Merchant Navy Radio Officers

George MONK, Radio Officer, 1940 - 1945

d. 2008 

George Monk was at the Holloway Radio College from December 1939 to May 1940, at which time he obtained his Special PMG Certificate. He joined the Marconi Company in June 1940, and sailed on the SS Beaverbrae. In August, he joined the MV Empire Confidence (ex NDL Dusseldorf).

     In June, 1941, he sailed on the SS Auditor. The ship was torpedoed and sunk, but three lifeboats were launched. Each boat sailed independently to the Cape Verde islands, a voyage of some 600 miles, which took 13½ days. His next ship was the SS Ebro (Danish) which sailed in convoy HG73. The convoy was under attack from Focke-Wulf Condors and U-boats for five days and nights. There were nine ships sunk, but sixteen survived the attack. In November, he served on the SS Tactician.

     In March 1942, George was on the MV La Paz, which was torpedoed off the coast of Florida on 1/5/42. He then sailed on the MV  Karamea that July. In January 1943, this ship was part of convoy HX223 when they encountered a severe hurricane off Greenland. During this fierce storm, the convoy passed over 23 U-boats, but was not attacked by them. (see R/O Eric Bissimire).

     Other ships that George served on were the MV Lautaro (from March 1943), the SS Bowcombe (April 1944), MV Edenwood (October 1944), and the MV Lady Kathleen (1945). He resigned from the Marconi Company in 1946, and left the sea.

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      George Monk and P. J. Barber are the authors of the Radio Officers Database, an off-line memorial register to honour the 1,408 British Radio Officers killed in WW II. Also, the paper on High Level Gallantry Awards for WW II earned by Merchant Navy personnel was compiled by Bernard de Neumann and George Monk.

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