Survival at Sea

John Trevor Liney, Telegraphist

    In 1942, John Trevor Liney (known as Trevor) was stationed at the Wireless Receiving Station on Ascension Island. The Ascension Island Radio Transmitter and Receiver Station was part of the Cable & Wireless HF radio-telecommunications worldwide network. The station operated in conjunction with similar units in Freetown and Accra on the West African Coast. 

The main purpose of this station was to receive and relay transatlantic bulletins in code and cypher for the benefit of Allied shipping, both Merchant and Naval.  The "traffic" concerned was received and re-transmitted using taped Morse Code. 

Trevor had just completed his Signals Training in the UK  Being the least experienced person on the station, he was allocated to the 500 KC's distress frequency, which, for the most part, involved just listening. A manual transmitting key was provided.

On October 10, 1942, he was the only telegraphist T. O. (trained officer) on duty on Ascension.  Perhaps feeling a little bored, he occasionally changed frequencies, switching to the nearby working marine frequency band, in order to find any signals to help pass the time. He was not on the distress frequency of 500 KC's, when he stumbled upon a fast fading SOS signal. This signal was being sent "off" frequency, so the chances of anyone hearing it were very remote. The signal was fading fast, but Trevor recorded what he hoped were the correct coordinates and reported them to his superiors.

Although aircraft from the US Army based on the Island made an early search, no trace of a ship was found.  Trevor began to accept that perhaps his Morse or his hearing had let him down.  Then he learned that the HMS Corinthian, using his coordinates, went to that area and found more than 20 lifeboats with 820 survivors from the Duchess of Atholl. The survivors had been in the lifeboats for about 28 hours.

It was later confirmed that there was no time to send a message from the ship's radio. The SOS signal was sent from a portable transmitter in one of the lifeboats, and its battery was almost completely discharged. The ship had been sunk in an extremely remote location, and Trevor was in the only land station where the signal could possibly have been intercepted, other than a nearby ship.

His daughter is researching this subject on behalf of her father. Trevor Liney who is now 82, would be very happy to hear from any survivors of this event (or their families). Apparently, John Slader (author of The Fourth Service) was on the Duchess of Atholl when she was torpedoed. Any assistance would be appreciated.

If anyone wishes to contact him, please email or write to the contact details below, and his daughter will get the message to him. He is living in the South of France.

Mrs. J. A. McCauley
(for Mr. John Trevor Liney)
8, The Grange
Church Street
Kingham, OXON OX7 6XY UK

Email linmac@ruffle.force9.co.uk

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