|
|
|
HMS Asbury
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
|
Those known to have sailed in HMS Asbury during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Rocks George Joseph. L/Sea.
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 Asbury from other sources.
|
|
|
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. |
|
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.
|
|
Want to know more about HMS Asbury? There are:-1 items tagged HMS Asbury 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. |
|
L/Sea. George Joseph Rocks RMS Lancastria   My father is George Rocks, occupation greaser on many Royal Navy ships during his seven years of service. On 17th of June 1940, he was reassigned from greaser, given a pair of binoculars, and assigned to the bow of the RMS Lancastria on submarine watch. It should be noted that he never did learn how to swim. The Lancastria was anchored three miles off-shore at St. Nazaire, France and spent the day taking on military personnel and civilians escaping the German advance into France. At about 3:30 p.m. a German airplane dropped several bombs that struck home, sinking the Lancastria within 20 minutes. The loss of life was staggering. The estimates are from 4,500 to 8,500 dead. This heavy toll was due to filling every available space on Lancastria with fleeing British and French military and civilian personnel. Winston Churchill, fearing the effect this loss of life would have on morale, declared a non-disclosure of the facts and sealed the records relating to this tragedy for 100 years. My father was so affected by the tremendous loss of friends and the sheer magnitude of the disaster that his brothers and sisters have since stated that it had negatively affected him as he no longer saw the beauty and wonder of this world. He was discouraged also by the fact that no one was officially notified about the disaster taking place. About 10 years ago, The Lancastria Society of Scotland pressured their politicians to strike a medal in commemoration of the sinking of the Lancastria. I applied for, and received my father's medal. Unfortunately, he died ten years too soon and never had the opportunity to hear someone tell him that they know what he went through and appreciate the sacrifices he made for his king and country. When I looked at my father's Continuous Certificate of Discharge book I realized that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was unknown back then. My father's Continuous Certificate of Discharge book shows that he was allowed the time to wipe the oil and salt off his face, get new uniforms, and get on the next available ship. His book documents him next serving on the MV Carnarvon Castle, followed by HMS Mersey, HMS Trailer, HMS Hunter, HMS Asbury, HMS Imgadine, HMS Chaser, and HMS Golden Hind before being discharged on 15th of June 1946. (I am sorry if I've misspelled the name of one or two of the ships some of the inked entries in his Discharge book have been negatively affected by time.) On the lighter side, my dad told me that he was leery about purchasing hard liquor when he visited the ports in the Pacific as he was burned on an occasion or two. The sellers would put tea water in bottles to match the color of the liquor being offered. Then, where the paper band wraps around the neck of the bottle, the seller would insert wax, followed by a measure of genuine liquor. That way the seller can remove the sealed cap and pour a small amount of the liquor for the unsuspecting sailor to sample before parting with his money.
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
