246091 Pte. Peter Samual Simmonds British Army Middlesex Regiment from:18 The Alders, Hanworth, Middlesex My uncle, Peter Simmonds joined up when he was 18 years old. He was on board the HMS Penelope as a Gunner from the Middlesex Regiment, when it sank after being hit by a German torpedo on 18th of February 1944. He was in the water for days hoping to be rescued. My mum told me a story about how her brother Peter and other men were falling asleep in the water. Dolphins came and would nudge them conscious again, this helped the men and stopped them from drowning. If any one else was told this dolphin story can they let me know.
I was also told that the ship went horizontal and my uncle could never forget the poor men below him trying to climb up, but had nothing to hang onto so they slid down the deck. This was so sad and was a memory that haunted him. When he was rescued he was taken somewhere for weeks to recover and the family had not been informed by the Navy that the ship had sunk. Luckily the family were told, before it was announced on the radio, by someone else who knew that my uncle had survived and was recovering, which was a great relief for our family.
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