Family & Friends

Crew Member	Contact	Relationship	Information
Edgar Bolton	Edgar Bolton	Son	My father served aboard the salamander I believe he was a petty officer .I have come across several shots of the ship. His name was EDGAR BOLTON SERVICE NO DSMX201,c.p.o.service on board HMS SALAMANDER 1942.1945.He was on the dreaded PQ17 and saw many horrific sights. It is a wonder that how these brave men survived their time after these terrible events of war!!!!!!He also saw service on BARBROOK 11,ALAUMIA,CUMBERLAND,ORION.I have some photos of him in Sierra Leone ,also a shot of the Salamander.
J F Cush	Fraser Cush	Son	I believe my father, who is now deceased was a member of the crew of HMS Salamander in 1943-1944 and was serving on board during the friendly fire attack. His name was James Foster Cush and he was born in January 1923 so would have been 21 at the time he was serving on board. He was a time served shipwright and went on to serve in the shipyards on the Clyde for the rest of his working life. I have a copy of his Naval discharge papers which I would be happy to scan and send to you if it would be of interest. It would be nice to know if any of the surviving crew remember my father or have any photographs from that time.
J Elliott	Garry Elliott	Proud Grandson	My grandfather served on HMS Salamander between 1941 - 1943 and was away for a full 2 years serving on the first PQ1 convoy and there onwards until PQ21 as well as the QP convoys on return. Returned after 2 years to see for the first time his son (my father) who was 2 years of age and was born just after he had left to serve the convoys. Unfortunately he is now deceased but he led a long and active life always proud of the fact that he had served on HMS Salamander.
R Wigmore	Dean Wigmore	Nephew	My name is Dean Wigmore and my father's brother Robert Wigmore served on the HMS Salamander during the war. My uncle never spoke about his experiences and I gather that this was due to having sworn the Official Secrets Act over the incident in August 1944. Sadly my uncle died in 2002. It took me a long time to find any information about the incident and I must congratulate you on a great website
W R T Bryant	Andrew Bryant	Son	`My father Bill Bryant was a sick berth attendant on the Salamander. He told me the story of how they were attacked by Typhoons and that the stern was blown off. Sadly, he died in 1991, aged 67, which meant he would have been 20 in 1944. He also spoke of North Atlantic convoys and being in Scapa Flow. I'm not sure whether he was on any other ships prior or post Salamander, but it would be very interesting to find out. His full name was William Richard Tooley Bryant.`
Jack Gould	Alan Gould	Son	Log of his travels on Salamander sent. [Now added to site]
Anthony O'Brien	David O'Brien	Nephew	My uncle ASDICS AB O'BRIEN from Ely, Cardiff (d.o.b. 29.7.1925) served aboard the HMS Salamander whilst it was performing mine sweeping duties in the English Channel, and and was on board in 1944 when the ship came under fire from RAF Hawker - Typhoon Fighter / Bombers. When I last visited him in September 2006, I gave him a copy of the pages from your website which he thought was incredible. He told me that when the friendly fire incident occurred everyone involved was originally asked to keep quiet about it. Sadly my Uncle Tony (Anthony O'Brien) died last November, aged 81, but before he did he was able to write down the names of some of his colleagues who he could remember had also served with him on the Salamander. These are as follows :- Captain LT King ASDICS AB McLaglan (Penlan, Swansea) Stoker Madden (Paisley, Scotland) PO Russ (Cardiff) Taffy Austin (Welsh Valleys) I hope that the above information might help you to enhance the bigger picture of your very memorable web resource for other visitors, as I know that in the case of my uncle Tony, it certainly proved to be something to catch his imagination in recalling the "good old days" when he served the nation alongside his pals in war torn Europe. Keep up the good work. Best Regards David O'Brien August 2007
John Twigg	Roger Twigg	Son	My father, John Twigg, from Swadlincote, born 3rd Sep 1920 served on HMS Salamander from 1941 until the she was attacked by Typhoons on 27th Aug 1944. He was badly wounded during the Typhoon attack, and was Mentioned in Dispatches for attempting to rescue other wounded sailors although badly wounded himself. He was trying to lay out a Union Jack on the stern at the time of the strike. He was also with Stoker 1st class Richard Spencer when he fell and drowned in Aberdeen harbour. My father died on 25th April 1996 - he was very proud to have served his Country and often spoke to me of his times HMS Salamander My mother Mary Twigg (Reid) was a WREN at Scapa Flow, she is still very much alive. Source: Roger Twigg (son) May 2008
George Tyro	Kenneth Tyro	Son	My father George William Tyro was a member of the ship's company during, I think, the years 1941-1943. He was an able seaman with duties on the range finder. I was only 6-8 years old at the time but I do remember him talking about the Murmansk runs, PQ 17 and trips to the Mediterranean in all of which he was involved. His shipmates that came home with him on the odd occasions were Sinclair Burgess, whose home was Lerwick on the Shetlands, Len East who came from West Ham, London another chap was Chesty, probably Chesterton but I do not know his first name. My father left the ship because of a circular that came to the Salamander asking for anyone who had been a coalface worker to report back to their civilian job as coal hewers were desperately needed. His pals informed him that shortly after he left the ship his replacement had been badly injured in an air attack on the ship. Source: Kenneth Tyro (son) November 2008
Robert (Bobby) Houston	James Murphy	Nephew	My Uncles name is (Bobby) Robert Houston he came from Crail Street in the Parkhead area of Glasgow . He was born on October 1920 . Sadly he passed away in January 2006 age 86 . At his funeral the story of the friendly fire incident on Sunday 27th august 1944 was mentioned by the minister I recall him saying how he witnessed the horror of seeing his shipmates & friends being decapitated . I see the book mentioned pq17 by Paul Lund & Harry Ludlam that tell the story of the ships incl h.m.s salamander .. I would also recommend the book called ...Friend or Foe by Paul kemp .. isbn number 0-08052-385-0 . The book goes into good detail the story of the typhoon fighter bombers friendly fire incident involving h.m.s. Salamander on that Sunday 27th august 1944. the pages from page 54 to 72 cover the tragedy very well ..I have attached a photo of the book & a photo of my uncle bobby in his navy uniform . I would like my story to go on the site alongside the other crew members as a memory of my uncle Bobby .. please let me know .. my name is James Murphy. my Uncle Bobby & my late mum Sarah were brother & sister ..