A Collection of Medals to Second World War Casualties 267
Three: Able Seaman J. W. Rosewarn, Royal Navy, who was killed when H.M.S. Somali sunk on 24 September 1942, having been torpedoed and fatally crippled by the German U-boat U-703 four days previously whilst escorting the Murmansk Convoy PQ-18, and then subsequently towed by her sister ship H.M.S. Ashanti 420 miles in an unsuccessful bid to bring her to safety
1939-45 STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, with named Admiralty enclosure, in card box of issue, addressed to ‘Mrs. Eileen L. Denton, 12 Salisbury House, Highbury Corner, London N5.’, extremely fine (3)
£100-140
James William Rosewarn served during the Second World War in H.M.S. Somali. On 20 September 1942 she was part of a Royal Navy force of seventy ships escorting convoy PQ-18 when they were located by a large U-boat ‘Wolf Pack’. Two merchantmen were immediately sunk. Then at 7:20 p.m. hours H.M.S. Somali, on the outer screen of the convoy, was hit by a torpedo fired by the German U-boat U-703. The ensuing explosion blew her torpedo tubes over the side and cut all of the port side main stringers so that the ship was only held together by the upper deck and starboard side as far as the keel. The port engine fell through the bottom of the ship and the Engine and Gear rooms filled rapidly with water. Most of her crew were safely transferred to other ships in the convoy, but a skeleton crew of 81 officers and ratings remained on board. H.M.S. Ashanti made a brave attempt to take H.M.S. Somali in tow but after some 4 days and 420 nautical miles H.M.S. Somali ‘folded in half like a hinge with bow and stern climbing skywards. For a moment she hung motionlessly then the deck plating snapped and her bulkheads collapsed. Her stern capsized and sank quickly and the bow went vertically and steadily’. All 81 still on board, including Rosewarn, perished. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Medals issued to the recipient’s widow, Eileen Lucy Rosewarn, who had subsequently remarried. 268
Four: Able Seaman R. N. Cain, Royal Navy, killed when H.M.S. Curacao collided with the R.M.S. Queen Mary whilst escorting her to the Clyde, 2 October 1942
1939-45 STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, with named Admiralty enclosure, in card box of issue, addressed to ‘Mrs. E. M. Byrne, 90 Beacon Road, Luton, Chatham, Kent’; ROYAL NAVY L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue (J.78777 R. N. Cain. A.B. H.M.S. Cairo.) light contact marks to last, nearly extremely fine (4)
£160-200
Reginald Norman Cain was born in 1902 and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in 1917. He served during the Great War in home waters in the battleships H.M.S. Impregnable and Royal Oak, and received a War gratuity. Advanced Able Seaman, he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in June 1936, and served in this rate during the Second World War in H.M.S. Curacoa.
In September 1942 Curacoa was deployed with the Western Approaches Command at Belfast, to escort convoys in the N.W. Approaches and the Irish Sea. On 2 October 1942 the escort group was tasked to escort R.M.S. Queen Mary on the final stage of a trans-Atlantic passage. The famous Cunard liner, built on the Clyde in the 1930s, displaced 81,125 tons and was the greatest and most luxurious of the pre-war liners. On her maiden voyage she won the ‘Blue Riband’ for the fastest Atlantic crossing. On the outbreak of war she had become a troopship, carrying an entire division (15,000 men) at a time and often steamed without an escort, relying on her great speed for protection.
On 27 September 1942 Queen Mary left New York bound for the Clyde, carrying about 15,000 U.S. servicemen. By the morning of 2 October she was some 40 miles north of Tory Island, off the northern coast of Ireland. Just after 7 a.m. the bridge watch sighted Curacao, which signalled that she would take up station five miles ahead, while six destroyers assumed flanking positions a few miles on either side of the liner. For the next five hours the convoy moved steadily towards Scotland, all hands scanning the clear skies for German aircraft. A stiff wind from the north-east was making life difficult for the destroyers racing about in search of U-Boats, but the Queen Mary steamed on majestically, untroubled by the choppy seas.
Though the Cunarder was steering a zig-zag course her great speed allowed her gradually to overtake the slower cruiser, and by two o’clock in the afternoon Curacao was only a few hundred yards off the liner’s bow. The Queen Mary’s officer of the watch was increasingly concerned about the Curacao’s proximity and ordered the helmsman to turn slightly away. However, at the same time the cruiser turned even closer to the liner. Queen Mary’s helmsman made a last-ditch attempt to avoid disaster and turned hard-a-port, and for a moment it looked as if the manoeuvre might work. However, the liner’s massive stem struck the Curacao eleven feet forward of her stern at an acute angle, spun the warship round and sliced through her.
Staff Captain Grattidge, resting in his cabin, felt a jolt that at first he thought was the near miss of a bomb. But when he reached the bridge he saw, ‘150 feet from the bridge on the port side, almost smothered in awesome clouds of black smoke ... the forepart of a vessel going down. Running to starboard I could see the after end of the same vessel, trembling to settle beneath the waves.’
Both sections of the Curacao were on fire and began to sink. The escorting destroyers raced to the scene but were able to rescue only 101 survivors. Queen Mary herself was under strict orders not to stop for any reason and steamed on. However, her bows had been stove in below the water line and she had to reduce speed to 10 knots. She arrived safely at Gourock on the morning of 3 October.
News of this disaster was blacked out and the loss of Curacao was not publicly announced until 1945, when a formal court of enquiry was convened to examine the cause of the accident. After almost four years of protracted litigation which went to the House of Lords it was held that Curacao was two thirds responsible for the collision and Queen Mary, one third.
In total 338 Officers and crew lost their lives when the Curacoa was sunk, including Cain. He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
Medals issued to the recipient’s widow, Eleanor Mary Cain, who had subsequently remarried. 269
Five: Steward R. G. Quigley, Royal Navy, killed in action following Operation Torch- the invasion of North Africa- when H.M.S. Avenger was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-155 off the Western Straits of Gibraltar with the loss of over 500 Officers and crew on 15 November 1942- the heaviest Naval loss connected with the North African landings
1939-45 STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; AFRICA STAR; PACIFIC STAR;WARMEDAL 1939-45, with named Admiralty enclosure, in card box of issue, addressed to ‘Mrs. Margaret Weir, 14 Cross Street, Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland’, extremely fine (5)
£100-140
Roland Gilmore Quigley served during the Second World War in the escort carrier H.M.S. Avenger, and took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. On 14 November 1942 Avenger left Algiers harbour with the convoy MFK 1, heading home for the Clyde. At 3:05 a.m. the following morning she was torpedoed off the Western Straits of Gibraltar by the German U-boat U-155 under the command of Adolf Piening. Hit on the port side amidships, which in turn ignited her bomb room, her centre was blown away, and her bow and stern sections rose in the air. She sank in two minutes, leaving only 12 survivors, with the loss of 67 officers and 438 ratings, the heaviest British naval loss connected with the North African landings.
Quigley was amongst those killed, aged 20. He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial. Medals issued to the recipient’s sister, Margaret Weir, née Quigley.
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