No.P/JX 159879, Able Seaman, Harold Graham FLEMING
Aged 18
Born in 1923 [Kingston, Surrey Q1-1923 2A:743], the son of John G. (1886-1923)and Myrtle Helen (1898-2000) FLEMING (née DOWE) and foster son of Sophie HALLS of Bury St. Edmnunds.
A relative has helped by finding Sophie Halls, married to George William HALLS and living at the time of the 1911 census in West Row. In 1939, at 1 The Orchards, West Row were George W Halls [22-12-1882] cowman; Sophia [27-10-1888]; Sylvia A HALLS 29-4-1918, with 3 closed records Looks like he always wanted to be a sailor..hopefully a photo of him as an adult may come to light |
"Out of Sollum in position 32.34N and 26.24E in the Mediterranean, Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen in his U-331 U-boat of Type VIIC came within
torpedo range of the British 31,100 ton battleship HMS Barham which was out on a sortie from Alexandria. Kptlt. Von Tiesenhausen fired a spread of 4 torpedoes
towards the group, 3 of which hit HMS Barham's port side causing it to list heavily and spread fire towards the ammunition storages. Only 2 and a half minutes passed from the torpedo impact until the ship rolled onto its side and the aft magazine exploded killing 862. There were 396 survivors. |
photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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