My father James Arthur Kane enlisted Hounslow 3-11-37 for 6 years plus 6 years in reserve. Him at Bovington 1937: Jim bottom right below at Bovington 1937, sorry I don't know any of the other names (there is nothing on the back): and another at Bovington, Jim on the right, it would be great if anyone can identify others: Jim He trained as a tank driver and when moved to Farnborough he 'borrowed' one to show off to his parents, driving it to Hampton and back. I wish we had a photo of that. He was a good runner and boxer, he was nicknamed Peter after the popular flyweight boxer world champion Peter Kane in the 1930s. His boxing cups were lost but I still have these: Farnborough (Pinehurst Barracks) 1938. Jim in the middle with Ken and Bill, I don't know which is which. I am pretty certain I have identified these two men and have just applied for their Service Records: Kenneth W George 7886141 Tpr 4RTR KIA France 27 May 1940, Buried in the 'Dunkirk plot' at Dover St James's Cemetery. Most likely killed aboard the King Orry just after leaving Dunkirk. William (Bill) K Daniel 7910039 Tpr 4RTR KIA Middle East 15 June 1941, Buried or commemorated at ALAMEIN MEMORIAL, Egypt. More about him here: 4RTR - 15 June 1941 - Would really appreciate some help The tunic Jim wore at his wedding in 1946: He was sent to France and survived the Arras Counter attack and returned to England from Dunkirk. So here is my first question, should I carry on posting on this thread or would it be better to create a new thread about his experiences in the 1940 forum ? Then he was in North Africa and captured at Tobruk in 1942, again where is best to post about this and as a POW ?
Welcome to the forum John. Excellent post I would imagine keep it all together and it will save flipping between threads Just put in the time line on each post Perhaps change the title along the lines of Trooper Jim Kane Army service timeline. we look forward to your posts
Jim was sent to France with the BEF, I assume in September 1939. I have no recollections of him telling us anything about his time there but he must have been in Vimy area near the Belgium border. The move in Belgium then back to Arras and the counter-attack against the Panzers including Rommel's 7th are well documented. I would really like to know if it is possible to find the names of the tank crews in that action. Would the Bovington archives help me? It is possible Jim wasn't in a tank crew at that time as later on I know he was driving lorries in North Africa and was maybe part of the 4th RTR Reconnaissance Corps - although I don't actually understand what that unit's role was.
I have been unable to get my father's service records from the Nat Archives: "We have reviewed this record with reference to the proof of death provided and are unable to open it until 2035 because information within this record is exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information (FOI)Act 2000. This means we cannot make the record open to you or to the public in general. In cases where proof of death was provided by the requester, we usually take into account the year of death, using a 25 (+1) year rule to determine the record opening year. However, in the interests of opening the record as early as possible, in this case the opening date will remain at 115 (+1) years after the subject’s year of birth ( Date of Birth: 1919 ). The National Archives (TNA) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have determined that this represents a reasonable period of time through which the principle of confidentiality should be retained." It is something to do with his medical records: "Section 41 (1) of the Act exempts information if: (a) It was obtained by the public authority from any other person (including another public authority), and (b) The disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under the Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person. This is why this record has been closed to the public in full. It contains medical information that has been deemed to have been given ‘in confidence’ at the time of recording to an authority. To clarify, if an authority holds a large amount of medical information on a person, that person would not expect the information to be released to the public after they have passed away. Everyone has a right to privacy on this information. It is therefore the duty of TNA to uphold the service person’s right to privacy in the interests of care and confidence. Exemption Section 41 may be applied if proof of death has been supplied if the subject of the record has not been deceased for 25 (+1) years. The duty of confidence owed to an individual when giving sensitive information extends beyond their death. A significant proportion of this record consists of medical information. TNA has therefore decided against the partial release of this record, which in this case would mean release of the non-medical information contained within it. This is because it has been determined that to do so would require a redaction process that is neither in the best interest of the record’s preservation, nor the public interest." I wish they would release it with the medical bits redacted then at least I would know much more. I'm not sure I will be around in 2035 !
After the Arras counter strike Jim was still in France and separated from the main part of 4th RTR. He might have been part of the composite force under Major George Parkes of 7RTR. This was formed with the remaining tanks and crews from both 4th and 7th RTR to fight a series of delaying actions. A group of light tanks, lorries and carriers from the reconnaissance unit were ordered to Dunkirk on 26th and Jim could have been amongst them. The main part of 4RTR, had already crossed the Channel on 27 May on the Isle of Man Ferry: the Mona’s Isle (some sources say its sister ship the King Orry). They were shelled from the shore and strafed by up to 6 Messerschmitt fighters. Eleven men from 4RTR were killed, including Jim’s friend Kenneth George 7886141 (7th photo above post #1), they are buried in St James's Cemetery, Dover in the Dunkirk plot. The survivors were taken by train to Farnborough, there were only 100 on roll call, they thought near enough 30 were missing or dead. A “reported missing” telegram was sent to Jim’s parents. The destroyer HMS Wakeful arrived anchored off Bray Sanatorium at 1500 hrs on May 28th. She had been attacked by Stuka dive bombers on the way from Dover with three ratings wounded. Over the next eight hours she embarked 640 troops. Amongst those troops was Jim, he relates: “Hordes of troops were waiting on the beach. We were given the order to walk out to the boats waiting to pick us so we walked in columns out to sea. The tide was coming in and our clothing weighed us down so it was very difficult to walk, also with me being short I was soon up to my neck in the water but, being a strong swimmer, I started to swim towards the ships which were about a mile off shore. I ended up taking off my outer clothing as it was weighing me down. I hoped a rowing boat or motor boat would pick me up and, eventually, one did. It took me to the destroyer HMS Wakeful. I climbed up the side of the ship on the rope/nets as best I could and was hauled aboard exhausted. A Naval Rating told me to go down to the stoke hold for a mug of cocoa, which sounded very welcome after my ordeal in the sea, but then a Naval Officer told me to go down a hold in the rear of the ship instead. I remember that the hold had a round hatch and just one electric light and I could make out large heaps of oilskins piled up at the back of the hold. The hold was full of troops like myself, all wet through and deadbeat. I made myself as comfortable as possible among the oilskins and fell asleep.” The Wakeful set sail for Dover at 2330 hrs. Meanwhile Kapitanleutnant Siegried Wuppermann deploys his flotilla of three S-boats (German torpedo boats) (S.25, S.30 and S.34) of 2. Schnellbootsflotilla to Kwinte Buoy, which is along the evacuation route now being used from Dunkirk to Dover. 29th May 1940 at 0020hrs, S.25 and S.34 move west and attack patrol sloop Shearwater south of Fairy Bank. All torpedoes miss. On Wakeful, Commander Fisher was being careful not to reveal the ship to aircraft by a bright wake so went at only 12 knots. As they approached Kwinte bouy Fisher calls for 20 knots and a wide zigzag. At that moment, hiding behind the brightly flashing bouy, Oberleutnant zur See Zimmerman in S.30 sights the slow moving Wakeful and fires two torpedoes from 600m and withdraws quietly to reload. 0045 hrs and at a position a quarter of a mile west of Kwinte buoy, Ordinary Seaman (OS) Geoffrey Kester was manning the starboard searchlight manipulators on the bridge of Wakeful: “there came a simultaneous cry from nearly everyone above decks; "Torpedo on the starboard beam“. In fact, there were two, they had been fired at point blank range and although the Captain immediately gave the order "Hard to port", it was too late. The first went ahead of us, the second right amidships. It was the very worst place we could have been hit; the ship simply folded up. Even on the bridge it was a matter of seconds before we were standing in water. Andrews jumped for it before me but I was not long in following. Luckily I had already inflated my lifebelt, as we had been advised to do. If I had not done so I could have never survived.” Commander Fisher: “Wakeful was cut in two and the halves sank immediately until their broken ends grounded on the bottom, the forepart rolled over to starboard and it cannot have been more than 15 seconds before I found myself swimming off the bridge. There were perhaps fifty of my men, probably gun crews, in a group in the water with me. All my engine room people had been killed and all except ten of the soldiers trapped inside the ship tragically drowned. The tide was quickly sweeping our group away from the grounded wreck and we must have been a mile or two down-tide when two Scottish wooden fishing boats on their way to Dunkirk came amongst us.” Jim Kane in the Wakeful’s hold: “It was while we were sleeping that we were hit by a torpedo. There was a terrible explosion, which lifted the ship up, put out the light and smashed everything around us. Then all I could hear were cries and shouts for help. Somehow I managed to reach an iron ladder, but when I started to climb it the ship rolled over and things crashed down on top of me, trapping my leg. Someone climbed over me and put his boot into the side of my face - this left a boot imprint for a long time afterwards but he did say "sorry mate !” The water that came in caused the ship to roll again, which freed me, and I went up the ladder and out of the hatch. All the screams and cries had stopped by then and I saw some men clinging to the ship's rail which was pointed straight up into the night sky. I joined these men clinging to the rails and we waited, hoping to be picked up by a boat. It was dark and I had no idea of time. It was cold too and I was still only wearing my shirt, socks and identity disc. One of my most haunting memories that night was a Naval Officer who floated towards us wearing a lifejacket. I managed to grab his clothing and tried to hang on to him. He was singing "Abide With Me" but water was coming out of his mouth and I could tell he was barely alive. He soon got too heavy and I couldn't hold on to him and he floated away.” At 0111 hrs The Scottish drifter Comfort and the motor drifter Nautilus were first on the scene followed by the minesweeper HMS Gossamer. By 0200 hrs the destroyer HMS Grafton arrived crammed with some 800 troops from Bray Beach. The minesweeper Lydd also arrived. Lifeboats and whalers were lowered and joined the search for the survivors. The Nautilus picked up six survivors, the Comfort sixteen including Commander Fisher and OS Geoffrey Kester, and the Gossamer embarking about fifteen. Commander Fisher directed the Comfort to head for the wreck of the Wakeful and take off the men that were clinging to the stern. When the Comfort reached the wreck, the stern section had fallen over. Jim was still left clinging to the remaining forepart of Wakeful and watched in horror as the next terrible incident happened. Commander Fisher “The Grafton's deck was solid with soldiers and I went alongside her starboard quarter to tell her captain to get out of it as there were enemy about. At that moment some sort of grenade exploded on her bridge and he was killed. Nobody seems to know what this was. At the same time there was a large explosion as a torpedo hit the Grafton on the opposite side from where Comfort was lying.” At 0250 hrs Oberleutnant Hans-Bernhard Michalowski, commander of U-boat U-62 was also lurking around Kwinte bouy, from 1,000 m range he unleashed two torpedoes; one tore away the stern of Grafton whilst the other sent a deadly explosion ripping through the wardroom and claimed the lives of thirty-five army officers. The Comfort was lifted into the air and then momentarily swamped. As she bobbed to the surface again Commander Fisher was washed overboard. In an attempt to rejoin the Comfort he seized the end of a rope, but as the Comfort was, by now, out of control and at full speed he had to let go. OS Geoffrey Kester: “We had been on Comfort for about three-quarters of an hour, and were all on the verge of sleep, when there was a terrific crash. The lights went out and water came pouring in on us. We were all thrown out of our bunks and landed in a heap on the deck, which was already under water. I think we all felt there was no chance of getting up to the deck above, but one of Comfort's crew smashed open a hatch in the deckhead and we quickly scrambled through to the upper deck; all of us naked. No sooner had we reached the upper deck than there came another crash; we were being shelled, and as our attacker came nearer she started to machine gun us as well. We all dropped flat on the deck but the air was absolutely full of lead and there did not seem to be a chance for any of us. The whine of the shells coming at us, and the sing of the machine gun bullets was terrifying, and it was not long before I received my first hit in the back, followed soon afterwards by a piece of shrapnel in the right foot. Sub Lieutenant Jones was lying next to me and I think he realised I had been hit before I told him - chiefly due to the language that ensued. He did his best to cheer me up but under the circumstances, that was rather difficult. After we had been under fire for a few minutes, which seemed like hours, the Comfort slewed round and we were left absolutely open to the shell and machine gun fire. With the aid of the Sub Lieutenant I crawled round to the other side of the drifter and sought shelter behind the galley and wheelhouse. But it was of little use; I soon received another hit in the back, which, by this time, was very numb. Shortly afterwards the Sub Lieutenant was hit in the leg but that did not seem to worry him too much; he remained very cheerful. Those of us who were left were beginning to wonder how much longer this hell could last, for it seemed to have been going on for hours. We were soon to find out. Our attacker was bearing down on us and it was evident she intended to ram; she was still machine gunning us even then. I stayed under cover until the last possible moment and as we were rammed I slithered across the deck, back into the sea once again. Plunging into the sea seemed to revive me a little and I struck out to get away from the Comfort as quickly as my numbed body would take me, which was not very fast. No sooner had I started to swim (no lifebelt this time), and several other chaps with me, machine gun bullets started singing over us once more. Our attacker was still not satisfied. Luckily we were quite near a large buoy and this provided some protection against the flying lead This burst of firing did not last for long, however, and soon after it ceased the mast of the Comfort floated by, and to this several of us clung. Two of my companions on the mast were the Midshipman (Patterson) and Jack Chivers. The former had his left arm shot to pulp and his face badly cut, while Jack had escaped without a scratch - lucky sod! Knowing I was with these two gave me much more confidence; they were both grand blokes and I doubt whether I would have survived had it not been for their help and encouragement.” Jim thought Commander Fisher had been killed as he watched the Comfort being raked with machine guns from Grafton, although he did not know who was firing at who or why at the time.
During the aftermath of the torpedo attack on the Grafton confusion reigned. Other vessels in the area began to steer in all directions with their crews ready to defend themselves. One of these vessels was the Lydd, who's crew spotted what appeared to be the silhouette of a German torpedo boat moving in a south westerly direction. Lydd’s starboard Lewis gun opened up strafing the superstructure of the unidentified vessel. Grafton, which was still afloat, joined the fray letting loose with her secondary armament. Tragically the Lydd and Grafton's target was no German torpedo boat. She was, in fact, the Comfort, laden with Wakeful survivors. Machine-gun bullets ripped across her decks as the Lydd closed in, cutting the drifter's crew to pieces. Minutes later the Comfort was torn apart as the Lydd's bow smashed into her hull. There were only five survivors from Comfort including Commander Fisher who was plucked from the sea, at dawn, by the Norwegian tramp steamer Hird. OS Geoffrey Kester “Grafton sent a whaler out to search for survivors. When their boat reached us we found that two of the boat's crew had been killed by the machine gun fire directed at us and were lying dead in the bottom. However, we clambered into the whaler and the Midshipman and I lay shivering in the bows while the others, plus Jack, started to pull the boat back to the Grafton. This was pretty tough going; only two oars and a strong current against us, but we made it” Jim was also picked up by a whaler from the Grafton. At about 0400 LNER steamer Malines came alongside Grafton and began transferring troops to her. It was found impossible to transfer the seriously wounded owing to the height of Malines deck above Grafton’s, and because of the heavy rolling. The Malines was ordered away and then the destroyer HMS Ivanhoe came to the scene and embarked the remaining seriously wounded. Soon afterwards Ivanhoe put three shells into the Grafton’s waterline. Within minutes she turned over and went to the seabed. A total of sixteen Grafton crew members were killed including the ship’s Captain. All are remembered on the Royal Navy Memorial at Plymouth. By this time the night's action was over as U-62 and three German S-boats were already well on their way back to their home port having inflicted terrible damage on the British troops and their rescuers. According toU-62 crew member Kurt Wendler, the men attended a wild celebration at a restaurant in Helgoland, [2] Jim: “I was asleep when we reached England's shores and to this day I don't remember where we actually landed.” When Jim finally got home, the “reported missing” telegram arrived on 11th June and he took delivery of it at the door. One of his neighbours was not so lucky: “By one of those strange coincidences, I found out when I got back home, that an old school pal called Vic Carey, who lived in the same street as me in Hampton, had also been on board the HMS Wakeful when it was hit. He had been working as a stoker on the destroyer, though of course I didn't know it at the time. Sadly, he didn't survive, When I felt well enough I went to visit his mother. She told me that she had heard him calling for her one night and we worked out that this must have been at about the same time that HMS Wakeful went down." On the 26th June another telegram arrived reporting him as having rejoined his unit at Farnborough.
Sources for above: 1. Visit Of The Last Known Survivors from World War Il Destroyer HMS Wakeful to HMS Southampton - Briefing Pack 6 July 2004 (Includes testimonies of Jim Kane, Geoffrey Kester and Stanley Crabb and the Background to the Wakeful's sinking) 2. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore’s Dunkirk: Fight To The Last Man 3. Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk by Joshua Levine Page 285 Corporal George Andrew 4 RTR 4. Osprey. Dunkirk 1940: Operation Dynamo (campaign) by Howard Gerrard Dildy
HMS Wakeful remains on the seabed 57 ft under the surface, 13 miles off the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge. It became a shipping hazard and in 2003 there was debate whether to move it, even though it is a military maritime grave to hundreds of men. The Belgian authorities relented and just removed the superstructure, navigation equipment and funnels, these were secured to the side of the hull. The wreck remains a military maritime grave. A wreath-laying ceremony over the site was carried out by HMS Ark Royal shortly after the work was completed as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives. Divers recovered her crest and footplate and brought them back to Portsmouth. The three last known survivors were invited to view them, were interviewed and their stories recorded. This is Jim holding the Crest onboard the Type 42 destroyer HMS Southampton: The ships motto was Si dormiam capiar ("If I sleep I may be caught") Jim above deck with the other survivor Ordinary Seaman Geoffrey Kester (who's abridged story is told above). There was a third survivor Stanley Crabb but was unable to attend the ceremony: Wakeful's crest and footplate are on display in the National Museum of the Royal Navy in the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth:
