WINDSOR Alfred Leonard

Appears on the Royal Navy casualties list for Worcestershire.

A letter from the Reverend E. Spencer-Bartlett, Suckley, dated 6th May 1950 can be found within war records held at Worcestershire Archives requesting that Alfred Windsor, RN, be added to the county roll of honour.

HMS Penzance sailed from Sydney, Nova Scotia on 15th August 1940 escorting convoy SC-1.  At 20.38 hours on 24th August 1940, the convoy was 700 miles south-west of Iceland when HMS Penzance was hit by one torpedo from U-37.  The ship broke in two and sank rapidly.  As the stern section sank, unsecured depth charges were detonated by the water pressure, killing some of the survivors in the water and slightly damaging the U-boat.  Of her crew of 104, 19 survived the sinking, 12 were picked up by the British Steam Merchant Fylindale, some of them dying of their injuries and were buried at sea.  Blairmore picked up 7 survivors but the ship was later sunk by torpedo by the same U-boat.  All the men onboard survived the second sinking and were eventually rescued many hours later by the Swedish motor merchant Eknaren and landed at Baltimore.

Source for HMS Penzance information:  http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/474.html