Sailor of the Royal Navy

Hello,
I seek to identify to sailor of the Royal Navy. Died 18 June 1940. Here is his Service Number: 123-107.
Regards,
Dan

 

Hi Dan

Do you know where he died?? - also that service number does not look 'right' can you re check it?

TD

 

UK deaths of Royal Navy personnel on 18th June 1940 results in:

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1

FINNEY, SYDNEY GEORGE
Rank:Blacksmith 1st ClassService No:C/M. 38588Date of Death:18/06/1940Age:42Regiment/Service:Royal Navy H.M.S. Sandhurst. Grave Reference: West of church. Cemetery:HOUGHAM-BY-DOVER (ST. LAWRENCE) CHURCHYARDAdditional Information:Son of George Ely Finney and Harriet Elizabeth Finney, of Dover; husband of Amy Constance Finney, of Dover.

HUNT, BERNARD G.
Rank:Ordinary SeamanService No D/SSX 32757Date of Death:18/06/1940Age:18Regiment/Service:Royal Navy H.M.S. Drake. Grave Reference: Plot R. 4. Grave 1286. Cemetery:CROYDON (MITCHAM ROAD) CEMETERYAdditional Information:Son of Alfred and Florence V. Hunt, of South Norwood.

WHITTAKER, ARTHUR HERBERT
Rank:Third CookService No:63257Date of Death:18/06/1940Age:37Regiment/Service:Naval Auxiliary Personnel (Merchant Navy) H.M.S. Arawa Panel Reference: Panel 6, Column 1. Memorial:LIVERPOOL NAVAL MEMORIAL


TD

edited to add:
Owen - same thoughts

 

Tuesday, 18 June 1940

Arawa, drowning

WHITTAKER, Arthur H, 3rd Cook, T.124/63257, died

Drake, accident

HUNT, Bernard G, Ordinary Seaman, D/SSX 32757, killed

Melisande, accident

DUNN, Arthur E, 2nd Hand, RNPS, LT/JX 197244, died.
(CWGC has the 19th June).

Sandhurst

FINNEY, Sydney G, Blacksmith, C/M 38588, died
Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, June 1940

 

According to the information of the register of the hospital of hotel Dieu of Saint Malo.
June 18, 1940 died of his wounds at 2:45 am, a sailor of the English Navy. Matricule 123-107. Aged 26 years. Measurement 1.70 mt. Tall, pink face. Brown eyes, medium mouth. Dressed in a pink knit, a khaki shirt. Black socks and black shoes. And a greencoat vest.
This sailor is still buried as unknown in the cemetery of Saint Malo. For the simple reason that the cemetery register was lost after the war, a long time afterwards.

 

I think I am right in saying it cannot be:

WHITTAKER, ARTHUR HERBERT as the ship he was lost overboard from was in the Far East -

November 39 - Sep 40: China Station


Dan - is it possible to obtain a photo/copy of the hospital register and post it on here. I have tried combinations of his service number (matricule) but nothing is coming up. If we can see the original perhaps there are clues that would help

TD

 

The person who found the document in the archives is absent today.

 

More than twenty British ships were in St Malo up to 18 June. as part of Operation Aerial They were mostly merchant ships, plus five Dutch Schuyhts manned by the Royal Navy. Could his service number be 123107, possibly a Merchant Seaman - especially with his 'unusual' clothing?

 

This will rule out any member of the demolition party.
BBC - WW2 People's War - 1944 St Malo Destroyed
Possibly a civilian, St Helier yacht club was also involved in the operation but can find no deaths recorded.

 

Normally (I think) Royal Naval service numbers begin with a letter - there port of enlistment i.e C = Chatham etc.

Why would Merchant seaman have a number?? - just thinking out loud really

Be interesting to see a copy/photo of the original document

TD

 

The RN service number for that era would normally have the Port Division prefix added before the number.

TD - Would a merchant seaman have a number? Yes, he would.

Roy does make an interesting point regarding the Merchant Navy though and was worth following up. The deceased was 26 years old so the number 123107 would in all likelihood be allocated to a much older seaman. However, a younger seaman would have had the prefix R before the number. The number R123107 belonged to John Jarvis Brougham born Forfar in 1914, however, I think I can see his death in 1974 so we probably need to rule him out.

Need a bit more information I think.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hugh

You are correct 1974 it is - mind you I would not expect anything less from a master as yourself

UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
Name: John Jarvis Brougham
Death Date: 2 May 1974
Cemetery: Eastwood Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place: Glasgow, Glasgow City, Scotland
Has Bio?: N
Spouse: Jean Brougham
URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-...

TD

edited to add:
I see there is a private family tree for him, the only info I can see is:

John Jarvis Brougham
Birth: 1914 - Angus, Scotland

 

Thanks for that TD. I too would like to see the document but in the meantime will have a look around.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hello,
I have just contacted the person who found the death certificate in the archives of the city of Saint Malo. Here are just a few more info, but nothing more.
English sailor's uniform. 1939. Green coat paterne five eigth 5/7, breit 37/39. Bary.
There is nothing more with reference number 123-107, about 26 years old. Died in the night at 2:45. The death certificate is registered on June 19, 1940. Circumstances of his death unknown.
I'll have the original death certificate in a few days. There is also a photo of his grave from the time or after the war.

 

Hello Dan,

Are you still monitoring this thread? I have also been researching this sailor and may have some more information. Did you establish the identity or solve the puzzle of the matricule 123-107?


Philip

 

Philip,

Dan has not logged on since November 2021.

If you hover over the name of the member in their avatar it will show a new text box and within is the date of their last logged visit. Some members "flag" their interest in a thread, which means they get a system alert. As you have posted five times - a measure to stop spam - you can send a private message (PM) to Dan using 'Start a private conversation' accessed via your avatar. Such messages depend on their email given at registration is still valid.