7596765 Craftsman George Stanley MITCHELL, REME: 14/11/1941, SS Scillin - Research help please

Hi everyone

I mentioned on the other thread. My Dad's sadly passed away and his best friend Dave Mitchell (83) has become a dear friend of mine. We have a cuppa and a half coated once a week, he has outlived everyone - family, friends and with no children so I love to hear about his life, especially with my Dad.

Whilst talking he said he never met his own father. Dave was born in 1940 and his father went to war and never returned. They never heard anything - his mother was told it was secret. Seven years later they received a letter saying he was missing and his mother's wage was shifted to a war pension.

Dave knows nothing of his father and what happened to his father. He has no internet, so I said I would try and find out what I can.

His fathers name was : George Stanley Mitchell from Middlesbrough. He was in REME as a craftsman. We have his Dunkirk Medal and the letter from Buckingham Palace expressing sorrow at his loss.

I need to ask Dave for his date of birth so I can request his military records, but I wondered if there were any sleuths out there who could offer help and advice please?

I have managed to find out his father died in the sinking of the SS Scillin tragedy as a PoW on the way to Italy in November 1942.

I have added photos of the information I have, and Dave. Thank you for reading, this forum seems a really friendly and interesting place.

 

Glad you started a new thread will all info - link to previous posts, just in case Did any of your family serve during WW2; if so what did they do?

For the record, CWGC link & details
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2184379/george-stanley-mitchell/
CRAFTSMAN GEORGE STANLEY MITCHELL
Service Number: 7596765
Regiment & Unit: Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Date of Death: 14 November 1942
Age 30 years old
Buried or commemorated at ALAMEIN MEMORIAL
Memorial Reference: Column 84.
Location: Egypt


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Good luck with the research.

 

Thank you so much for bringing it all together for me.

 

Hi,

Here is a link to his CWGC entry that confirms his death 14 November 1942. I know you have looked at the various SS Scillin threads on the forum.I have provided the link for a service record application in response to your initial posts elsewhere on the forum.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2184379/george-stanley-mitchell/

His service number - 7596765 - indicates his initially joined Royal Army Ordnance Corps. It isn’t unusual to see a RAOC man being transferred to REME on creation of the regiment in 1942.

Hopefully JohnG505 can turn up his ww2 Campaign Medal application form but as you say his son hasn’t got his fathers medals it may be that the NOK didn’t apply immediately post war. I’ve let you have a link to apply for his medals if there is no trace of a previous application. The Dunkirk medal is not an official “award” but a commemorative medal.

I have also told you that there is very little information about individual soldiers in the public domain and your best way forward is to app,y for the service records. It isn’t a quick process. It can take up to a year to get a copy from U.K. National Archives.

I’ll ask a moderator to change your topic title to “ Information Sought - Cfn 7596765 George Stanley Mitchell REME - Died as POW in the sinking of SS Scillin 14/11/1942” in the hope it can attract more attention from members.


Steve

 

Thank you. I've updated my picture with Stanley. This is brilliant, thank you for helping me navigate your forum. Sorry for the incorrect reference to Dunkirk.

 

His memorial says column 84 - I assume that means his name is on a list, as there were no remains? I wonder if somehow I can get a photo of it to show Dave?

 

His:

From: Name: G S Mitchell . Service number: 7596765 . Date of birth: 22 November 1911 . | The National Archives Note the record is closed till 2027 as TNA do not know he died. You can apply for his record stating that and with a PDF copy of the CWGC entry.

You asked:

Correct no remains due to the ship being sunk and so he was lost. His Service Number did not appear here till you started to post. Some context and a list of the 841 lost: https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?31791

It is possible there is a photo here of the memorial panel, which may take time to identify. Nowt here nor online alas.

There is an option on a private website to request a photo of Column 84 of the El Alamein memorial. See: Craftsman George Stanley Mitchell (unknown-1942)... Are you the lady who left flowers in 2015?

 

Thank you for this, I must get his Date of Birth from Dave when I see him next and can get this ordered. Thank you so much. That is very useful.

 

OMG - Doh, you have posted it !

 

His DOB is shown in the National Archives link. No need to trouble MOD just apply direct to NA.

Steve

 

thank you - yes, couldn't see for looking !

 

Hi - no I didn't leave flowers, I only found this information yesterday, I have yet to tell Dave about his father.

 

LMS,

Might be worth sending the lady a message via that website. Not 100% sure it is an option.

When was the sinking of the Italian ship in the British public domain? From what you've added here it was post-war, as it was a disaster - sometimes censorship happened.

 

Thanks - it says no messages but I’ll have a dig and see what I can find. Thank you.

information was released in 1996 so was censored.

 

She left virtual flowers by the look of it. Have requested a photo but it says no volunteers are there. Will check back sometime.

 

Hi,

Hopefully a member will be able to turn up the date when he was taken POW via the official WW2 casualty list on the findmypast site.

You ought to apply to Swiss Red Cross 19th May 2025 for a copy of the information held in their files via this link -

Requests for information about people held during Spanish Civil War or Second World War: Quarterly limit reached

Check the site promptly at the given opening time and a pop up online application form will be visible. Complete and submit the form speedily as the application window can close within 90 minutes due to the limit being reached.

It’s a free service and you can expect a reply by email within 3 months.

I’d hazard a guess that he was likely captured in summer 1942 when German forces captured Tobruk in Libya and advanced to El Alamein, Egypt. If that is correct he was likely detained in a camp in Libya for several months to await a sea crossing to Italy.

I’m doubtful but you may be lucky and get a copy of the capture card postcard men usually completed on arrival at their first camp.

The Red Cross document you will receive should list all the camps where he was detained but may not cover the circumstances of his death. You should specifically request any information about deaths on SS Scillin 14/11/42 in the free text portion of the online form.

Steve

 

Oh wow Steve, thank you. This is so interesting/exciting and sad all at once. Thank you for taking the time to help me.

 

Here he is.

 

This is currently the only information Dave has about his father, until I update him on Friday.

 

Just scrolled through the deaths list (from the CWGC) on the wreck site and the vast majority who died were British, very few South Africans - who were the largest single group, after the British, when Tobruk surrendered (under South African command) on 21/6/1942.

Wiki has a table for those who surrendered:
Nationality
British 19,000
South African 10,720
Indian 2,500
Total 32,200
From: Axis capture of Tobruk - Wikipedia

I recognised soldiers from 124 Field Rgmt., this unit and two others were not in Tobruk, soldiers from both 97 (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment and 25th Light AA Rgmt. The three units were at very low strength by 1/7/1942 when part of it faced the Afrika Korps @ Deir el Shein (a focus for my research and a thread exists). Plus, a handful of 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, who did surrender @ Tobruk; and nine South Africans.