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Letters
Book about the life of HMS Veteran, 'The Proudest of Her Line' Hi Mac....Have been reading your site for a few weeks but was unable to e mail fully because of pressure of work!! I am writing a book about the life of HMS VETERAN I72 who was lost with Convoy RB1 in the Atlantic on 26th September 1942...I see from your correspondant 'Sheilagh' that her father (Papworth) was the only Officer survivor of the SS Yorktown, I beg to disagree as I am very friendly with the son of the Captain of Yorktown, Captain Boylan, who was in fact picked up last from a raft by HMS SARDONYX H26 on the 28th September (I have the report of the C/O of Sardonyx)...He was the last to leave his raft ,he would not leave until all his men had been taken aboard the destroyer.....With regard to the photographs of the rescue, The signature on the back of the pic is that of...TEMPORARY LIEUTENANT DEREK ARMITAGE LEE ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE....Acting third Lieutenant who would have been the coding and security officer (along with anything else the Captain Lt Commander Alfred Francis Colenso Gray RN, would have thrown at him).....My book called 'The Proudest of Her Line' is the life story of HMS Veteran and is going to the printers on the 1st August this year, copies will be available from me,only,...To coincide with the launch and because of many, many requests from relatives of those lost on the convoy, there will be a Memorial Service for those lost on the same day, 16th SEPTEMBER 2006 in Wrexham, North Wales, United Kingdom, My address is at the bottom of this e mail please feel free to give it to interested parties, Following the service will be a presentation of a Plaque and a copy of the book to the Mayor of Wrexham, then a Buffet lunch then the afternoon will, I hope be spent allowing people to meet and discuss the convoy and the ships...At the moment I have 70 people who wish to attend including two men who served on ships in the convoy.... Yours Aye......John..
John, My thanks for your interesting E-mail. We will add it to our piece on Convoy RB1. I am always pleased to have extra detail about a convoy or ship that I have written about for AHOY. I am also continually suprised with the interest shown by people at this distance in years about the Battle of the Atlantic, of course it was a mighty struggle, and a fight we just had to win to survive. Your book will fill a void, and I will be interested in getting a copy from you when available, please keep me in mind when its ready, and let me know what I need to do for a copy to be sent on its way to Australia. Best of luck with your launch and function in September, take a few photos and sent them to me, we will post them on AHOY, hopefully for a wider audience to see and enjoy.
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