Info: Australian? Allied Unit, William George Joseph Steain (S.S. KG Meldahl) Norway

Info: Australian? Allied Unit, William George Joseph Steain (S.S. KG Meldhal) Norway

Any information would be appreciated.




Need assistance on Who/Where/What/How for this man who is on the Australian Commemorative Roll which is for those "Australians" who died in other Allied Services. If proved not to be "Australian" their names will not be removed from the Commemorative Roll however their details will be updated accordingly.

I have researched the Air Force members but there are many more Land and Sea deaths in a myriad of different forces.

There is not a lot of information on these people that can be accessed easily and I ask your assistance to fill in at least some of the gaps.

Hopefully some relatives may see this thread and add more.

I will make a different thread for each along the way as they may tend to get lost if clumped together.

In Memory of
Greaser WILLIAM STEAIN

S.S. K. G. Meldahl (Norway), Merchant Navy
who died age 19
on 10 November 1942

Remembered with honour
TOWER HILL MEMORIAL



Commemorative Roll - William George Joseph Steain

Rank: Greaser
Unit: KG Meldahl
Service: Merchant Navy
Conflict: 1939-1945
Date of death: 10 November 1942
Place of death: At sea (presumed drowned)
Cause of death: Killed in action
Cemetery or memorial details: Tower Hill Memorial, United Kingdom
Source: AWM File




Seems a relative may have been part of the crew as well.

*** The 19 year old William Steain is commemorated at Tower Hill, Panel 59. More details on him is available on this page on the Commonwealth War Graves Comm. website (perhaps he was a relative of the surviving Oiler Francis Steain?).

Details on the sinking of KG Meldahl.

D/S K. G. Meldahl - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

 

No clues as to Australian affiliation on the CWGC entry & I can't find anything in the newspapers so far.

A couple of NAA file headers at least give some NOK detail:

Applicant - STEAIN, VERA MAY : Address - BALMAIN, NSW : Application for - MOTHER'S AND WIDOW'S BADGE : Claimed in respect of - STEAIN, WILLIAM GEORGE JOSEPH : Date of Application - OCTOBER 1943

Applicant - STEAIN William George, deceased [Vera May Hanratty, next of kin] : Born - 21 May 1924 : Place of Birth - Balmain, NSW : Application for - Campaign Stars and War Medal : Date of Application - 18 May 1959

 

By the looks of it, his brother joined the army in 1947 (born 1928) - but didn't stick with it for very long (NAA file has been digitised and provides more detail on NOK):

STEAIN WALTER GORDON : Service Number - NX506013 : Date of birth - 19 Oct 1928 : Place of birth - KOGARAH NSW : Place of enlistment - MARRICKVILLE NSW : Next of Kin - HANRATTY VERA

 

Good sleuthing Dave.

Provides a connection.

 

Oh, and if we find Walter we can tell him that the ASIC database shows him as having over $1000 laying dormant in an old bank account....

STEAIN WALTER GORDON
206F TRAFALGAR ST,
ANNANDALE NSW 2038,
AUSTRALIA
1,278.97


No hits in the NSW White Pages, so I can't pass on the good news to him

 

There is also a lily Steain married in Rockdale 1928, so a family base maybe?

 

Oh, and if we find Walter we can tell him that the ASIC database shows him as having over $1000 laying dormant in an old bank account....

STEAIN WALTER GORDON
206F TRAFALGAR ST,
ANNANDALE NSW 2038,
AUSTRALIA
1,278.97


No hits in the NSW White Pages, so I can't pass on the good news to him


You mean $639.50 don't you?

50% finders fee!

 

Hi Spidge. I am the relative that requested the AWM to add Billy to the Commemorative Roll and he was definitely Australian, born in Balmain NSW. The AWM was meticulous in it's research liasing with the Norwegian Archives. I believe the Norwegian merchant fleet was the worlds largest at the outbreak of the war and was handed over to the disposal of the allies under the British War Transport Dept. Hence any Commonwealth merchant sailor lost in action could be added to the Tower Hill Memorial. The CWWC did record a few errors, he was listed as UK, not Australian, and he was 18 when killed, not 19. These youngsters who died serving on other allied ships left little behind in Australia to be remebered by, as Dave found, no descendants, no death certificate or service records. It was great that the AWM rectified this with the Merchant Navy Memorial and adding them to the Commemorative Roll.
Billy joined the Norwegian freighter Martin Bakke in Sydney in June 1942 and sailed to New York where he transferred to another Nortraship K. G. Meldahl in Sept 1942.
Francis Steain was his uncle. I don't know if they left Sydney together or if Francis was already on the K. G. Meldahl.
There is an old supersttion that it is bad luck to name a child the same as an earlier one who died. Billy's parents named their first child William. Unfortunately as a toddler he attempted to pick up a cat while they were visiting a cemetery. The cat scratched him and he died after infection set in, No antibiotics at that time.
Billy's brother Wally (Walter) died many years ago.

 

Thanks John.

Glad to hear from you, which in fact is the reason for these threads. There should be somewhere relatives, friends etc can see that these people have not been forgotten. I have a lot of lads who joined the RAF in the UK and were killed however they do not appear on the Australian Roll of Honour or the Commemorative Roll.

Hopefully we can document their details and have more input like yours.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Confirmation of Australian nationality.

Regards
Hugh

 

Confirmation of Australian nationality.

Regards
Hugh

Hi Hugh,

Puts a sealer on this one.

The statement of relative JonMc 3 posts ago says it all. Their contribution is in print somewhere for the relatives to see.

These youngsters who died serving on other allied ships left little behind in Australia to be remebered by, as Dave found, no descendants, no death certificate or service records. It was great that the AWM rectified this with the Merchant Navy Memorial and adding them to the Commemorative Roll.

Cheers

Geoff