John BENNETT - S.S. Llangollen 1941

Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by Mavis Williams, Aug 22, 2019.

  1. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    Yes saw that on the other thread. Just wondering as SS Empire Pride hadn't been near the UK in the previous year and from Jan - Jul 1944 had been running continuously between Port Said and Taranto (presumably moving troops). So sounds like James Constable could have been wounded and repatriated.

    Tim
     
  2. Billy McGee

    Billy McGee Senior Member

    It is unknown by the many, that the commemoration of Merchant Navy war dead has long been overlooked due to the rules and regulations the CWGC are governed by. In 2008 I volunteered to transcribe from 4,716 digital pages from copies of the1939-1945 Deaths at Sea Register on behalf of the National Merchant Navy Association to compile the names of all those Merchant Seamen who died during the war years who are not officially commemorated, as well as trying to gain a more precise figure on losses and more importantly to have all those who died in service commemorated in some form no matter how they lost their lives while fighting for the freedom so many now take for granted. Each one of these pages contained on average, the names of twenty seamen both war dead and non-war related dead, which included ship name, official number, date and place of death, age, rank/rating, last place of abode and cause of death. After three years I eventually documented the names of a further 5,361 men from all corners of the British Commonwealth who died in service in the Merchant Navy during WWII and have up until now been forgotten due to the circumstances of their deaths. These range from various illnesses to being washed overboard, falling down hatches, murder, suicide, drowning or just simply recorded as "disappeared at sea" Without trying to be too controversial, when you consider there are ten British soldiers commemorated on the Brookwood War Memorial who were hung for murder during WWII, who due to the fact they were in uniformed service, automatically qualified them for war grave status, suggests something is wrong. It would probably take an Act of Parliament to amend the rules the Commonwealth War Graves Commission are governed by, which once again raises the old adage that the Merchant Navy are and always will be the "Forgotten Fourth Service" Project completed 2011 and handed over to the CWGC for consideration. July 2015 informed by CWGC all 5,361cases rejected by Commission. Six years work and waiting for nothing, which leaves me feeling the term “Lest We Forget” seems to ring somewhat rather hollow.

    Below is the full list of pages researched and the number of individuals found, this also included the 314 pages from the 1946 & 1947 register as I found names of individuals recorded from the war years in these files. My files have been formatted into Microsoft Excel documents and are written exactly as found in the original documents held at Kew, so do not appear in any chronological order by date or alphabetical index by ship or individuals name.

    1939-1940 Register 734 pages. 1,033 names found
    1941 Register 1,233 pages.1,037 names found
    1942 Register 884 pages.1,031 names found
    1943 Register 1,183 pages. 946 names found
    1944 Register 395 pages 841 names found
    1945 Register 297 pages. 471 names found

    "We will remember them"
     
  3. Roy Martin

    Roy Martin Senior Member

    Billy,
    To those of us who care, your work is not in vain. Thank you.
    Roy
     
    Hugh MacLean and timuk like this.
  4. Mavis Williams

    Mavis Williams Well-Known Member

    Hi TD, Just thought I would update you with the reply from the CWGC:-
    From: CWGC Enquiry Support Team
    Sent: 19 September 2019 16:05
    Subject: RE: CWGC Enquiry Acknowledgement: Number 00080005

    Dear Mavis

    Thank you for your email below.

    As previously mentioned, in order to submit this case for adjudication we need to be able to prove that John meets the criteria by contracting malaria as a result of 'increased war risks' during his WW2 service. We therefore need to know when he joined the Merchant Navy and if this was prior to the War, could he have been exposed to the disease elsewhere?

    Any more information on the Llangollen will also be helpful (ie details of all other ports visited whilst on board).

    If you are able to provide further evidence please let me know.

    Kind regards.

    CWGC Commemorations
    I am now at a loss! Regards Mavis
     
  5. CL1

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

    Mavis this is exactly what Hugh and Billy advised it is not easy to get Merchant Navy casualties commemorated.
    It is tragic that this red tape is in the way of commemoration

    Contact one of the lazy arsed MPs in your area and see if they can string a few words together in your favour,whilst firstly explaining what WW2 was and who the Merchant Navy are.
     

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