|
Letters
John Merlin Flint killed in action in H.M.S. President III December 7, 2009 Dear Sir- my uncle John Merlin Flint was listed as pres killed in action on board the above ship. 15.7.1943 I am trying to find out about the ship and whether there were any survivors. He was South African. Any info you may have would be most appreciated regards Tony Flint Tony, HMS President 111 was not a seagoing ship, but a shore depot near London, its only function was to carry the pay records of DEMS Gunners ( stands for Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships ) Seamen ratings of th Royal Navy were trained to man the guns fitted in Merchant ships. These gunners would carry I will search the Commonwealth War Gravs Commission site for your uncle and write to you again. Regards, Tony, Here are the details for your Uncle he was only 19 when he died. He is listed on the Plymouth Naval Memorial on Panel 83 and in Column 3.
Regards, Hi Mac- thanks for your effort- really appreciate it. I have since learnt that he was on board the Empire Lake - a steamship carrying coal from Durban to Aden. The boat was torpedoed 260 miles from Madagascar by U181. There were 7 survivors. many thanks kind regards December 15, 2009 Hi Mac- would there possibly have been a photo taken of the each crew member for record purposes. If so would you perhaps know which dept to contact? Appreciate any help you may have. regards Tony, I am not aware of any DEMS gunners having an individual photo taken for their records. Nere is a bit about DEMS Gunners you may wish to follow up on. The name of a DEMS gunner assigned to a Merchant ship appears on the ships articles, but he was was not a Merchant seaman. If killed, his name appears under the name of his Royal Navy training base, not the merchant ship. Royal Navy DEMS records are still held at HMS Centurion naval base. Information will only be given to the next of kin and may take some time. Please contact the following address:
Ask specifically for the names of the Merchant ships served on, or all you will get is the DEMS depot that they were from. If you already know the names of the ships they served on, you can access the crew list and agreements from the Public Records Office. The crew list and agreements are held under the ship's official number. Best Regards,
Me again, this info I just found about photo's may be worth following up. The seamans pouch of some of the survivors of EMPIRE LAKE are located in the National Archive at Kew. Seamens pouches usually contain a photograph of the seaman in question. Mac.
Me again, this info I just found about photo's may be worth following up. The seamans pouch of some of the survivors of EMPIRE LAKE are located in the National Archive at Kew. Seamens pouches usually contain a photograph of the seaman in question. Mac. |
