260973 PO. John "Fred" Mason Merchant Navy SS Araguaya from:Southampton John Mason, commonly known to everyone as "Fred", ran away to sea at the age of 15. He served as a coal trimmer on the SS Araguaya.
He served on The Mauretania and Almanzora during peace time.
He became a fireman and greaser and worked his way up to becoming a Petty Officer on the Watson Ferris, Empress of Britain, Empress of Russia and Neverita during World War 2.
A story that my father told me was that on the outbreak of the Second World War, my dad and his father were on their dairy cart on a delivery in Southampton when Fred told his son, "Nip (that was my dad's nickname), I've decided to go back to sea, I'm telling you first because you know how much your mother will nag me about it".
Fred would rather face being torpedoed and sunk than facing his wife!!
The Watson Ferris was sunk by a U-Boat, John was 7 days at sea.
Empress of Britain was torpedoed on 28 October 1940 by U-32, 10 days at sea and eventually towed 200 miles towards Ireland by another U-Boat.
Empress of Russia, served on the K17 Russian convoy. The ship blew up mysteriously in dry dock.
MV Neverita, a tanker, thankfully the only ship he was on in WW2 that was never sunk.
John sailed on the Mauretania during peacetime.
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