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 .. |
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