I'm writing with reference to the
crew of HMS Skipjack, shown on your webpage:
Ernest William Gray was my uncle, son
of James Thomas Gray and Harriet Florence Gray, both of Feltham,
Middlesex.
I'm surprised to see that no
relatives are known as my Grandmother Harriet received notification
that Ernie was missing presumed dead, and later a citation that she
had hanging on her wall until her death.
The family occupied the same home at
Danesbury Road, Feltham between 1909 and 2000, so a change of
address could not have been the reason for lack of contact from the
MOD. I wonder if my Grandmother was informed of the unpaid £4.4s and
chose not to claim - how might she have felt spending her late son's
money? She was quite poor, and that amount in 1940 would have
helped.
Ernie's name appears on the cenotaph
at Feltham, and a cross has been placed there each November since
his death.
|