Guernsey Evacuation Ships

Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by Gsyfestung, Jul 3, 2010.

  1. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    I wondered if anyone was able to help with a project I am currently working on. As many of you will be aware the British Channel Island of Guernsey was occupied in June 1940. During the 18th to 22nd June 1940 many evacuation ships came to Guernsey to help evacuate the population to the effect that a total of 17,000 residents from Guernsey and 129 residents from Sark left prior to the arrival of the German Forces.
    I have managed to compile a list of 61 ships which fulfilled this important role and I now have photos of most but perhaps someone can help with the blanks I have remaining.
    Missing ship photos; Brookfield, Continental Coaster, Deal, Felspar, Fintain, Glen Tilt, Hull Trader, Nagtira, Porthmorna, The Baron, Tonbridge and West Coaster. Any information about these ships and photos would be enormously useful.
    Gsyfestung
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Just looking through one of my books which covers Operation Aerial in some detail.

    Brookfield is not listed.

    The Coaster, Continental Coaster is listed as going to St Malo on 16 June, 1940.

    Cargo Ship Deal landed at Guernsey on 21st June and returned to Weymouth on 22nd June with civilians.

    Coaster Felspar arrived Jersey 21st June and picked up civilians evacuees and landed at Weymouth on 22nd June.

    No Fintain listed.

    Coaster Glen Tilt was at Alderney on 19th June and took civilians to Weymouth on 20th June and then sailed to Guernsey on 21st arriving back at Weymouth with civilians on 22nd June.

    Coaster Hull Trader is only listed as sailing to St Malo.

    Nagtira is not listed.

    Coaster Porthmorna transported civilian evacuees from Jersey on 20th June arriving at Weymouth on 21st June.

    Coaster The Baron sailed from Jersey on 20th June with a civilian cargo, arriving at Weymouth on 21st June.

    Cargo Ship Tonbridge 21st June Guernsey to Weymouth with a civilian cargo, arriving at Weymouth on 23rd June.

    Coaster, West Coaster 20th June at Jersey arriving with Civilian evacuees at Weymouth on 21st June.

    You may find more details under Operation Aerial on the internet.
     
  3. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Many thanks that is very useful information as I was not aware of these ships also going to the other Channel Islands, the ships I have are all listed on the Harbour Masters log as being evacuation ships, but this is all very useful towards filling in some of the blank spaces
    Many thanks
    Gsyfestung
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Ya welcome. The book is called 'BEF Ships, before, at and after Dunkirk' by John de S. Winser. for your Ref.

    I haven't looked in it in great detail but I suspect there are others listed going to Jersey, Alderney and Guernsey.

    Regards
    Andy
     
  5. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Thanks for the info on the book. After your last post I duly checked the internet but the source does not seam as good as your book. I did find out the 3 ships (which is what the official evacuation records suggest but don’t list the ships) for Alderney were the Glen Tilt, HMS Sabre and HMS Vega. I also found another report which suggested the HMS Sabre collected 1400 civilians, there was only about 2000 inhabitants on the Island so it is possible it was just these three ships. As for Jersey and mainly thanks to your help the Felspar, Porthmorna, The baron, West Coaster and HMS Wild Swan are listed, it would be interesting to know which others. I will also compile the list I have for Guernsey and post that as well if it is of interest.
    Thanks again
    Gsyfestung
     
  6. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Would you like me to do a list of all the ships listed in the book that went to the Channel Islands? :D
     
  7. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Yes any information is useful, I have typed the list of ships known of that were used for the evacuation of Guernsey;

    Antiquity, Antwerp, Archangel, Autocarrier, Batavia IV, Biarritz, Brittany, Brookfield, Carlotta, Continental Coaster, Coral, Corina, Deal, Dominion, Duke of Argyll, Duke of York, Felixstowe, Felspar, Fintain, Fratton, Glen Tilt, Hantonia, Haslemere, Hodder, Hull Trader, Isle of Sark, Kingstown, Maidstone, Malines, Nagtira, Patricia, Perelle, Porthmorna, Prince Leopold, Princess Astrid, Ringwood, Royal Daffodil, Rye, Saint Bedan, Seaville, Sheperton Ferry, Sheringham, Stork, Suffolk Coast, The Baron, Tonbridge, Viking, West Coaster, Whitstable and the Dutch coasters Atlantic, Caribia, Despatch II, Doggersbank, Fredanja, Friso, Gorecht, Hondsrug, Jaba, Pinguin, Wega, Zeus.
    It is noted that not all went loaded with civilians some travelled back empty.
    Thanks
    Gsyfestung
     
  8. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Channel Islands sailings for Britain, 15th to 25th June, 1940.

    Jersey

    Antquity
    Archangel
    Atlantic
    Autocarrier
    Brittany
    Caribia
    Coral
    Despatch II
    Dominence
    Farfield
    Felspar
    Hantonia
    Hodder
    Hondsrug
    Isle of Sark
    Jaba
    Joy-Bell III (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Madeleine-Kamiel (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Malines
    Minster
    New Fawn (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Ngatira
    Perelle
    Philante
    Pinguin
    Porthmorna
    Present Help (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Ringwood
    Rye
    Shepperton Ferry
    Stork
    Suffolk Coast
    The Baron
    Train Ferry No.1
    Train Ferry No.3
    Vestal (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Wega
    West Coaster
    Whitstable

    Guernsey

    Antwerp
    Batavier IV
    Biarritz
    Brittany
    Corinia
    Courier (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Deal
    Doggersbank
    Duke of Argyll
    Duke of York
    Felixstowe
    Fratton
    Friso
    Glen Tilt
    Gorecht
    Guernsey Queen
    Hantonia
    Haslemere
    Isle of Sark
    Madeleine-Kamiel (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Maidstone
    Malines
    New Fawn (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Present Help (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Prinses Astrid
    Rye
    Saxon Queen
    Sheringham
    Tonbridge
    Train Ferry No.3
    Vestal (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Viking
    Zeus

    Alderney

    Alnwick
    Camroux IV
    Empire Jonquil (Ex-Venus)
    Glen Tilt
    Sheringham
    Stork
    Suffolk Coast


    * Where a ship is listed more than once this denotes the ship visited more than one island.
     
  9. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Absolutely fantastic, many thanks for the very quick response and help with this matter it certainly saved me having to buy the book just to get the names.
    Gsy festung
     
  10. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Drew,
    many thanks given the information you provided from which I have compiled the list below;
    Operation Aerial - Ships which completed the evacuations
    Channel Islands sailings for Britain, 15th to 25th June, 1940.

    Jersey

    Antquity
    Archangel
    Atlantic
    Autocarrier
    Brittany
    Caribia
    Coral
    Despatch II
    Dominence
    Farfield
    Felspar
    Hantonia
    Hodder
    Hondsrug
    Isle of Sark
    Jaba
    Joy-Bell III (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Madeleine-Kamiel (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Malines
    Minster
    New Fawn (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Ngatira
    Perelle
    Philante
    Pinguin
    Porthmorna
    Present Help (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Ringwood
    Rye
    Shepperton Ferry
    Stork
    Suffolk Coast
    The Baron
    Train Ferry No.1
    Train Ferry No.3
    Vestal (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Wega
    West Coaster
    Whitstable
    HMS Wild Swan

    Guernsey

    Antiquity
    Antwerp
    Archangel
    Atlantic
    Autocarrier
    Batavier IV
    Biarritz
    Brittany
    Brookfield
    Carlotta
    Caribia
    Continental Coaster
    Coral
    Corinia
    Courier (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Deal
    Despatch II
    Doggersbank
    Dominion
    Duke of Argyll
    Duke of York
    Felixstowe
    Felspar
    Fintain
    Fratton
    Fredanja
    Friso
    Glen Tilt
    Gorecht
    Guernsey Queen
    Hantonia
    Haslemere
    Hodder
    Hondsrug
    Hull Trader
    Isle of Sark
    Jaba
    Kingstown
    Madeleine-Kamiel (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Maidstone
    Malines
    Nagtira
    New Fawn (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Patricia
    Pinguin
    Porthmorna
    Present Help (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Prince Leopold
    Princess Astrid
    Ringwood
    Royal Daffodil
    Rye
    Saxon Queen
    Saint Bedan
    Seaville
    Sheperton Ferry
    Sheringham
    Stork
    Suffolk Coast
    The Baron
    Tonbridge
    Train Ferry No.3
    Vestal (Listed as Channel Islands)
    Viking
    West Coaster
    Wega
    Whitstable
    Zeus

    Alderney

    Alnwick
    Camroux IV
    Empire Jonquil (Ex-Venus)
    Glen Tilt
    Sheringham
    Stork
    Suffolk Coast
    HMS Sabre
    HMS Vega


    * Where a ship is listed more than once this denotes the ship visited more than one island.
    Gsyfestung
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    The are some 'Other' ships listed in the book that took part in Op Aerial but I need to sit down and read the section to figure out why there is an other list under 'Other'.
     
  12. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    If anything else comes to light let me know. I know that the Dutch Coasters 12 in all arrived in two batches 10 and then 2. It would appear they were due to collect from Le Harve but were not needed so were sent to Jersey, but again were not needed so they went to Guernsey as a last port of call before returning to England in total the 12 ships took 230 people from Guernsey, there are also Belgian ships and other Dutch ships which at that time were not part of the English Fleet which may be the reason they are listed as other, as it would appear that some which had come under English control at that time used the crews but put British Naval and Reserve Naval officers onboard.
    Gsyfestung
     
  13. Yappy

    Yappy Junior Member

    Hello Gsyfestung
    I would include under 'Guernsey' the SS Sarnia, one of Cecil Dorey's ships (Onesimus Dorey & Sons) which crossed from St. Peter Port to Newlyn in Cornwall on 20 June. My grandmother and three of her children were on board, and they spent the war in Scotland. However, they were relatives of Cecil Dorey, and I'm not sure if there was space for many other evacuees. But still, it did transport evacuees, so I suppose the Sarnia should make it on to the list.
     
  14. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Yappy,
    You are correct the Sarnia did help to evacuate people, however the passengers on that ship had to pay for their trip where as the listed ships were passage offered free of charge as such anyone who was able to take advantage of the ships could do so at no cost, in point of fact both the HANTONIA and the ISLE OF SARK after the official evacuation had ceased continued to operate their normal scheduled passenger ferry service between the Islands and Southampton, HANTONIA last sailed to the Islands on 25 June and ISLE OF SARK last ran to the Islands on 28 June and was caught in St. Peter Port when the German aircraft began a bombing and machine gun assault on the harbour, once the attack was over the ship sailed from Guernsey, without escort and only defence from its basic weaponry, with 647 passengers and she became the final passenger ship to sail from Guernsey before the Occupation began. You information is very helpful though and confirms some chose to go without burdening others with the cost.
    Regards
    Gsyfestung
     
  15. Roy Martin

    Roy Martin Senior Member

    Gsyfestung,

    Great list! As Drew said the Nagtira should read Ngatira, a motor coaster owned by William Wilson of Southampton (and New Zealand). According to Lt Cdr Newby RNR Retd. the WEST COASTER was one of five ships that were in the convoy of which he was Commodore, when they evacuated Alderney. The other four you have.

    Roy
     
  16. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Roy,
    Many thanks for your post, I became aware afterwards that I had miss spelled the Ngatira and again was made aware of the West Coaster when I complied an article which has now been published in the Alderney Society Bulletin, however I did not have any reference to Lt. Cdr Newby RNR Retd, did he publish something or is he known to you as any additional information is always useful the only other account I had from the Navy regarding Alderney was a brief report from Captain Sir Edward Archdale who was Captain of HMS Sabre during the evacuation.
    Regards and very many thanks
    Simon
     
  17. Roy Martin

    Roy Martin Senior Member

    Simon,


    I got the info from two letters that Cdr Newby wrote, (I can copy that chapter to you if you send me a PM with your e-mail). part of what I have said is:

    Lt Cdr T G Newby RNR Rtd1 was rushed by car to Weymouth on 22 June, where he boarded mv STORK in Weymouth Bay. He was to be Commodore of a convoy consisting of CAMROUX IV, ALNWICK, EMPIRE JONQUIL, WEST COASTER and SUFFOLK COAST, which sailed for Alderney. They anchored off at daylight and went alongside at 0700. Newby met with the Seigneur, who announced that people could take one suitcase each. The bells were not rung, as that was to be the signal of invasion. Virtually all of the Island's population of 1,800 had been embarked by noon and the small fleet sailed for Weymouth.2 The Commodore transferred to the ALNWICK, leaving the better accommodation on the STORK for mothers to be. Cdr Newby said “The legend re babies born springs from the fact that I did suggest that 'mothers to be' should travel on the STORK as she was the most comfortable.” It has been suggested elsewhere that three babies were born en route, but this sounds unlikely as the trip only took a few hours; perhaps the ship's name gave rise to the tale?
    The DUKE OF ARGYLL and ten RN manned schuyts started the evacuation of Guernsey on 21 June. From Jersey's population of about 50,000 only 6,600 decided to leave; so later ships were not needed. JABA was one of those who had first been to Jersey, they found that a railway ferry (VIKING?) had taken all who wanted to leave. With the others JABA went on to Guernsey, where they evacuated about 250 civilians.
    The VIKING, under the command of Capt James Brisdon, arrived at St Peter Port harbour at 0400, tying up at number one berth. The ship sailed at 1100 with 2,000 men, women and children, who arrived safely at Weymouth. When the ROYAL DAFFODIL and the Belgian PRINCE LEOPOLD called at the island on 23 June, no evacuees remained. HANTONIA and ISLE OF SARK maintained the scheduled link with Southampton until the German occupation, the ISLE OF SARK, (Captain H H Golding)

    1 Two letters from Cdr Newby June 1995, via Amanda Davies.

    2Naval history says:- ISLE OF SARK, ALDERNEY QUEEN and SHERINGHAM, escorted by the destroyer SABRE evacuated Alderney. This seems to be incorrect, these vessels were involved in other Channel Island evacuations.
     
  18. Gsyfestung

    Gsyfestung Member

    Roy, that’s all excellent stuff, I will PM you with my email address. I likewise heard the story of 3 babies born on the Stork this was recorded in the book "The Alderney Story 1940 - 1945" but the source is not given and there are a number of other inaccuracies in there, but who knows, the evacuee figures differ slightly from what I have which was about 1,400 people evacuated, the Seigneur is a post that only existed in Sark so was in fact the civic head of the Island Judge French. I am with you regarding the quote from the Naval History, although all three ships were frequent visitors to the Islands it would appear they did not go to Alderney on this day.
    Thanks again
    Simon
     
  19. John Dann

    John Dann John Dann

    Roy,
    Many thanks for your post, I became aware afterwards that I had miss spelled the Ngatira and again was made aware of the West Coaster when I complied an article which has now been published in the Alderney Society Bulletin, however I did not have any reference to Lt. Cdr Newby RNR Retd, did he publish something or is he known to you as any additional information is always useful the only other account I had from the Navy regarding Alderney was a brief report from Captain Sir Edward Archdale who was Captain of HMS Sabre during the evacuation.
    Regards and very many thanks
    Simon
    Simon, I believe the captain of HMS Sabre (H 18) at the time of the Alderney evacuation (Operation Aerial) was Lt.Cdr. Brian Dean DSO, RN. (He'd been award the DSO on 6 June 1940) and was captain until 11 Jan 1941. 'Sabre' under his command had the distinction of returning over 5,000 allied soldiers from Dunkirk -the highest for any ship. Edward Archdale was a Midshipman on Sabre at the time. (See his OBIT Daily Telegraph 2 Sep 09) My father served on this ship. Kind regards, John Dann
     
  20. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi John,

    5,765 to be precise according to Admiralty records. Sadly not the highest though, that honour goes to HMS Malcolm with 5,851.

    That said another 'later' and probably more accurate source puts the total evacuated by Sabre during Dynamo as 3,912.
     

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