32 NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2010


Special welcome for guests


A WARM welcome was extended to


September meeting of Plymouth branch.


two special guests


elected national chairman of the Association, and S/M Ken Holloway, Area,


attended the meeting, accompanied by their wives Gail and Muriel. As well as the usual hospitality


chairman of No 8


tot, both men were presented with a bottle of Guzz Ale, brewed in Plymouth by Summerskill’s Brewery and donated by owner and director S/M Carl Beeson, who is ex-Navy and a life member of the branch.


donation to Plymouth branch to help with charity initiatives. Members


forward to a couple of high-profile activities.


performance is to be staged on November 4 in HMS Drake, with the branch annual dinner to follow in the WOs and SRs Mess on November 20, with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Plymouth attending the latter. For more information on branch activities contact chairman S/M Bob Palmer on 01752 509931 or


Gutteridge on 01752 849176. social secretary S/M Sue Name added


MEMBERS of the St Helens branch attended a service for the rededication of the war memorial in Rainhill, Merseyside, when a new name was added. The name was that of CPO Simon Roger Owen, who died while serving on board HMS Chatham in the Gulf in 2004. Organised by the Rainhill branch of the Royal British Legion, the service was attended by members of CPO Owen’s family, some of whom had travelled up from the South. Also


ex-Services association standards, the leader of Rainhill Council and other dignitaries.


in attendance were A Help for Heroes variety are Each bottle sold provides a now looking S/M Chris Dovey, at the recently


S/M Ken paddles his own canoe


S/M KEN Napier, chairman of Aquitaine branch, has completed a 30km canoe marathon for charity. More than 600 canoeists from all over France and


beyond took part in the event, for various reasons, but S/M Ken used it as a chance to raise money for SSAFA France on the occasion of SSAFA’s 125th anniversary. Water levels were low, with rather less current than might be expected to help S/M Ken complete the 30km in less than three hours – his initial aim. But the hard work was worth it, with more than 900 Euros raised – most of it from the generous shipmates of the Aquitaine branch. The branch’s monthly lunches continue to prove


popular; the most recent saw S/M Cdr Darren Houston, former Executive Officer of HMS Cumberland, talk about his experiences on two counter-piracy deployments. Although Darren is a shipmate of Axminster branch, he


is affiliated to the French group, as is Mne Jack Lothgow, who is completing his second tour of Afghanistan. The branch’s good wishes are extended to both men, and to their affiliated RFA, Wave Ruler, currently working in the Caribbean with HMS Manchester – “we wish her calm seas and success with her patrols,” said S/M Ken.


Convoy heroes are feted


MALTA has been remembering the veterans who risked their lives to bring succour to the besieged island during the war. Two of them, Jim Hutchison and Allan Shaw,


attended the


annual Operation Pedestal reunion, a gathering for those who survived ferocious Axis attacks on the Allied convoy bringing vital supplies to the Maltese. Allan was a teenaged sailor on board the SS Ohio, a modern high-speed tanker which was barely


afloat when it reached ● S/M Ken Napier during his 30km canoe marathon


Book elicits details of Venomous hero


A BOOK about the battles and narrow escapes of a World War 2 workhorse destroyer has shed light on one of the many unsung heroes of the Royal Navy.


of HMS Venomous, by Robert J Moore and John A Rodgaard, tells of the career of a V and W-class destroyer from the Baltic in 1919 to her scrapping in 1948. The first edition of the book


A Hard Fought Ship: The Story


and Naval historian Capt John Rodgaard USN, with the blessing of publisher Bill Forster,


was originally published in 1990, the work of Sea Cadet officer Bob Moore, whose interest in the ship was sparked by the fact that the unit he commanded (Loughborough) shared her name.


working on an expanded second edition, and the project was further developed by friend, collaborator


Bob died suddenly while


Holywell House Publishing, whose father had served in the destroyer. To coincide with the publication of the new edition – almost twice the length of the original – in April this year a search was started for the family of WO Jimmie Button, whose bravery in one tumultuous action stands as an illustration of the character of the men of the Royal Navy during the dark days of the war. Late on the evening of November 11 1942 HMS Venomous, under Cdr Hugh Falcon-Steward, was escorting destroyer depot ship HMS Hecla and repair ship HMS Vindictive through the Atlantic to Gibraltar when Hecla was torpedoed by U515. Venomous had already picked up an echo when the U-boat struck, leaving Hecla dead in the water and listing. The destroyer tried to ram the


U-boat but just missed, and the submarine attacked again, striking Hecla again then blowing the stern off the brand-new HMS Marne, which was helping to rescue survivors. As Venomous picked up as many of the 800 crew of Hecla as she could and protected Marne from the U-boat, the destroyer’s anti- submarine officer Jimmie Button, a strong swimmer,


dived into the water to save the lives of strugglers.


repeatedly


● From left: S/Ms Chris Dovey, Trevor Jones and Ken Holloway, of Tenbury Wells branch


Tenbury punches above its weight


TENBURY Wells may not be the biggest branch, and it may be miles from the sea, but in RNA terms it is a force to be reckoned with.


So while it has only a dozen full or full life members – there are 46 dedicated and busy associate members as well – a quarter of that cohort hold key are posts in addition to branch duties. Chairman S/M Trevor Jones is also president of No 8 Area; vice chairman S/M Chris Dovey is No 8’s National Council member (and was formerly area treasurer); and S/M Ken Holloway is both branch secretary and area president. In addition, S/M Chris was recently elected RNA National Chairman. “Tenbury Wells is a small market


town on the Worcestershire/ Shropshire border,” said S/M Ken.


“It is about as far from the sea


as it is possible to get in the UK, and has no traditional links with the RN, other than


perhaps that


Admiral Nelson once came to the town to stay nearby... “The branch formed in 1985, and this year celebrates its Silver Jubilee.


“It has only 12 full or full life members, and to have three of those playing significant roles within


the RNA governance


structure is something of which it is really proud.” S/M Keith Crawford, National Council member for No 9 Area, was elected national vice chairman to replace Chris Dovey.


was a South African naval officer, Lt Herbert Hastings McWilliams heading for Gib in Hecla. Button’s efforts that night senior


exhausted the


he managed to struggle into his uniform to pay his


dead sailors were committed to the deep while Venomous, with an extra 500 men on board, headed for Casablanca. Button’s condition deteriorated, and when the old destroyer reached Algiers, now in British hands, he died on November 27.


respects


rate, but as


One of those he helped rescue of


captured by Lt McWilliams, a talented artist, who used iodine and a throat brush from the medical kit on board Venomous to sketch out the vivid scenes – these illustrations are now in the Imperial War Museum, and some are reproduced in the book. McWilliams went on to become a leading artchitect and,


The sinking of Hecla was


something of a sideline, a dinghy designer in his native country. Sadly, a relative – Ken Nunn, the nephew of Jimmie’s widow Florence – was traced through articles in the Hastings Observer just too late for the book launch, but helped flesh out details of Jimmie’s life.


as


But more is now known of the hero; his father is believed to have died in the trenches of the Great War, and Jimmie was the senior ASDIC operator in HMS Antelope in February 1940 when she single-handedly depth-charged and sank U-41, the first time this had happened. Button was awarded the DSM, receiving the medal from the King at Buckingham Palace. Button’s young widow Florence


later married Army officer Tom Wilson, and in 1948 emigrated to Australia. Years later, while on a


Mediterranean cruise, Florence visited the grave of her first husband on the outskirts of Algiers. Stories and pictures


from veterans of Venomous and their families since publication can be seen at www. holywellhousepublishing. co.uk and


are invited on venomous@ holywellhousepublishing.co.uk Capt Rodgaard will be in the


new contributions


UK this month to talk about the book at Society for Nautical Research (SNR) events in Bristol (November 6) and Glasgow (November 13).


in Navy News in a forthcoming edition.


The book will be reviewed


● FOUR crew members of HM Submarine Ocelot met up at Chatham Historic Dockyard for a reunion after almost 40 years. Pictured above, from left, are Freddy Fox (LCK), Spike Hughes (AB), Bungy Williams (LRO) and Vic Groom (AB). The quartet were entertained at the Gillingham Veterans Club, and plan to meet again at the British Military Tournament at Earls Court next month – the show is being staged on December 4 and 5


received


● Jimmie Button on Hastings beach in 1940


Grand Harbour in August 1942, having survived a scarcely-credible succession of hits by bomb-blasts, torpedoes and crashing aircraft. The tanker – the largest in the


world when she was launched – is still regarded as the saviour of the island, and pictures of her limping in, with Royal Navy escort ships strapped to her to act as buoyancy aids, propulsion and rudder, are iconic reminders of the narrow margin between success and failure in the Mediterranean war. Jim Hutchison was a young sailor on board cruiser HMS Phoebe, which helped provide air cover against overwhelming odds during Pedestal. The third veteran could not be there in person – CPO Peter McSweeney died last year, and his son Graham was in Malta to have his late father’s ashes scattered at Senglea Point, where Peter is known to have dived in the war. CPO McSweeney was involved


in efforts to refloat the Ohio, as well as other salvage operations and the assembly of floating docks.


the veterans and Graham were covered by local print


A number of events involving and


broadcast media, including S/M Jim leaving his handprints in cement for the island’s hall of fame (Allan did the same a couple of years ago) and also opening the packaging enclosing a chair from the master’s cabin of the Ohio. The Times of Malta reported


that while more than 100 attended the 60th anniversary of the Santa Marija convoy eight years ago – the Maltese often use that name as the last of the five merchantmen of the 14-strong convoy reached Malta on that saint’s day – this year saw just Allan, Jim and local veteran Terry Mahon managing to get to the ceremonies.


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