From 1 Div Commander Royal Army Service Corps, WO167/196 11623 Lieutenant Colonel Lionel John Walch, 1 Div CRASC, Royal Army Service Corps. CWGC :: Certificate 57770 Captain Edward Michael Doxford, 1 Div RASC Adj., Royal Army Service Corps. CWGC :: Certificate 14917 Major Mounteney Kortright, 1 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate 75470 Captain Arthur Cecil Perkins, 1 Div. Supply Col., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate 87296 2nd Lieutenant John Michael Humfrey Masse, 1 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate All remembered on the Dunkirk Memorial, Panel 132 121029 2nd Lieutenant Patrick Byrne Sherwood, 1 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate Buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery
During the early evening on 28th May 1940 three German S-Boats, namely S.25, S.30 and S.34, of No.2 Schnellbootsflotilla sail from Flushing in Holland to patrol the area of Kwinte Whistle Bouy which was the turning point for ships involved in Operation Dynamo using Route Y. At 2215hrs on 28th May the three S-Boats approach the bouy and form up into attack positions whilst waiting for any enemy shipping to engage. The boats are spaced out with around one nautical mile between each craft. After waiting for around 60 minutes with no sign of any ships the commander of the three craft, Kapitanleutenant Siegreid Wuppermann on S.25 decides to move west with S.34 leaving S.30 to cover the Bouy. Around 2300 hrs HMS Wakeful leaves the beaches at Bray Dunes after already completing one trip arriving at Dover earlier in the day at 0835 with 631 passengers. Again she was carrying around 650 British soldiers all crowded below deck to reduce the ship from being top heavy. At 0020hrs on 29th May S.25 and S.34 sight the Corvette HMS Shearwater who was patrolling the area south of Fairy Bank. Both craft attack her but all the torpedoes miss. At 0036hrs HMS Wakeful is approaching the Kwinte Whistle Bouy. The ships commander, Commander Ralph L. Fisher has just called for 20 knots from 12 knots after passing through the Noord Pass and has commenced zig zagging when he spots two torpedo tracks in the water 150 meters off the starboard bow. "Good God ! Hard to Port !" as he orders evasive manouevre's. The S.30's first torpedo passes just off the bow but the second strikes the ship in the area of her forward boiler room which breaks the destroyer in half. The two portions of HMS Wakeful sank within 15 seconds, each portion was remained upright with the bow and stern floating some 60 foot above the water. All the evacuated troops are asleep below decks and all perish with the exception of one soldier. The ships company losses included three officers, one petty officer, the ship's surgeon, one NAFFI worker and 92 ratings. Most of the gun crews floated clear, 30 ratings and an officer remained on the stern portion of the ship. The ship's Captain floated clear of the bridge. The commander of S.30, Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm Zimmerman had fired her two torpedoes from around 600 metres away and she withdrew from the area to reload. At approx 0100hrs, the danlayers Nautilus and Comfort, which were heading for La Panne arrived and began to pick up survivors still swimming in the water. Shortly after the arrival of the danlayers the minesweeper HMS Gossamer also arrives after leaving Dunkirk harbour with some 420 troops onboard, she lowered her boats to help with the rescue of the survivors. HMS Gossamer is reported as picking up 15 survivors, Comfort rescues 15 including Commander Fisher and Nautilus picks up 5 survivors and heads for La Panne. As the night wore on HMS Grafton, that was following HMS Wakeful, was also sunk by torpedoes from U-62. The danlayer Comfort is hit by the minesweeper, HMS Lydd in the confusion and cuts her in half killing four of the Comfort's crew and 13 of the survivors from Wakeful. Info sourced from The Evacuation from Dunkirk and Dunkirk 1940 Operation Dynamo.
HMS Wakeful Roll of Honour 001 ANDREWS WC C/SSX 29520 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 002 ARNOLD FL C/JX 153104 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 003 ASHFORD AJ C/K 23200 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 004 AYTON RJ C/LD/X 2902 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 005 BAINES R C/JX 152112 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 006 BALLS GR C/SSX 28169 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 007 BARTLETT FW C/K 62829 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 008 BENNETT PF C/SSX 29897 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 009 BRACE C C/J 78429 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 010 BRAMLEY GAJ C/K 67212 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 011 BROOKS HSJ C/J 26667 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 012 BUCKLAND HJ C/KX 102574 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 013 BUER JG C/JX 142007 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 014 CAMPBELL HE C/LD/X 5210 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 015 CAREY V C/KX 102656 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 016 CHAPMAN HJ C/K 52018 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 017 CLAYTON W C/J 1138148 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 018 COOKE AH C/KX 102658 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 019 COTTERILL E C/K 65069 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 020 CRANEFIELD WL - HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 021 CREAK WP - HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 022 DOWNIE J C/JX 169123 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 023 DRAKE HY C/J 93083 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 024 EASTON CW C/SS 9633 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 025 EDGLEY CT C/SSX 29893 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 026 FERGUSON RT C/JX 125537 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 027 FITZGERALD DP C/K 66458 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 028 FLETCHER ANJ C/JX 168966 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 029 FLOWER JB C/J 103774 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 030 FORSTER TJ C/K 19617 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 031 FORSTER W C/MX 53281 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 032 FRANKLIN DF C/K 56789 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 033 FRASI FJ C/LD/X 2914 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 034 GIBBS RA C/JX 162567 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 035 GOODERHAM WF C/J 60988 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 036 GOULD AA - HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 NAVY ARMY AND AIR FORCE INSTITUTE 037 GRAVER CH C/JX 152146 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 038 GRAYLEY HJ C/SSX 14208 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 039 GROVES CJ C/JX 126444 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 040 GUTHERLESS LF C/J 50606 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 041 GUTHRIE WR C/MX 57967 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 042 HALL AH C/SS 9022 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 043 HALL ES C/MX 48535 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 044 HAYNES GE C/MX 60742 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 045 HUNT CGW C/JX 134873 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 046 HUTTLESTONE SJ C/SS 10718 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 047 HYMAS AW C/M 4378 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 048 INGRAM JD C/JX 126357 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 049 JACKSON GH C/K 60678 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 050 KEFFORD CP C/K 66397 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 051 KEMP A C/K 57861 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 052 LEVERINGTON E C/KX 99533 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 053 MATHERS SA C/SBR/X 7307 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL AUXILIARY SICK BERTH RESERVE 054 MCCLUNE A C/MX 52403 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 055 MCCULLOUGH S C/KX 76209 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 056 METCALF WB C/TD/X 2100 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 057 METCALF JR C/TD/X 2215 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 058 MILLGATE HW C/JX 145993 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 059 MOUNT AGE C/K 67097 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 060 NIXON JL C/TD/X 1789 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 061 PARKER RF C/J 103074 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 062 PATTERSON JR C/LX 21537 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 063 PERCIVAL-JONES JS - HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 064 POTTER W C/TD/X 1962 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 065 REDFERN W D/SSX 20993 HMS WAKEFUL 31/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 066 RICKETTS WE C/J 89429 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 067 RILEY B C/SSX 30064 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 068 SANDERS JML D/JX 563414 HMS WAKEFUL 10/05/1946 ROYAL NAVY 069 SARGEANT JE C/KX 79842 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 070 SARGENT FGB C/M 765 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 071 SHARMAN EA C/LX 21668 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 072 SHEARER N P/KX 128809 HMS WAKEFUL 09/07/1945 ROYAL NAVY 073 SIMMONS WA C/J 89779 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 074 SMITH L C/JX 128251 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 075 SPACKMAN JF C/SSX 29889 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 076 SPARKES RGR C/J 109740 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 077 STEARN VG C/SSX 29761 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 078 STILES RL C/JX 139350 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 079 STRATFULL PC C/K 58307 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 080 STURGEON FH C/J 100661 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 081 SWAIN G C/KX 75596 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 082 TALLENT EJ D/KX 85419 HMS WAKEFUL 30/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 083 TAYLOR PE C/JX 182647 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 084 TAYLOR EA C/JX 125518 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 085 TAYLOR JT C/LDX 2203 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 086 THOMAS EC P/MX 55974 HMS WAKEFUL 09/07/1945 ROYAL NAVY 087 THURSTON J C/J 34496 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 088 TILLEY WE C/SSX 29623 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 089 TOHILL J C/JX 126123 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 090 TOMPSETT LC C/JX 149097 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 091 TUCKER HJ - HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 092 TURNER J C/KX 76796 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 093 TURNER W C/JX 131943 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 094 VICKERY LF C/M 7055 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 095 WALKER DG - HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE 096 WILLIAMS W C/L 14593 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 097 WINSTANLEY JR C/KX 76786 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 098 WOOD HR C/K 59956 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 099 WOODROFFE W C/JX 170392 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 100 WORRELL SF C/JX 171313 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVY 101 WRIGHT JW C/TD/X 1775 HMS WAKEFUL 29/05/1940 ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE
From 1 Div Commander Royal Army Service Corps, WO167/196 11623 Lieutenant Colonel Lionel John Walch, 1 Div CRASC, Royal Army Service Corps. CWGC :: Certificate 57770 Captain Edward Michael Doxford, 1 Div RASC Adj., Royal Army Service Corps. CWGC :: Certificate 14917 Major Mounteney Kortright, 1 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate 75470 Captain Arthur Cecil Perkins, 1 Div. Supply Col., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate 87296 2nd Lieutenant John Michael Humfrey Masse, 1 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate All remembered on the Dunkirk Memorial, Panel 132 121029 2nd Lieutenant Patrick Byrne Sherwood, 1 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps CWGC :: Certificate Buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery I have just found out that I am related to Lt-Col Lionel John Walch, he being a 4th cousin 3x removed. He was the youngest son of William Crosby Walch of Hobart, Tasmania. His two older brothers both died in the Great War, Stanley William whilst serving with 8th Bn Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) on 3 May 1917, and Brian James Brett whilst serving with the 4th Essex on Gallipoli on 28 Oct 1915. Mark
Annoyingly after a fair few emails and chats with the National Archives and the MoD, the MoD have confirmed they have 'lost' the Missing Men file for HMS Keith that they borrowed from the National Archives.
