Hi everyone..... I am ex RN FAA mainly based in Culdrose, Cornwall. I kneel and bow in honour to members and heroes who were involved in any military capacity... I am looking for a little help and guidance in looking into details of my grandfather, Bertie Charles Thomas Adams, Po. J97026 based at HMS JACKDAW, RNAS CRAIL and was involved in a car accident 10th February 1943...I am looking for any further information of the accident. many thanks Darren
Hi Darren Welcome Firstly you should obtain his service records from the MOD - forms here - Request records of deceased service personnel it may or may not contain of his accident but either way its the best place to start Secondly I am sure other members will be along who have access to newspapers of the day who would probably have reported the incident TD
Jackdaw, road accident ADAMS, Bertie C T, Petty Officer, C/J 97026, killed Might be worth dropping a line to the below Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, February 1943
Please find attached his headstone from my photo collection. PETTY OFFICER BERTIE CHARLES THOMAS ADAMS Service Number: C/J 97026 Regiment & Unit/Ship Royal Navy Date of Death Died 10 February 1943 Age 38 years old Buried or commemorated at ISLINGTON CEMETERY AND CREMATORIUM Sec. N. Block 11. Grave 20676P. United Kingdom Country of ServiceUnited Kingdom Additional InfoSon of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Adams; husband of Gertrud Ida Martha Adams, of Holloway. London. Personal InscriptionIN LOVING MEMORY OF A DEVOTED HUSBAND AND FATHER. WE SHALL MEET AGAIN Download certificate BURIED OR COMMEMORATED AT ISLINGTON CEMETERY AND CREMATORIUM MiddlesexUnited Kingdom Number of casualties: 621 View cemetery details
UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960 Name: Bertie Charles Thomas Adams Event: Death Birth Date: 6 Oct 1904 Birth Place: Tottenham, London Death Date: 10 Feb 1943 Death Age: 38 Gives a location UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services, 1848-1939 Name: Bertie Charles Thomas Adams Gender: Male Birth Date: 6 Oct 1904 Birth Place: Tottenham, London First Service Date: 20 Apr 1920 First Ship Served On: Ganges Last Service Date: 24 Sep 1925 Last Ship Served On: Pembroke I Service Number: J97026 There are a few more files/records for him on Ancestry TD
my word guys....I was expecting a response in a couple of days, with minimal expectation...thanks so much. some of the info, I already have...but thank-you...... I have the first half of his service record...it goes upto 1926 and then I have sent request to vets uk for the second half upto 1943. I have visited his grave a couple of times because it was over grown, you couldn't even see it.. I also have a family tree started with ancestry, so I will take another look.. many thanks everyone... Darren
Source Registers Of Reports Of Deaths: Naval Ratings A - Blyth First name(s) Bertie Charles Thomas Last name Adams Service number C/J 97026 Birth year 1904 Birth date 06 Oct 1904 Birth place Tottenham, London Death year 1943 Death date 10 Feb 1943 Death place Near Gates of Montrave Hospital, Nr Crail Rating P O Vessel HMS Jackdaw Type Armed Forces War Second World War, 1939-1945 Branch of service R N Place HMS Jackdaw Archive reference ADM 104/127 Records Edit: sorry Tricky, see you have already posted them!
Found this for some background to HMS Jackdaw - HMS Jackdaw, Crail, Fife – WW1/ WW2 Aerodrome, April 2008 TD RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw) - Wikipedia
Can't find a present day Montrave Hospital but I wonder if this country house was commandeered during the war, unfortunately now demolished but the footprint can be seen on satellite maps. Montrave House | Canmore Here are the gates. Newspapers confirm the hospital existed during the war, it closed in 1946.
Welcome aboard Darren. As you’ve already found, they’re a great bunch here, helped me a lot. Ah, Cornwall, my favourite place in the whole world and where we want to live. I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve driven past Culdrose for a bit of shopping at Sainsbury’s in Helston (other stores are available) on our way to and from the holiday cottages we loved to stay in at Church Cove or Poldhu. The police car that always seemed to be parked up on the entrance by the main road threw me the first time we drove past, thought it was a speed trap and duly cruised by at 29mph lol, but then it dawned on me it must have been the RNP or MPs d’oh. Good luck with your research.
Hi everyone thanks for all of your info so far regarding my grandfather, Bertie charles thomas adams... I have a couple of questions to throw out there to see if anyone can shed any light on this... 1...he embarked hms eagle 1 April 1941 and then nothing else....I cannot find a crew list for him joining the eagle or for anything else on him being at Jackdaw..? I know that the eagle stopped off at Greenoch 26th October 1941 and was sunk by u-boat in August 1942 and he wasn't on the crew list...it's a bit weird that from 1941 to Feb 1943 his records were not up-to-date...? Also can anyone tell me what T.G.M means .....torpedo gunners mate ?...?.. many thanks Darren
Hi Darren, TGM = Torpedo Gunners Mate. There are no crew lists available for RN ships so not quite sure what you are referring to when you say he was not on the crew list? You need to get on to the MOD and ask for his Pay and Victualing Ledger. Regards Hugh
Hi Hugh yes I know about p and v....thanks. What seems strange is that he has on his records that he joined hms eagle on 1st April 1941 and then nothing.....how did he end up at Jackdaw and not be on his records....there is a crew list for hms eagle when she was sunk in August 1942 and my grandfather wasn't on it.....therefore there is a period which is unaccounted for,,,,I know he spoke and wrote German well as my grandmother was German and they met in Malta. Is it possible that he was helping SOE ..?
The records are incomplete. You have online records only - Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's services 1853–1924 (ADM 188) Royal Navy Seamen's services Continuous Record cards 1925–1939 (ADM 363) You will have to ask the MOD via his P & V records as I have said already. Crew lists from sunken warships are unofficial and incomplete and therefore I would suggest they are unreliable as primary records. Regards Hugh
