NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008 23
‘Farewell, we’ll
And farewell
to Ginger too
CLEARANCE divers honoured
the last wish of one of the doyens
of their branch when they cast the
ashes of Arthur ‘Ginger’ Bryant
meet again’
over the spot where his comrades
lay.
The White Ensign on HMS
Chiddingfold was lowered to
half mast, Flag Alpha – ‘I am
conducting diving operations’
– hoisted and the minehunter’s
crew lined the upper decks over
the wreck of battleship HMS
Barham.
Here, 66 years before Ginger
had been one of 450 men
rescued when the battleship was
torpedoed by U331 in the eastern
Mediterranean; 861 comrades
were not so fortunate.
Chiddingfold’s dive team
embarked in the ship’s RIB as the
Still sounded over the water and
Dvr Moger scattered Ginger’s
ashes before Lt Paul Hursthouse
laid a wreath on the spot – all in
accordance with Ginger’s will.
When Barham sank, Ginger
was a 20-year-old leading seaman
who had been bombed, torpedoed
and shipwrecked once before.
He would subsequently serve in
the Atlantic and Arctic on convoy
duties. It was only post war that
he became a diver, subsequently
being called upon to dive on the
wreck of the submarine Affray.
In the mid-50s Ginger was
in charge of the diving training
centre on Horsea Island – a job
which was interrupted by the
Suez crisis; he headed to Egypt to
salvage wrecks at Port Said.
He retired from the Senior
Service as a chief petty offi cer
in 1966 and ran a pub in Essex
for the next 15 years , where his
diver’s helmet and boots enjoyed
pride of place. He also swam
THE arrows and their crossbow are still discernible,
regularly – he took his fi nal dip at
● Sailors and Marines line up on
the name HUNTER still legible, the fi nal resting place
HMS Albion as they prepare to
the age of 86 last summer.
of a British destroyer – lost off Narvik nearly 70 years
lay wreaths to the men of HMS
Hunter
ago – has been discovered by the Norwegian Navy.
Picture: Surg Lt Cdr Anthony Dew,
Remembering
Lying 300 metres (985ft) four British – HM Ships Albion,
HMS Albion
beneath the surface of Ofotfjord, Bulwark, Cornwall and RFA ● (Right) Hunter’s ship’s badge,
half a dozen miles west of the Mounts Bay – and one Norwegian
still clearly identifi able after
today’s dead
Arctic port, Hunter entombs more Coastguard vessel – NOCGV
nearly seven decades below the
than 100 men, killed when the ship Andenes – formed a line and
water and (below right) a cluster
DOCUMENTARY makers are
clashed with German destroyers in sailed past the wreck site, each
of .5 calibre machine-guns point
hoping family and friends of those
these narrow waters on April 10 ship paying her respects by casting
forlornly skywards on Hunter’s
lost in Iraq and Afghanistan will
1940. wreaths into the icy waters and
wreck
help them complete a three-hour
Hunter had charged into Narvik pouring a tot of rum over the
Video stills: Royal Norwegian Navy
fi lm.
with four sisters, determined side.
The BBC has commissioned
to oust the Germans who had As the force left Ofotfjord the programme to honour the
occupied the town the day before. behind, the Aldis lamps flashed lives of the fallen through words,
They caught the enemy by into life as a final tribute: photographs, video footage and
surprise and raised hell for the fi rst F A R E W E L L W E ’ L L interviews with comrades, friends
hour or so, but as the Kriegsmarine M E E T A G A I N. and relatives.
responded, so Hunter was crippled “Finding HMS Hunter was a The programme makers intend
by the German destroyer George poignant moment and being able to feature every serviceman and
Thiele which pummeled the to pay our respects along with woman who has died in either
British warship at close range. our Norwegian and Dutch allies confl ict.
From 30kts, Hunter crashed to is particularly fi tting to those who If family members, friends or
an immediate halt in the middle lost their lives,” said Major General former colleagues feel they can
of the fjord at the mercy of the Garry Robison RM, Commander contribute in some way – there
German guns. of the UK’s Amphibious Force. is no obligation to be involved in
She was probably already “It was a very moving ceremony. the actual fi lm and conversations
doomed, but ill-fortune now Sadly, we were not able to bring would be in confi dence – they
conspired with German gunnery. over the three veterans that served can contact Rachel Noar or
In the chaos of battle, HMS on HMS Hunter. But we shall David Brindley at Minnow Films
Hotspur suddenly found Hunter certainly take the opportunity to on 0207 741 0105 or by email:
dead ahead. let them have the films and the david@minnowfi lms.co.uk or
Unable to avoid her sister, she photographs of that ceremony.” rachel@minnowfi lms.co.uk.
sliced into Hunter with a sickening Former seaman Fred Ward Serving personnel should seek
crunch which echoed around the (pictured, right, in his RN days), permission from their COs if they
fjord. now aged 88, is one of those wish to contribute.
The mortally-wounded Hunter survivors.
now began to sink rapidly. Her “I have mixed emotions about
Armatura Borealis.
siren howled one last time as the the events of over 68 years ago and
Bound for northern Norway to
boilers died and around 6.45am the loss of so many fine friends,” take part in the exercise, HM Ships BLACK SWAN CLASS 1943
on that fateful Wednesday, the he said. Bulwark and Cornwall and RFA
Replica representative model, measuring 10.5”, hand cast in metal and hand painted,
destroyer sank. Of her crew of 145, “I now have a great sense of Mounts Bay sailed over the wrecks
presented on a wooden plinth 12” x 3” with brass nameplate and hand made gift box.
108 were killed. relief knowing the final resting of aircraft carrier Glorious and her
And there she has lain place of my comrades and our escorting destroyers Ardent and HMS BLACK SWAN, FLAMINGO, ERNE, IBIS, WHIMBREL, WILD GOOSE, WOODCOCK,
undisturbed and unlocated for ship. My only sadness is that I Acasta.
WOODPECKER, WREN, ACTAEON, ALACRITY, AMETHYST, CHANTICLEER, CRANE, CYGNET,
more than six decades until wasn’t able to attend the ceremony The trio were returning to the
HNOMS Tyr was surveying the UK as British forces pulled out of
HART, HIND, KITE, LAPWING, LARK, MAGPIE, MERMAID, MODESTE, NEREIDE, OPOSSUM,
to pay my own personal tribute.”
fjord, looking for mines as part of Fellow former shipmate Able Norway when they were pounced
PEACOCK, PHEASANT, REDPOLE, SNIPE, SPARROW and HMS STARLING (PICTURED)
major winter war games, Armatura Seaman James Renshaw, today on by battle-cruisers Scharnhorst
Borealis (see the centre pages). 89, added: “I lost 100 friends and and Gneisenau about 180 miles
After 14 fruitless hours of ‘family members’ when she went west of Harstad.
searching, her echo sounder picked down. All three were sunk in a two-
£75.00
up the hull of a sunken vessel on
“Not a day has passed that
hour battle, although Acasta
the bed of Ofotfjord and she sent
+£8.00 p&p
I have not thought about
severely damaged Scharnhorst
down her robot mini submarine to with a torpedo hit and both
UK Only
investigate.
her and the people we left
behind.”
German ships were damaged by
The crystal-clear pictures the shellfi re.
craft sent back confi rmed the Covered in oil, Hunter’s Of Ardent’s and Acasta’s ship’s
wreck was the Hunter. survivors trod water in the bitterly- companies, only one man survived
Hunter was one of two British cold fjord until they were picked from each destroyer; barely 40
destroyers lost in the fi rst Battle of up by the Germans. men were picked up from HMS
Narvik. They were eventually Glorious.
HMS Hardy was also wrecked; repatriated – but only after signing On a freezing February day in
her Commanding Offi cer Capt an agreement not to take up arms 2008, Bulwark’s ship’s company
Bernard Warburton-Lee received against the Third Reich again. mustered on the fl ight deck as
the Victoria Cross posthumously The Norwegians had spent the assault ship’s senior rating,
To order your model send your name, address and daytime telephone number,
for his leadership that day. several years trying to fi nd Executive Warrant Offi cer Russ along with your cheque or credit card details (visa/mastercard) to:
Sixty-eight years later, Hunter’s wreck; now they have Williams, dropped a wreath into
Skytrex Ltd, Unit 1 Charnwood Business Park, North Road,Loughborough,
Warburton-Lee’s last battle cry discovered it, it will be offi cially the ocean and the ship’s chaplain
was hoisted aboard amphibious marked as a war grave. Tim Wilkinson led a service of
Leicestershire LE11 1LE Tel: 01509 213789 Fax: 01509 230874
assault ship HMS Albion – Hunter was not the only loss of remembrance.
email: sales@skytrex.com www.skytrex.com
Continue engaging the enemy – as the ill-fated Norwegian campaign ■ Heroes of the Royal Navy,
PLEASE ALLOW UP TO 28 DAYS FOR DELIVERY
A procession of Allied warships, honoured by today’s sailors during page 12
0023_NN_Apr.indd 123_NN_Apr.indd 1 117/3/08 12:36:547/3/08 12:36:54
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