Contemporary Newspaper Reports
The origin and dates
of the following press cuttings
are unknown. They probably date about May 12, 1943 (as they refer to the
Awards). The second cutting presumably came from local Tyneside newspapers,
and refers to local residents (hence John Gilbert is not mentioned). The ship
is not named because it was wartime. They were supplied by
Sonia Oliver,
daughter of Ernest Bainbridge,
B.E.M., one of the volunteers. Additional information about the London
Gazette and the Awards supplied by Bernard de Neumann.
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Saved Ship, G. M. Award
By a Daily Mail Reporter (circa 1943) - Transcript of Newspaper
report #1
Modesty is the chief
characteristic of Merchant Navy Second Officer
Douglas
Crook of Keighly, Yorkshire,
who last night added the George Medal to the M.B.E. which he had already
won for gallantry at sea. After staying on board a damaged ship with 10 men and
saving it he wrote a report for the Admiralty in which he did not even
mention his own name. But he let himself go in praising the courage of the
men who helped him. The official citation awarding him the GM, however, says
of him: "He displayed great and sustained courage, and his resource and
resolution saved a valuable ship and probably many lives."
In his report, Second Officer Crook wrote: "Without the
skill, ability, courage, and cheerful conduct of Sixth Engineer
Gerard Gordon Allan, the
whole project must have ended in dismal failure. Sixth Engineer Alan is
22. His home is in Harrison place, Newcastle-on-Tyne. He has been at sea
only a year, but as a result of Second Officer Crook's report, he has been
awarded the M.B.E.
There are British Empire Medals for 17-year-old cabin boy
Tom Dillon, of
Countess-avenue, Whitley Bay, a former fishmonger's errand boy and one of
a family of ten; Dennis Andrew Bryne
of Last-street, North Shields, a greaser, who went down into the
engine-room with Allan and worked the ship;
Ernest Bainbridge ship's cook, of Park-crescent, North Shields; and
Seaman James W. Walker, of
Chirton West View, North Shields.
When the ship was torpedoed, two boats got away with the
master, who had been injured, and most of the officers and crew, but
Second Officer Crook and ten others remained aboard. It was dark. Heavy seas were running. No lights were
allowed. Crook did not even know who had remained behind with him. He
asked if there was an engineer among them. Allan stepped forward.
"Can we have some steam?" asked Crook. "Better wait until
daylight. The U-boat will pick it up if we run the engines now," replied
Allan. He had already been down in the engine room shut off steam
valves , drawn fires. But by daylight he and Byrne had got steam up again,
signalled they were ready to make way.
In spite of the hole and the terrific seas, the ship held
together. They didn't make straight for port. Second Officer Crook
calculated that they could spend daylight that day looking for the boats.
If they weren't found by dusk they would have to be left. Fog cut down visibility to a few yards. it looked a
hopeless quest. But when Crook asked his crew of 10 if they were willing
to take the risks involved they said to a man: "Sure; carry on."
At noon, the first boat was sighted, and its occupants
were taken aboard. They were in pretty bad shape. At dusk, within 10
minutes of the end of the search, they found the second boat. Every man
was saved.
On the day the ship reached port there sprang up one of
the fiercest Atlantic hurricanes for 50 years. "We made it by the skin of
our teeth," said Allan.
Allan made no official report. He was only sixth engineer.
But to his mother he said: "The real hero was our cook. He produced hot
meals to schedule without turning a hair, and we only knew what that
really meant when we saw the chaps who had been in the boats all night.
They had gone without much in the way of comfort, and told us that they
could not have survived a second night of it."
Epilogue: Sixth Engineer Allan is now Fourth
Engineer ... in the same ship which is at sea again. He and Second Officer
Crook are wearing gold watches presented by the company. Allan's father
was first engineer in the merchantman Clifton Hall, which in the last war
fought a U-boat single-handed for three and a half hours and ended the
battle by ramming and sinking it.
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Skeleton crew stayed -- and won
Transcript of Newspaper report #2, circa 1943
Three boats were lowered when a ship was torpedoed. The
captain and most of his officers were shattered by the explosion. Second
Officer Douglas Crooks, M.B.E., of Selbourne-grove, Keighley, Yorkshire
saw there was a chance of saving the ship and called for volunteers to
stay:- Last night's official citations name these heroes of the
low deck, each of whom receives the B.E.M. for outstanding bravery and
devotion to duty at sea.
1. The cabin boy - Thomas Dillon, aged 17, of Countess
avenue, Whitley Bay, Northumberland, displayed conspicuous gallantry in
remaining on board, although as the youngest member of the crew he should
have gone off in one of the lifeboats.
2. The greaser - Denis Andrew Byrne, Last-street, North
Shields worked all night to get the engines running again.
3. The cook - Ernest Bainbridge, of Park-crescent, North
Shields, came out of his galley, was one of the first to volunteer to stay
in the ship.
4. Ordinary Seaman - James W. Walker of Chirton, West
View, North Shields, tough man of the sea. He has volunteered for several
dangerous trips, would have still been working in the engine-room of his
ship had gone down.
Second Officer Crooks, adds the George Medal to his M.B.E.
and 22-year-old, Sixth Engineer Gordon Allan of Harrison-place
Newcastle-on-Tyne, gets the M.B.E.
Crooks and his volunteers saved the ship and picked up the
survivors. The ship is now at sea again.
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Newspaper report #3
Obituary of James Walker
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Modest war hero James
Walker, who helped save a crippled ship following a U-Boat
attack, has died at the age of 74. The North Shields sailor was one
of 11 men who stayed aboard a tanker to keep her afloat and rescue the
rest of the crew during World War Two. His actions earned Mr. Walker,
of Ponteland Close, North Shields, the British Empire Medal, but he
did not talk about the episode - and even kept the details from his
family.
The story is told in a book, The
Convoy That Nearly Died, written by West Hartepool sea captain
Henry Revely, who served aboard one of the convoy protection ships.
He tells how the convoy which set out to Canada at Christmas 1945 fell
victim to one of the largest U-Boat attacks of the war, with 45 ships
being attacked by 19 German vessels.
Among the ships was the tanker Scottish
Heather, based in North Shields, on which Mr. Walker served. The
ship was torpedoed and the crew ordered to abandon her, but 11 men stayed
aboard to salvage the ship.
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