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Those known to have sailed in HMS Edinburgh during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Bennett George Eric. CPO.
- Bentley Eli Greenwood . Ldg.Sea.
- Bragg Reginald George. CPO.
- Mitton Leonard Henry. Ldg. Signalman (d.11 Nov 1942)
- Smith Harold James. Able Sea. (d.6th July 1942)
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
Records of HMS Edinburgh from other sources.
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 18th Dec 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
265120 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
- Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please read our Family History FAQs
- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
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Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Want to know more about HMS Edinburgh? There are:3 items tagged HMS Edinburgh available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Able Sea. Harold James Smith HMS Niger (d.6th July 1942)  Harold Smith was killed in action on the 6th of July 1942 aged 24. Commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Plymouth, he was the son of Bertram and Agnes Smith of Borehamwood, Herts
Harold Smith, from Borehamwood, served on the HMS Edinburgh as it carried out one such voyage in 1942, carrying 4.5 tons of Russian gold through the Barents Sea to Britain.
The gold was Russia's payment to the US for war materials, but German air surveillance had noted HMS Edinburgh's departure, and on April 30 1942, a U-boat fired two torpedoes at the ship, killing more than 57 crew members and wrecking the ship's steering gear.
Harold survived, and was transferred to the HMS Niger, but on May 2, the Royal Navy sank HMS Edinburgh, to stop the Germans from taking the gold, most of which was recovered in 1981.
HMS Niger, was destroyed by a mine on July 6, and he died at the age of 24. July 1942 was one of the darkest months of the war a total of 93 allied cargo boats were sunk around the world. His brother, Walter Smith, from Thornbury Gardens, Borehamwood, also served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and served on the battleship HMS King George V.
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CPO. George Eric Bennett HMS Dorsetshire George Bennett was my step father but treated me as his own.
He died in 2007 having married my mother in 1976.
He had served with distinction in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and survived two sinkings.
These were whilst serving as Chief Petty Officer aboard HMS Dorsetshire (off Ceylon) and HMS Edinburgh (Arctic Convoys).
In October 2004 I was lucky enough to accompany George on the Hero's Return trip to South Africa. The original plan was to travel to Sri Lanka but due to the civil war raging in that country, we actually went to South Africa. We stayed at Durban and Cape Town and also visited Simonstown Dockyard where HMS Dorsetshire had been stationed for a short period during the war. The highlight of the trip was a journey on a South African frigate around the bay of Cape Town, from which a Commemorative Wreath was laid on the sea in memory of those who lost their lives when the Dorsetshire was sunk in April 1942.
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Ldg.Sea. Eli Greenwood Bentley HMS Abdiel Eli Bentley survived the sinking of both the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh and the minelayer HMS Abdiel during WW2.
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CPO. Reginald George "Janner" Bragg HMS Edinburgh Reginald Bragg was a survivor of HMS Edinburgh, which was sunk on the 2nd of May 1942.
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