchery, the army flour mills and three supply companies. Between 17th May and 28th May 1940, the group operated out of Ostend. Major Vanhalle mentions the arrival of two British cargo ships during his stay in this town: (a) On 26th May the s/s Aboukir docked in Ostend delivering a large cargo of Britsh Army ration biscuits and a quantity of bread flour. The s/s Aboukir is obviously the same ship that was torpedoed during the night of 27/28th May whilst transferring British service personnel and evacuees to the UK. (b) On the 27th May the s/s Saphir arrived with a mixed cargo also including a quantity of fresh milk destined for the Belgian army Up until now I had assumed that such cargo was bought by the Belgian military authorities from civilian sources, but the delivery of ration biscuits suggests British Army involvement. Would anyone have any further information on the delivery of British military supplies to the Belgian forces during this period? As an aside, and slightly off-topic, could anyone recommend where I could find out more about these two vessels. Attached is a picture of the s/s Aboukir. Many thanks, Walter
Hello Walter The S/s Aboukir seems to go by two spellings, Aboukir and Abukir. It was sunk on May 28th 1940 by E-boat S-34. WRECK WRAK EPAVE WRACK PECIO It's mentioned in numerous accounts of the evacuation as it was involved in evacuating personnel. See the following account from the time: World War 2 - RAF No. 151 Squadron, May/June 1940 June 5 [1940] P/O Muirhead, a former Squadron member wrote to S/Ldr Donaldson as follows:- Dear Sir, I am writing to give you news of F/Lt Ives who, unless he was picked up by the motor boat which torpedoed us, is, I am sorry to say, missing. He originally landed on the beach twelve miles south west of Ostend and I met him in Ostend after being shot down and jumping at the same place. We spent the next two days together dodging bombs and bullets and "Ivy" spent a lot of the time helping the wounded. In fact he was everything anyone who knew him would have expected and then some. We sailed On the ABOUKIR at about 10 pm on Tuesday night. "Ivy", myself and an Army Officer were on top manning the guns, as we expected to be bombed at any time. Eventually however, we were torpedoed at point blank range and blown into the water. Only 2k people out of 500 on board were saved and I was the only Officer. Please express my heartfelt sympathy and admiration for "Ivy" to his people. He was a brick. Yours sincerely, (signed) J.Muirhead. P/O." It's mentioned on page 285 of War Cabinet minutes from May 28 1940. http://filestore.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pdfs/small/cab-65-7-wm-40-144-39.pdf A message had been received that S.S. Aboukir, which had left Ostend on the night of the 27th May with about 1,000 men on board, including the British Missions to the Belgians, had been torpedoed, probably by a motor torpedo boat, in the early hours of that morning. Thirty-three survivors had been picked up The 'Aboukir" was also carrying one of the commanders of the British Phantom unit Wing Commander J.M Fairweather and he and many of his staff who were lost. The Phantom in Richmond Park : St Margarets Community Site As to the Saphir, there seem to be a number of ships of that name floating around: Norwegian Homefleet - Ships starting with Sa through Sn D/S Saphir * Edvin Endresen, Stavanger 4306 gt Built in Newcastle 1905. Previous name: Christian Børs until 1939. Picture of this ship when Christian Børs - From Bjørn Milde's postcard collection. Pre war history: Built by Swan & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle (730), 4306 gt, 2788 net, 7100 tdwt; 375’5" x 51’ x 25'4" draft; 1-triple expansion steam turbine engine, 376 nhp, 1640 ihp, 10 knots. Launched as Christian Børs (Vilhelm Torkildsen, Bergen), delivered in June 1905. Owned by A/S D/S Christian Børs (Vilhelm Torkildsen), Bergen from 1914. Transfered to Skibs-A/S Vilhelm Torkildsen's Rederi, Bergen in 1938 (same managers). Sold in 1939 to Skibs-A/S Saphir (Edvin Endresen), Stavanger, and renamed Saphir (info received from a stamp collector, who adds that there's a stamp showing her sinking, stern down). WW II: Shelled and sunk by a British destroyer on Apr. 10-1940 at Narvik (some sources say she was mined), no casualties. POST WAR: Refloated in May-1958 ('57?), towed to Grimstad and broken up. Other ships by this name: This company had another Saphir after the war (tanker), delivered in 1949, built in Fredrikstad, 1139 gt. Sold to Italy in 1956, renamed Luigi N, renamed Luigia Montanari in 1960 for new Italian owners, sold in 1975, renamed Antonelloesse for owners in Rome. Broken up in 1997. The company's 3rd ship by this name, also a tanker, was delivered in Jan.-1962, built in Leirvik, Norway, 3914 gt. Sold to owners in London in 1970, renamed Wadhurst. Sold again in 1982, renamed Lilian S (Panama). Sold to Kenya in 1989, renamed Montrose. Still in service. Norway had also lost a steamer by this name to WW I, delivered in Oct.-1901 to Erich Lindøe, Haugesund, 1406 gt. Torpedoed and sunk on May 25-1918 by U-94, 1,5 n. miles north/northwest of Trevose Head on a voyage Barry Dock-Bayonne with 1818 tons coal. Crew was picked up by British fishing vessels and taken to Padstow. Another D/S Saphir was sold to A/S D/S Saphir (Peder Lindøe & Co. A/S, Haugesund) while building, originally intended for W. Butler Wang, Tønsberg, 2430 gt (built 1920). Sold in 1922 to Ferm Ångfartygs-A/B, Gothenburg and registered as Ferm of Kristinehamn, then Danish Astra II from 1930. Torpedoed and sunk by U-100 on Aug. 29-1940. Cheers Mark
Does anyone know the names of members of the 13 Salvage Unit of the Auxiliary Pioneer Corps who were on board the SS Abukir?
On board also was 2/Lt. H. P. R. Lloyd Mostyn of 5 Troop A Squadron 15/19 Kings Royal Hussars. He was the sole member of A Squadron to escape from the battle of Assche on May 18 and had made his way on foot to Ostend dressed in civilian clothes.
Hi Walter, There is a graphic description of the Abukir's time at the wharf in Ostend and her attempted escape in chapter 4 of the book 'Churchill's Thin Grey Line: British Merchant Ships at War 1939-1945'
The attached old newspaper clipping mentions Robert Killick and Pte. Williams of 15 Salvage Unit.... Would you be able to post the relevant pages from Churchill's Thin Grey Line: British Merchant Ships at War 1939-1945. Thank you.
This might be of interest as well. It's from The Pioneer which is the journal of the Royal Pioneer Corps Association, October Issue of 2012. It contains quite a few names that might be of interest: 13 Salvage Unit Statement by 945509 Gunner Stein L, 13 Salvage Unit, 36 Castle St, Shrewsbury – 23 Jun 41 Although the information which I am able to give is only second-hand, I feel that if further enquiries are made the fate of my comrades will be proved beyond doubt. 1. I Gunner Stein of No 13 Salvage Unit served with this unit in France, from which only 15 men returned safely to England. The rest of the men of the Unit were on the cargo boat Abukur which was torpedoed and sunk after leaving Ostend harbour. Thirteen other men and myself were taken off the Abukur and transferred to the Marquis in order to guard a number of German prisoners being escorted to England. On arriving back in England we learned the tragic news that all but one of our men on the Abukur had been drowned, and it was from this man we learned the fate of our comrades. This man – a Pte Williams of the Pioneer Corps has since been transferred to another Salvage Unit, as far as I know it is No 2 Salvage Unit situated in Hertford, Herts. His version of the tragic loss is as follows: “Two hours after leaving OSTEND harbour the Abukuyr was intercepted by a U-Boat and after a torpedo had struck her she went down in a few minutes. All our men except me were down in the hold, consequently they had little if any chance at all, as they were all apparently asleep in the hold when I left a few minutes before to go on the upper deck to go to the lavatory” The under mentioned men were on the ill-fated boat (all 13 Salvage Unit): 13011126 Pte BOYLE P 13011135 Pte DICKSON R 13011143 Pte GALLAGHER J 13011158 Pte LIDDLE JW 13011029 Pte PERKINS A 13011172 Pte SMITH RWP 13007926 Pte TAWSE J 13009068 Pte WATERSON WS 13011173 Pte WHELLANDS AP 13007988 Pte WIGNALL T 13011102 Pte WRIGHT T 2. Concerning Lt HARRIS, being OC of No 13 Salvage Unit and since you have no mention of him on your lists, I feel bound to add that he was on the ill-fated ship Abukur. 3. Concerning 13011129 Pte CLEMENTS D, on your list of missing personnel you will notice that you have placed him under 110 Coy, whereas he was in the No 13 Salvage Unit. He was also on the ship Abukur (Ed note: The Abukir was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by motor torpedo boat S-34 Kriegsmarine with the loss of 205 of the 231 people on board. The survivors were rescued by HMS Codrington, HMS Jaguar and HMS Javelin),
ABUKIR - 28 May 1940 Captain Rowland Morris Woolfenden Gallantry Awards | The National Archives Page 5199 | Supplement 34930, 23 August 1940 | Lond... As noted by Stormy Petrel (#9), the references to U-boat/submarine in the citation seem to have been an error. See also: The sinking of SS Abukir (May 28th 1940) – Circumstantial tragedy or premeditated design? A similar contemporary error was made in respect of Sanfry.
