Ahoy - Mac's Web Log

Dear Mac

Can you help please? I'm looking for information on my uncle, Robert R. Fitzgerald. He died in a ship's accident in 1942 off the coast of Australia and is buried, I think, in Newcastle, Australia. He was serving in the Merchant Navy. and lived in Gloucester, England. According to the records I've managed to find out so far he was on the President 111 SS Glonioer, but I can't find any info on this vessel anywhere. I found your site by the very informative reference to President 111...so thank you for that !

cheers

Colin,

If your Uncle's service is shown as President 111, he was a Defense Equipped Merchant Ship ( DEMS ) gunner, trained to man the guns aboard Merchant ships. SS Glonioer, are you sure its not HMS Glendower, a training depot for DEMS people.

Here is your Uncle on the Plymouth Naval Memorial and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site. 
 
He is on Panel 101 in Column 2 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial.

Casualty Details
Name:  FITZGERALD, ROBERT REGINALD
Initials:  R R
Nationality:  United Kingdom
Rank:  Able Seaman
Regiment/Service:  Royal Navy
Unit Text:  H.M.S. President III
Date of Death:  04/04/1942
Service No:  D/JX 267127
Casualty Type:  Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:  Panel 101. Column 2.
Memorial:  PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

See this report:

Royal Navy personnel (DEMS gunners) on merchant ship
The three names: HMS Glendower, HMS President III, and HMS Wellesley, do not refer to actual ships. They were Royal Navy bases that trained gunners to man Merchant ships, known as DEMS (Defense Equipped Merchant Ships).
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:  Centurion. Naval Pay & Pensions (Accounts), Centurion Building, Grange Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO13 9XA England.
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.

Regards, 
Mac.

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