WWII Roll of Honour

Training Ship Mercury Rolls of Honour

Roll of Honour World War II

No.	Surname	Forenames	Comments
----	Verdon	Antony	Antony Verdon is not currently listed on the war memorial in Hamble Churchyard. He was at Mercury with his brother in the mid 1920s. A son of the Vicar of Hamble he was day boy whose name did not appear in the ship's roll and hence he had no number. He joined the RAFVR and was killed in action on the 18th March 1944 while serving as a Flight Sergeant with 612 Squadron. His name is on the Runnymede Memorial.
1313	Scrutton	Harold Francis	Royal Navy Lieutenant HMS Assegai. Lost while on passage in the liner Ceramic torpedoed by U-515 on 6th December 1942. Of the 655 passengers and crew there was only one survivor. Harold’s name is on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
1472	Hunter	William Henry	Royal Navy Able Seaman in battleship HMS Barham, torpedoed by U-331 and blew up off Alexandria 25th November 1941. Of her compliment of 1260, 862 perished. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
1507	Berryman-Edwards	Roy	Royal Navy Lt. Commander DSO and Kings Commendation for Brave Conduct. Mine Disposal Officer attached HMS Watchful. Lost his life trying to dismantle a mine on Corton Sands near Great Yarmouth 11th June 1942. Buried at Sea off Great Yarmouth. He is commemorated in the Parish Church of St Nicholas in Great Yarmouth and on a memorial at Corton Sands. His name is also on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
1533	Walker	Herbert Rowley	RNVR Lt. Commander in HM Minesweeping Trawler Pelton. Sunk by E-Boat S-28 off Great Yarmouth 23rd December 1940. His name is on the Naval Patrol Service Memorial at Lowestoft.
1631	Jones	Paul	Went to sea in 1920 as an apprentice with Furness Withy Co. Killed while serving in the Merchant Navy WW2. Further research underway.
1636	Tomes	Noel 'Nicholas'	Royal Navy Commissioned Gunner in destroyer HMS Martin, torpedoed by U-431 off Algeria 10th November 1942. His name is on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
1638	Tompkins	Alexander G E	Royal Navy Lt Commander serving with the light cruiser HMS Newfoundland. Killed in an air raid on the 28th July 1944 whilst on a course in London. He is buried at St Bartholomew’s Churchyard, Yealmpton, Devon.
1726	Creasey	George Edward	Royal Navy Gunner in destroyer HMS Intrepid sunk by German JU88 bombers in Leros Harbour, Dodecanese on the 26th September 1943. Buried in Leros War Cemetery on the Island of Leros, Greece.
1800	Porter	John Leslie	Royal Navy Warrant Supply Officer in aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, sunk by surface fire from German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during retreat from Norway 8th June 1940. Over 1500 of her crew went down with their ship. His name is on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
1961	Mather	Henry Malbon	Army Bandsman (Bugler) 6th Bn. Irish Guards 20th April 1941. Buried in the Guard's Plot, Brompton Cemetery, London.
2099	Wright	Wilfred	Merchant Navy 2nd Officer in British Tanker Company vessel British Emperor sunk by German Auxiliary Cruiser Pinguin 350 miles south of Socotra Island on 7th May 1941. The British ship managed to send out a 'raider' warning before she was sunk. This was picked up by the cruiser HMS Cornwall that intercepted and sank the Pinguin by shell fire the following day. Unfortunately a number of prisoners on board Pinguin lost their lives or were injured during the action and it seems likely that, after being rescued, Wright died of wounds on board HMS Cornwall. He is buried in the Mont-Fleur Cemetery at Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles.
2019	Denny	Barry Collingwood	Merchant Navy Chief Officer in Nitrate Producers Steamship Company ss Anglo Saxon sunk by German raider Widder 800 miles west of the Canary Islands 28th August 1940. Some of the crew got away in two boats; one was never seen again and the other, an 18-foot jolly boat that included Denny. It was washed up on the Bahamas 72 days later but Denny was not one of the two survivors having died on the 5th September. His name is on the Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill. The jolly boat in which he died was placed in the Imperial War Museum collection in 1998.
2186	Everett	William Stanley	RAF Sergeant Observer with 88 Squadron, killed on 20th September 1939 during the first action in World War Two in which an enemy aircraft was shot down. In the course of the action with Messerschmitt Df109s over Saarbrucken, two Fairy Battle Bombers were also lost including K9245 in which Everett was a crewmember. His pilot, Flying Officer Reginald Cubit Gravely, was awarded the George Cross for his attempts to rescue his crew from the burning aircraft. Everett is buried in the Choloy War Cemetery in France.
2316	Clarke	John French	Was at Mercury with his twin brother Tom (2315). Joined the Royal Navy at HMS St. Vincent. Was a Leading Seaman when lost in the battle-cruiser HMS Hood sunk 24th May 1941 in Denmark Strait during encounter with German Battleship Bismark and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Only three survived from a compliment of 1415. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
2317	Wood	Frederick Norman	Royal Navy Leading Writer in the destroyer HMS Somali sank Denmark Strait 24th September 1942. Wood was one of the crew who volunteered to stay on board after Somali suffered torpedo damage while escorting Arctic convoy PQ18. The vessel was lost in heavy weather while being towed to Iceland by the destroyer Ashanti and 45 men went down with her. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and in the Law Society Memorial Book.
2372	Klipsch	Paul Henry	RAF Sergeant Pilot 92 Squadron. His Spitfire was shot down over northern France on his first combat mission on 23rd May 1940 while covering the retreat of British troops. OM Stanley Barraclough (2412) was in the same flight but survived. Despite the presence of German troops in the area local people recovered Klipsch's body from the wrecked aircraft and buried it secretly in the churchyard of the French village of Wierre-Effroy near Boulogne-sur-Mer where it remains to this day, the only British serviceman buried there. In January 2000 he was featured in a Channel 4 TV "Time Team" programme that focused on the excavation of his aircraft near the village of Wierre-Effroy.
2398	Bratley	John Wesley	Royal Navy Gunner (T) and was twice Mentioned in Despatches, the first for mine disposal operations and the second posthumously, for devotion to duty in clearing Messina harbour of enemy demolition charges while attached to HMS Elissa the Naval base at Messina. He was killed at Messina on 23rd August 1943 together with other members of a bomb disposal unit when an enemy demolition charge device exploded. His name is on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
2416	Brown	Sidney William	Royal Navy Able Seaman serving at HMS Drake. Died of an illness 28th January 1940. Buried Great Cheverell (St Peter’s) Churchyard.
2459	Lane	Norman Burgess	Merchant Navy Third Officer in Manchester Liner's ss Manchester Brigade lost when the vessel was torpedoed in the North Atlantic on 27th September 1940. His name is on the Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill.
2496	Walford	Lyndon	Went to sea as an Apprentice with Silver Line. Became an RNR Officer and was a Lt. in HM Submarine Pandora when it was bombed by Italian aircraft and sunk in Malta Harbour 1st April 1942. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
2504	Hoyes	Eric	Royal Navy Lt. in destroyer HMS Boadicea sunk off Portland by aerial torpedo 13th June 1944. His name is on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
2530	Skinner	Arnold George	Bandsman 1st Bn. Gloucestershire Regiment Burma 29th June 1942. Buried in the Imphal War Cemetery, North East India.
2586	Thrippleton	Samuel William	Royal Navy Lt. in the cruiser HMS Uganda, one of 16 of the crew who were killed when the vessel took a direct hit by a glider bomb during the Salerno landings on 13th/14th September 1943. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
2706	Finch	John Louis	Royal Navy Boy 1st Class lost in the battle-cruiser HMS Hood sunk 24th May 1941 in Denmark Strait during encounter with German Battleship Bismark and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Only three survived from a compliment of 1415. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
2725	Wooltorton	William	Royal Navy Ordinary Signalman in fleet minesweeper HMS Sphinx which was bombed by enemy aircraft off North East Scotland 3rd February 1940. He is buried in Wick Cemetery, Caithnesshire.
2780	Davey	Reginald James	Royal Navy Able Seaman lost in the battle-cruiser HMS Hood sunk 24th May 1941 in Denmark Strait during encounter with German Battleship Bismark and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Only three survived from a compliment of 1415. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
2796	Macdonald	David Alistair	Royal Navy Boy 1st Class in Tribal Class destroyer HMS Mohawk. One of 41 of the crew lost when she was sunk after being torpedoed by the Italian destroyer Tarigo during battle with Italian craft off Cape Bon 16th April 1941.
2841	Warden	Kenneth Guy	RNR Midshipman lost in the battle-cruiser HMS Hood sunk 24th May 1941 in Denmark Strait during encounter with German Battleship Bismark and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Only three survived from a compliment of 1415. His name is on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
2858	Heywood	Peter	Royal Navy Boy 1st Class in Arethusa class light cruiser HMS Galatea, part of the 15th Cruiser Squadron, torpedoed by U-557 off Alexandria 15th December 1941. His name is on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
2864	Maidment	John	Royal Navy Ordinary Seaman lost in Dido Class light cruiser HMS Charybdis sunk by German torpedo boats off North Coast of Brittany during Operation Tunnel, 21st October 1943. 462 members of the crew were lost. He is buried in the Le Foulon Cemetery at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, one of 22 bodies that were washed ashore on the Island.
2898	Barnes	Lewis Henry	Royal Navy Boy 1st Class lost in Mountbatten's ship, the destroyer HMS Kelly, which was bombed and sunk during the battle for Crete, 23rd May 1941. His name is on the Chatham War Memorial.
2909	Willing	Jack	Royal Navy Boy 1st Class in the cruiser HMS Neptune, mined off Tripoli, 19th December 1941. There was only one survivor from her compliment of 765. Willing's name is on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
2939	Tinkler	William Dennis	Royal Navy Able Seaman killed in the destroyer HMS Escapade on convoy escort duty North Atlantic 16th/17th September 1943. Whilst attacking submarines a 'hedgehog' mine exploded on deck killing 19 crew members including Tinkler. His name is on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
2958	Miatt	Geoffrey William	Royal Navy Boy 1st Class in Dido Class light cruiser HMS Pheobe damaged by torpedo off the Congo Estuary West Africa 23rd October 1942. About 60 of the crew were killed including Miatt. He is buried in the Pointe Noire Cemetery in the Congo Republic.
3004	Reekes	John Michael	Merchant Navy 16 year old Apprentice in Hain Steam Ship Company ss Trevarrack, torpedoed North Atlantic 8th June 1941. His name is on the Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill.
3025	Iliffe	Peter Wells	Royal Navy Ordinary Seaman in cruiser HMS Uganda, one of 16 of the crew who were killed when the vessel took a direct hit by a glider bomb during the Salerno landings on 13th/14th September 1943. His name is on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
3028	Gibbs	Peter John	Merchant Navy. Left Mercury in November 1941. Believed to have served as an Apprentice with the Liverpool ship owner Lawthe, Latta & Co. but is not in the Common War Graves Commission records so probably not lost at sea. Further research required.
??	??	??	The Mercury Magazine of April 1948, the first post-war issue, reported that a former Mercury boy was killed in action in 1944 at Salzburg while serving with the French Foreign Legion. Unfortunately his name was not given and, to date, he remains unidentified. If anyone has any further details please contact the association.