Remembering Thomas Edward Cook, 1912 - 21 February 1942
Sandra Wright (nee Cook) and Chris Overton April 2019
Sandra Wright (nee Cook) and Chris Overton April 2019
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We received an email from Chris Overton of Norfolk about the death of a man unrelated to Box village. He wrote, "I lost an uncle in the Second World War and it has taken me thirty years or so, in order to find out details of how he died. His name was Ronald Jolliffe who served as a Gunner on a Merchant Ship the Kongsgaard. The crew listings show that he served alongside Thomas Edward Cook of Box aged 29 in 1942 and they both died when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat near the Island of Curaçao in the Caribbean.
I wonder if there are still relatives of Thomas Cook in the village of Box." Sandra Wright wrote about Thomas Edward Cook Thomas Edward Cook was my father. He was born on 30 August 1912 and married my mother Ellen May Gatehouse at Radstock on 6 May 1938. The family lived at 1 The Lycetts, Box, opposite the school. They had two children, Frances Winifred Cook born 11 January 1939, and me, Sandra Jennifer Cook, born 29 August 1942, six months after my father’s death. My father was killed in action on 21 February 1942 and is listed on Box War Memorial and on the Chatham Naval Memorial. My mother remarried in 1946 to Charles Aubrey Webber, who was very involved with the Box Bowls Club and they had one daughter Christine Webber. Right; Thomas Edward Cook (photo courtesy Sandra Wright) |
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My father's parents were William Cook and Maud Elizabeth Wheeler who lived at Quarry Hill for a while before moving into the village. My grandparents lived next door to us at the Lycetts when I was young. They had four boys and one girl: William John (b September 1908), Charles Henry (b 1910), Frank J (b 1913), Thomas Edward (b 1912) and their daughter Gladys Cook (b 1916). Some of the family were quarrymen or stonemasons.
When the news came through about the accident, my father was reported as missing and it was four months later that the news came through that he had been killed in action. He had enlisted for the Territorial Army as a private in June 1940 and transferred to the Anti-Aircraft Defence to Merchant Shipping in November that year. He had already escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp (possibly in the Ivory Coast) as recorded in the letter from his Commanding Officer to his wife: His action in escaping when a prisoner in French West Africa has proved his fine qualities. He volunteered for active service again and served as a gunner on the motor tanker Kongsgaard.
When the news came through about the accident, my father was reported as missing and it was four months later that the news came through that he had been killed in action. He had enlisted for the Territorial Army as a private in June 1940 and transferred to the Anti-Aircraft Defence to Merchant Shipping in November that year. He had already escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp (possibly in the Ivory Coast) as recorded in the letter from his Commanding Officer to his wife: His action in escaping when a prisoner in French West Africa has proved his fine qualities. He volunteered for active service again and served as a gunner on the motor tanker Kongsgaard.
The Kongsgaard (courtesy sjohistorie.no and https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1015.html)
Motor Tanker Kongsgaard
The ship was a Norwegian Merchant Tanker used to convey fuel. It was actually torpedoed twice, the first on 27 June 1941 when it was damaged off the coast of Norway and later when it was sunk on 21 February 1942 in the Caribbean.[1] On the latter occasion, there were 45 crew, 34 Norwegians, 10 British and 1 Danish national. The British were: John Bayne deck boy aged 19, Thomas Edward Cook 29, DEMS (Defensively equipped merchant ship) gunner, Roland Gilbert Gould radio operator, George Gurney DEMS gunner, Ronald Jolliffe 20, Lance Bombardier British Army, Frank Mahoney 17, galley boy, James McGinn 16, mess room boy, Ernest William Nankivell 17, mess room boy, William N Nottage 16, mess room boy, and John William Tye 18, deck boy.
The ship was carrying 15,600 tons of light crude oil from Curacao to the Dutch island of Aruba, along the coast of Venezuela. Traditionally Britain had sourced its fuel needs from the Caribbean before the war but switched to USA supplies during the war until attacks on conveys made this route extremely dangerous. There were two refineries on the island producing high octane gasoline, which were defended by British Cameron Highlanders until they were replaced by US forces on 13 February 1942.[2]
It was during this handover period that the unaccompanied motor vessel Kongsgaard was attacked by U-boat. The ship was hit between the pump room and the engine room on the port side, immediately setting the oil cargo on fire, sending flames high above the entire afterpart.[3] Thirty-seven of the crew died and nine survived the U-boat attack, including Roland Gould and George Gurney of the British contingent.
The attack on the ship has been recorded as follows:[4]
Between 09:10 and 09:15, Captain Moen, who was on the port side of the bridge saw a torpedo heading their way, about 100 yards off (U-67 - Müller-Stöckheim), and ordered hard starboard wheel to avoid other possible torpedoes, while sounding the alarm. At the same time the torpedo struck between the pump room and engine room on the port side, immediately setting the oil cargo on fire, sending flames high above the entire afterpart. The explosion destroyed all connections between the bridge and poop so no orders could be given. The radio operator was told to send an SOS with their position but soon had to leave the radio station as the fire was spreading. 1st Mate Wathne, who was trapped in his cabin by the flames managed to get out through the porthole, then ran forward where those who had been on the bridge joined him, except the captain and the radio operator. A dinghy was thrown overboard, whereupon 2nd Mate Müller and the saloon (galley?) boy jumped overboard and tried to save themselves in it, but the flames quickly caught up with them.
The ship had now slowed down and was drifting sideways with the starboard side to the wind, so that the flames blew away from that side, enabling those who were still amidships to launch the starboard boat, and after having picked up 2nd Engineer Rosengren from the water, they rowed away as fast as they could. The boat had been sprayed with oil and was extremely difficult to manoeuvre with the slick oars. A British gunner, George Gurney, who had manned the Oerlikon on the upper bridge was severely burnt, but did what he could to help them get away from the burning oil on the water and they finally succeeded.
The German U-boat commander in February 1942 was Günther Müller-Stöckheim, an experienced officer aged 28 in command of U-67 on patrol in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. He had been decorated with the Iron Cross First Class and later the Knight’s Cross. He was killed when his boat was attacked by American aircraft in the Sargosso Sea, North Atlantic in 1943.
Chris Overton gave more information about his uncle and about the tragedy.
Mystery of Ronald Jolliffe
My uncle Ronald and his family lived in Middleton Kings Lynn Norfolk. He was a Territorial Soldier and was called up to man search lights. The job obviously included a lot of standing around waiting, which he found boring, so he volunteered for service as a gunner on Merchant Ships in the 6/3 Maritime Unit. Ronald was my grandmother’s eldest child from a previous marriage and he and my father were very close. We are sure that my uncle was torpedoed on a previous voyage and possibly a couple of times.
He even ended up in Nova Scotia. My dad was at sea on Hunt Class Destroyers when the family got the news that Ron had been killed. No information was provided to the family and it has taken several years of searching to establish the circumstances.
My father died not knowing where and how Ron died, as did my grandmother.
We eventually found a U-boat Web site about 18 months ago. Looking at the crew list I noticed that Thomas served in the same unit as Ron and suffered the same fate. I am wondering if Thomas has relatives who may not know how he died and this may provide a closure for them also.
My wife and I are planning a trip to the Caribbean this year to make a family pilgrimage and to discover more about my uncle’s death. I know how keenly Dad felt Ron’s loss and the effect it had on the whole family.
We look forward to publishing more about Chris’ visit to the site of the Caribbean tragedy in the next issue of the website.
The ship was a Norwegian Merchant Tanker used to convey fuel. It was actually torpedoed twice, the first on 27 June 1941 when it was damaged off the coast of Norway and later when it was sunk on 21 February 1942 in the Caribbean.[1] On the latter occasion, there were 45 crew, 34 Norwegians, 10 British and 1 Danish national. The British were: John Bayne deck boy aged 19, Thomas Edward Cook 29, DEMS (Defensively equipped merchant ship) gunner, Roland Gilbert Gould radio operator, George Gurney DEMS gunner, Ronald Jolliffe 20, Lance Bombardier British Army, Frank Mahoney 17, galley boy, James McGinn 16, mess room boy, Ernest William Nankivell 17, mess room boy, William N Nottage 16, mess room boy, and John William Tye 18, deck boy.
The ship was carrying 15,600 tons of light crude oil from Curacao to the Dutch island of Aruba, along the coast of Venezuela. Traditionally Britain had sourced its fuel needs from the Caribbean before the war but switched to USA supplies during the war until attacks on conveys made this route extremely dangerous. There were two refineries on the island producing high octane gasoline, which were defended by British Cameron Highlanders until they were replaced by US forces on 13 February 1942.[2]
It was during this handover period that the unaccompanied motor vessel Kongsgaard was attacked by U-boat. The ship was hit between the pump room and the engine room on the port side, immediately setting the oil cargo on fire, sending flames high above the entire afterpart.[3] Thirty-seven of the crew died and nine survived the U-boat attack, including Roland Gould and George Gurney of the British contingent.
The attack on the ship has been recorded as follows:[4]
Between 09:10 and 09:15, Captain Moen, who was on the port side of the bridge saw a torpedo heading their way, about 100 yards off (U-67 - Müller-Stöckheim), and ordered hard starboard wheel to avoid other possible torpedoes, while sounding the alarm. At the same time the torpedo struck between the pump room and engine room on the port side, immediately setting the oil cargo on fire, sending flames high above the entire afterpart. The explosion destroyed all connections between the bridge and poop so no orders could be given. The radio operator was told to send an SOS with their position but soon had to leave the radio station as the fire was spreading. 1st Mate Wathne, who was trapped in his cabin by the flames managed to get out through the porthole, then ran forward where those who had been on the bridge joined him, except the captain and the radio operator. A dinghy was thrown overboard, whereupon 2nd Mate Müller and the saloon (galley?) boy jumped overboard and tried to save themselves in it, but the flames quickly caught up with them.
The ship had now slowed down and was drifting sideways with the starboard side to the wind, so that the flames blew away from that side, enabling those who were still amidships to launch the starboard boat, and after having picked up 2nd Engineer Rosengren from the water, they rowed away as fast as they could. The boat had been sprayed with oil and was extremely difficult to manoeuvre with the slick oars. A British gunner, George Gurney, who had manned the Oerlikon on the upper bridge was severely burnt, but did what he could to help them get away from the burning oil on the water and they finally succeeded.
The German U-boat commander in February 1942 was Günther Müller-Stöckheim, an experienced officer aged 28 in command of U-67 on patrol in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. He had been decorated with the Iron Cross First Class and later the Knight’s Cross. He was killed when his boat was attacked by American aircraft in the Sargosso Sea, North Atlantic in 1943.
Chris Overton gave more information about his uncle and about the tragedy.
Mystery of Ronald Jolliffe
My uncle Ronald and his family lived in Middleton Kings Lynn Norfolk. He was a Territorial Soldier and was called up to man search lights. The job obviously included a lot of standing around waiting, which he found boring, so he volunteered for service as a gunner on Merchant Ships in the 6/3 Maritime Unit. Ronald was my grandmother’s eldest child from a previous marriage and he and my father were very close. We are sure that my uncle was torpedoed on a previous voyage and possibly a couple of times.
He even ended up in Nova Scotia. My dad was at sea on Hunt Class Destroyers when the family got the news that Ron had been killed. No information was provided to the family and it has taken several years of searching to establish the circumstances.
My father died not knowing where and how Ron died, as did my grandmother.
We eventually found a U-boat Web site about 18 months ago. Looking at the crew list I noticed that Thomas served in the same unit as Ron and suffered the same fate. I am wondering if Thomas has relatives who may not know how he died and this may provide a closure for them also.
My wife and I are planning a trip to the Caribbean this year to make a family pilgrimage and to discover more about my uncle’s death. I know how keenly Dad felt Ron’s loss and the effect it had on the whole family.
We look forward to publishing more about Chris’ visit to the site of the Caribbean tragedy in the next issue of the website.
References
[1] All details courtesy https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1015.html
[2] Dan Jensen, The Defense of Aruba in World War II, www.lago-colony.com
[3] http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/kongsgaard.html
[4] http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/kongsgaard.html
[1] All details courtesy https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1015.html
[2] Dan Jensen, The Defense of Aruba in World War II, www.lago-colony.com
[3] http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/kongsgaard.html
[4] http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/kongsgaard.html