My Grandfather was a Royal Artillery Gunner on the Teagle when she was torpedoed in Convoy 48 in Oct 1941. His name is Ernest Hall. When the ship went down two people where pulled out of the sea, D.N. Houston a Radio Operator (his story is in the book Sole Survivors) and from records stated a "Gunner", there was only two Gunners on the Teagle when she left Nova Scotia, nobody else was rescued from the Teagle. The Gunner was rescued onto H.M.S. Broadwater which was sank a day later. No reports state that any survivors off the Teagle survived the Broadwater sinking. I do not know which ship my Grandad went down on and is indeed classed as "lost at sea" and not on either ships loses. I am trying to contact N.D. Houston the son of the Radio operator D.N. Houston as I know from contact with other WW11 websites that he was trying to contact any relatives a few years ago, unfortunateley we cannot trace him. I also would like any information on either the Teagle or Broadwater, though I have gathered quite a lot from internet search but anything however small is of interest, any families out there please contact.
OK as you know the teagle was 9552 tonnes, and sunk on convoy SC48. she was sunk by UBoat 17 Oct 1941 U-558 Captained by Günther Krech. Notes from Uboat.net So 9 individuals were rescued from the first sinking, not 2. For the story of the battle of the convoy go to here For records of survivors picked up have you contacted the naval historical branch? unfortunately as veronica was a flower class corvette then I am afraid her log books were not saved due to the limited storage space during the war so you will need to go around about the houses to discover which survivors were picked up.
Survivors Yes Thanks, I was just keeping it brief, I do know that there where more picked up from the teagle and i was consentrating on the Radio operator that survived, and I know he was not picked up onto the Broadwater anyway, I would like to make contact with his son. The report that a Gunner was picked up onto the Broadwater is of great interest as stated there where only two Gunners on the Teagle, one not being reported as being picked up on any of Convoy 48 ships the other onto Broadwater but not named. I want to be able to find original crew lists and any reports stating who was picked up, as this would give final answer to what happened to my Grandad. Anyone out there a relative of anyone on H.M.S. Broadwater or W.C. Teagle ? I have the reports of the sinking of both ships and the statement from the Radio operator. Thankyou very much for your input and am getting bits off everyone that are helping with the little details I am looking for. Julie.
Just noticed on your report you posted it stated 3 Gunners, all my reports state two so I really need to get a crew list.
don't worry about it. The problem is that you are unlikely to get any crew listings. all this happened in Oct 1941. By March 1940 all log books from every merchant ship and Naval ship that was smaller than a Cruiser were automatically destroyed as the Admiralty did not have enough storage space for all of the paperwork. The only chance you may have is to contact the Royal Naval historical Branch, i just hope they are more helpful on the phone than the RAF branch is. Have you also put this up on Red Duster?
crew list/Red Duster Thanks, I will try the Royal Naval Historical Branch. I believe that there is some form of a list of who was on the Teagle either Naval or Army (he was Royal Artillery) as it was only in 2002 that my father was told by an ex-naval guy who did research for him that my Grandfather was on the Teagle, another Gunner from the same regiment was also recorded as being on the same ship so it must be listed somewhere, sounds like I need to go down the Naval route. Excuse my ignorance but what is Red Duster? Kind Regards, Julie.
OK Red Duster is the nickname for the merchant navy's red ensign. Red duster is also the name of the merchant navy website. sorry i didn't clock your father was RA, that means he was probably classed as a DEMS Gunner [Defence Equipped Merchant Ship], my bad. What you need to do is go straight to the RA museum and historical section, and also get hold of your fathers service records, which will give his postings etc.
Dems Gunner Aw great, thanks for that, I have seen DEMS written down plenty of times so now I know what that is! Coincidentataly, I have just posted today a request for his service records so I am on the right track. I still believe that information regarding a crew list is available somewhere?? As I know we where given specific information stating that he was on the teagle , this coming from a Ex-naval gent in 2002 who is no longer with us, so we cannot find out where he got his info. I will keep trying untill I find out the whereabouts, it is out there!! Kind Regards, GREATLY appreciated...will let you know
best chance you have got for directions is to contact the RN Historical branch, they will either have access themselves or will know who to go to. The other option is to track down the records for her owners, the Panama Transport Co (Anglo-American Oil Co), London. The ships home port was London so it is possible they are held in one of the London record offices, maybe even Kew if they were deposited after the war. chase the history of the firm, they may still be in existence but under a different name, or amalgamated into a bigger firm.
Hello Kitty, The above not true for Merchant Navy ships. Official Log books for the WWII period are held in Kew under the ship's official number. The problem for Jue is that W.C. TEAGLE was not issued with a British Official Number and therefore there will be no crew lists held at Kew. When researching any serviceman his service records should be obtained but that said it is most unlikely that there will be any mention of Merchant Navy ships on that record. Regards Hugh
Yes, thats great if your ship has been registered with Lloyds, its frustrating when not, still waiting for his records due anytime now been waiting about 6 months. Thanks to all, keep commenting if you can give me any more ideas.
As Hugh had mentioned previous there are no Log Book & Crew Agreements for the W.C. Teagle as she had no Official No. The point I was referring to was you make a statement that all Log Books from every Merchant ship were automatically destroyed. This is misleading to anyone who may visit the forum looking for information and take this statement as fact.
Hello.I sadly attended the funeral of Douglas Houston in January 2013 the son of Norman.Sorry for your loss.
I am so sorry he has passed away. Was he your relative or friend? I think Douglas had been searching for other families in about 2002. I did not start research on my Grandfather untill about 20008/09. I found Douglas's comments on several WW2 chat forums and spoke to someone who had been in touch with him over the internet for quite some time. This gent passed onto me Douglas's email - it bouced back so he had either changed address or no longer used the internet. It was very frustrating as his comments and those on the forums assured me he would love to get in touch. I also did a search on council tax list and sent out letters to lots of Douglas Houston's living in the UK. Some i never heard, others return to sender and some polite 'sorry wrong Douglas'. How strange that you have seen this now after attending his funeral. Whatever, there is no doubt his father left Nova Scotia with my Grandad on W.C. Teagle in 1941, both survived the Teagle, my Grandad then went on Broadwater. Douglas didnt know about his dads experience for a long time and he had survived, we found out about my Grandad 50 yrs after he was lost at sea. I am so sorry we never made the opportunity of talking. Thank-you for letting me know.
Hello Julie, I have visited the war memorial at Tower Hill in London. This memorial lists the names of sailors that died in WW2 under the ship that they were on. My great uncle was also on the W.C. Teagle. I also have a recollection of seeing his name in a regsiter that was kept in a glass cabinet at, I think St Pauls Cathedral. Regards, Kerry
Hi Kerry, What was your Great Uncles name? Unfortunately my Grandfather is not on the list as he was an Army Gunner and not a Sailor so is not named on the ships losses - which in my mind is pretty awful. That is why I wanted to find other avenues to go down with regard to being named on the ship. (Naval documentation - Army info) I do have access to the naval listings. My Grandfather is not on them and the issue is that the Teagle had not been registered with Lloyds before she was sunk. Its complicated because he was Army personell not naval. Have you found any information about when your relative boarde the Teagle? Thank-you, Julie
My cousin's father, John Benedict Walsh, aged 35, was Third Engineer on the W C Teagle. I have a photograph of him taken on 30 April 1941 shown below, less than six months before the sinking. I also have a copy of the certified extract from the list of the crew dated 6 June 1942, showing 'vessel sunk by enemy action: presumed drowned'.
