SS Taberg

Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by Mike Goldsworthy, Oct 22, 2019.

  1. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    I knew this would happen but it doesn't make it any easier to accept. I have already tried looking for any surviving records with a request made to PsyWar.Org to check some files at Kew and that, as expected, drew a blank. The highlighted piece below is mine.

    Our merchant seamen got a raw deal when they served and sadly some of those who died in service have no grave, memorial or recognition from their own nation.
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    Dear Mr MacLean
    Thank you for your emails regarding the three British men who died on the S.S Taberg. I apologise for the delay in my reply.
    We weren’t as clear as we could have been in our initial response to you. The advice you received was correct and to be eligible for commemoration, sailors of the Commonwealth Merchant Navy must have died while signed on for a voyage, either as a result of enemy action, while detained by the enemy, or due to the increased risks of being at sea during war time.

    What we did not make clear was that as the S.S Taberg was a Swedish ship, and therefore neutral, to be eligible the casualties must have been Commonwealth registered merchant sailors. We would need evidence to support this. We have undertaken some research and haven’t been able to find that evidence, however, if you are able to locate this we would then be happy to consider the case.

    In the event evidence can’t be located, there could be an option to commemorate them as civilians, which means their names would be added to the Civilian Roll of Honour. To commemorate the men as civilians we would require their death certificates. Without these we could consider commemorating them as civilians based on the crew list you provided but we would need the original correspondence from the Swedish Archives to verify the origins of the document.

    I understand this may not be the response you were hoping for. Please be assured that our intention is simply to be thorough and consistent in how we assess cases so that we can be as fair as possible.

    Apologies again for the delay and any initial confusion.
     
    CL1, timuk and Roy Martin like this.
  2. Good morning Hugh.
    As you warned, it seems that you have hit a brick wall.
    I will do some work this end to see if there is any possibility of finding / getting Tommy's death certificate but unfortunately after all these years, I don't hold out much hope.
    In the interim, as before, I would just like (on behalf of myself and all Tommy's family) to thank you for everything you have done for us.

    Kindest regards

    Mike
     
    timuk, Roy Martin and Hugh MacLean like this.
  3. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    Thank you Mike - it will be difficult now but I will keep looking for leads. Anything you can come up with will help. Maybe family members of the other seamen who died may eventually find their way here too and be able to help.
    I understand the CWGC position because they have explained it many times to me. We know those men died serving their country but unfortunately the country does not know about their sacrifice and that is a tragedy.
    Regards
    Hugh
     
    CL1, timuk and Roy Martin like this.
  4. Thank you Hugh

    regards
    Mike
     
  5. Fox59

    Fox59 New Member

    Hello Hugh,

    I'm also looking for information or documents about SS Taberg, especially about her trip from Bayonne (France) to Casablanca (Morocco) in June 1940. That ship carried a bunch of young French airmen (who later joined the Free French Forces and RAF squadrons in the UK). I wonder if Willy Möller was already Taberg's captain during that trip.

    Thank you for your help.
     
    CL1 likes this.
  6. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    Hello Fox,
    Don't have much to add as my research was into the seamen killed during the sinking.
    TABERG was time chartered by the French from 16 May 1940 and cancelled in July 1940. I think Captain Willy Möller joined the ship on 1 March 1940.

    Regards
    Hugh
     
    CL1 likes this.
  7. Fox59

    Fox59 New Member

    Thanks for your reply. I found the report (with the crew list that you mentioned) on archive.org . Do you any idea of what the actual source is ?
     

    Attached Files:

  8. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    I never saw anything on archive.org - still can't :)

    The actual source document is Archive: Kommerskollegium, Huvudarkivet, F I bb: volume 24
    Riksarkivet - Sök i arkiven

    I contacted the site and asked for help as I couldn't find anything by searching online.

    Regards
    Hugh
     
  9. Fox59

    Fox59 New Member

    To find that document about Swedish boats which were sunk during WW2, you have to go on archive.org , then "search text contents" and search "SS Taberg". The file name is "Backstrom Sjoolyckor VK 2 410102 410630".
     
    Richelieu and Hugh MacLean like this.
  10. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    Thanks for that it gave some extra information that I didn't have.
    Regards
    Hugh
     

Share This Page