Hi everyone, Does anybody know the name of the two ships that left Royal Pindi in India 1939 for UK Dover with Royal Ulster Rifles and their families on board? My mother was a passenger on one of these ships and was curious as she was only a child at the time. She does recollect that one of them was torpedoed. Many thanks
I've had a quick Google & it seems the passengers transfered to another ship at Gibraltar. It was the SS Yorkshire that was sunk. Page Record Details Nell’s husband Billy was in Palestine with the 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles... ....But the Martins were not to stay long in Palestine, for the Rifles were ordered to the northwest frontier of India, for service in the troubled areas of Waziristan and Rawalpindi With war now inevitable, the Rifles were recalled to Britain and Billy had to tell Nell that the battalion was being sent home. Nell remembers vividly the family's epic train journey, over four days and four nights. Their ship then made its way up through the Suez canal and stopped at Gibraltar, which was in chaos. Here they were reassigned to a new ship for the journey to the UK. Nell sent a postcard to her mother from the SS Yorkshire, which they were due to join. A last-minute change meant they boarded the SS Britannia and, sadly, some days later she and her children would watch the Yorkshire sink with their friends aboard, after having been torpedoed by a U-boat.
According to the official history 1st RUR left Indian in June 1940. I guess only families and maybe some personnel of the battalion (official history doesn't mention anything) were returned to the UK in the October 1939. [FONT="]Then came Dunkirk, and the Battalion was given seventy-two hours notice to leave India for an unknown destination. The orders stated that all equipment and personal belongings were to be taken and that families were to be left behind. However, the bazaar rumour-mongers were quite convinced that the Battalion was going to England and a civilian even went so far as to ask an officer to take a letter to a friend of his in England. The move was completed easily as a result of the careful rehearsals and the Battalion had an uneventful train journey to Bombay. It arrived at the docks to discover that it was sailing on the S.S. "Karanja", afterwards beached and burnt-out on the shores of North Africa when used as an L.S.I. for the Tunisian landings. All baggage was loaded into the after-hold by coolies and the Battalion was not allowed either to load its own baggage or to find its own guards; which had severe repercussions later. Three companies of an English Infantry Regiment were also to travel on the ship. The Rifles sailed on June 4, 1940, still unaware of their destination, in convoy with four other ships carrying battalions of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, the South Staffordshires, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the South Lancashires. [/FONT] SS Yorkshire was part of convoy HG 3 and it wasn't the only ship sunk on that day from the convoy. Also were sunk "City of Mandalay" and "Clan Chrisholm" Convoy HG 3 - warsailors.com
Hi everybody, Many thanks for the information on the RUR, I was about 8 or 9 at the time and have many happy memories my father was called William Burden and he was the Regimental Sargeant Major when he left the regiment. Many thanks.
He was mention in the book On July 12, 1940, the Battalion proceeded to Anglesey and occupied accommodation formerly used by an R.A. Anti-Tank Regiment. The Battalion H.Q. staff consisted of the C.O. (Lieutenant-Colonel R. M. Rodwell), 2nd i/c. (Major W. J. Irwin), Adjutant (Captain G. S. Frizelle), Q.M. (Lieutenant J. T. Mullen), Regimental Sergeant Major (W. Burden). BTW, welcome to the forum Kathleen.
Hi Sol, Thank you. What is the name of the book he is mentioned in? It would be really interesting to read.
It's "History of the Royal Ulster Rifles, vol. 3 1919-1948", by Charles Graves. Unfortunately book was published in 1950 and never republished after so it's very rare a probable very expensive book.
According to the official history 1st RUR left Indian in June 1940. I guess only families and maybe some personnel of the battalion (official history doesn't mention anything) were returned to the UK in the October 1939. SS Yorkshire was part of convoy HG 3 and it wasn't the only ship sunk on that day from the convoy. Also were sunk "City of Mandalay" and "Clan Chrisholm" Convoy HG 3 - warsailors.com Some names listed on a link from the same site that Sol quoted Crewlist from Yorkshire (British steam passenger ship) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net CWGC CWGC :: Cemetery Reports
