Family & Friends

Since the launch of this website in April 2006 there has been a steady number of e-mails from relatives of crew members and, indeed, former members of the crews of the Halcyons themselves. Details have been included here of those contacts relating to HMS Gleaner, although e-mail addresses are excluded for privacy and to avoid spam messages. Please contact me if you would like to contact anyone listed here.

Crew Member	Contact	Relationship	Information
John Greig	Bill Greig	Son	My father, John Greig, was a Leading Seaman aboard HMS Gleaner during 1942 through 1944 or 1945. I will see if my Mother or uncle can remember any further details. Your web site is wonderful, I remember hours spent as a boy with my Father listening to all the adventures aboard the Gleaner. Reading your description brings back all those memories and quite frankly this is a very emotional experience. I can only imagine what Dad's reaction to your web site would be if he were alive today. I also remember him telling me of a shipmate, "Willie (or Woollie) Woodicus. I have no other information about him but I know that they were good friends and I hope to someday see his name on your crew list.
Leonard Fredrick Slee	Phil Slee	Son	My father was a crew member of the HMS Gleaner (J83) from 8th December '43 to 27th February '46. Leonard Fredrick Slee - Stoker. Sadly, dad died this year on 16th June. I'll send more information once I've been through his papers.
George Warren	Brian G Warren	Son	George Warren (K47383) my father according to his certificate of service served on H.M.S. Gleaner from 01-04-1938 until 24-02-1943 as S.P.O. He passed away Jan 1970. Regards B.G.Warren Aug 2007
'Taff' Phillips	David Philips	Son	I found my father's service record, at the bottom of a drawer, when I was selling my parent's house, some years ago. He served on the Gleaner from 21, June 1942 - 16,Oct 1943 as Act. Leading Coder (Ty). His name was Edmund Harman PHILLIPS, and was known in the navy as Taff, as he was from Cardiff. He did not talk about his war, but I knew about his trips to Russia with the Arctic Convoys. David Philips Oct 2008
Walter Law	Andy Barrett	Grandson	As a result of a conversation in a pub with a friend who’s granddad was also on minesweepers during ww2 I decided to start looking for my granddad’s war records. From what I’ve found out so far he served for most of the war (1940 -1946) on the Gleaner before being de-mobbed in Jan ’46. His name was Walter George Law (d.o.b. 05/11/1919) and his number was jx185016. I have a photo of the Gleaner at sea as well as one of him drinking tea on deck with a few other blokes. The quality is poor but it clearly says “HMS Gleaner” on the back of the photos. An entry in the 1942 section caught my eye. There is a section covering 19/20^th November that mentions the ship was taking an injured man to hospital. That was my granddad. I have a certificate of wounding dated 19/11/1942. He was (accidently!!) shot when working below decks by another crew member who was cleaning a Lewis gun. He spent some time in a Russian hospital recovering. This was something that came to light initially when my Mum took him for an X-ray some years ago and bullet fragments showed up. He said the man – a friend – was disciplined over the incident but wasn’t sure what happened then. He was also mentioned in dispatches on 14/06/45 which I think was when he was still on the Gleaner but obviously after the war in Europe was over. I don’t know if you want a copy of the pictures (my brothers have a couple too) but the quality is, as I said, a bit poor. I could forward you a paper copy of the wounding certificate as well if you would like, it details the incident, injuries etc. Thanks for running this site – it’s been pretty special to see the photos and read some of the places and events the Gleaner was at. Andy Barrett Nov 2008
Eric Stafford	Peter Stafford	Son	I have visited your site on behalf of my dad, Eric Stafford who was a leading stoker of the Gleaner during the activities, including the Russian Convoy and the Dunkirk landings, I know he would be very pleased to have his name included on the list of sailors, he is now 83 and very much alive, I would be grateful if you had other shipmate contact details you could let me pass on to him Peter Stafford November 2008