- First Name(s):Freda
- Surname:AIREY
- Service Number:260226
- Rank:
Sister
- Conflict:WW2
- Nursing Service:Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
- Nationality:English
- Date of Death:12th February 1944
- Age At Death:23
- Cause of Death:Ship sunk by Japanese
- Place of Burial:At sea
Further Information About AIREY Freda
Freda Airey was born in Westmorland on the 1st May 1920, the only daughter of Charles Edward and Elizabeth May (nee Brocklebank) Airey. In 1939 she was resident with her parents at Sea View, Storth, Westmorland when she was listed as a Probationer Nurse. Freda did her nurse training at the Royal Infirmary in Bradford between 1938 and 1941, qualifying as a Registered Nurse and joining the Register of Nurses on the 27th June 1941 with the registration number 108317.
With war raging across the globe, Freda enlisted with Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), service number 260226 and the rank of Sister. She was to lose her life on the 12th February 1944 when the SS Khedive Ismail was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean.
The steamship Khedive Ismail sailed from Mombasa, Kenya on the 6th February 1944. Bound for Colombo, Ceylon, she was part of a convoy of five troop transports escorted by a heavy cruiser and two destroyers. Early in the afternoon of the 12th February she was hit by two torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-27, causing the ship to sink in less than 3 minutes with heavy loss of life including Freda Airey, just one of the 51 nurses who died as a result of the attack. The submarine was eventually sunk with the loss of all onboard by one of the convoy’s escorting destroyers.
Initially the nurses were posted as ‘Missing’ on the British Army Casualty List. However, this was later amended to ‘Previously reported Missing 12.2.44 now Presumed Killed in Action.
The following report appears in the Bradford Observer, 6th April 1944:
‘MOST LOVED NURSE DIES’
Bradford Hears of Sea Tragedy
Bradford Royal Infirmary staff and friends have been shocked to learn that one of their most loved and admired nursing sisters, Miss Freda Airey, 24, is presumed to have been killed in action at sea, according to a War Office announcement from Ceylon.
Miss Airey’s home address is Sea View, Storth, near Milnthorpe, Westmorland, and she was educated at Kendal Girls’ High School. She is the only child of Mr and Mrs C. Airey.
She received all her nursing training at Bradford Royal Infirmary, where she came in March, 1938 and ended her training in April 1941.
Miss A.E. Merry, lady superintendent of the Infirmary, said last night that the whole staff was very sorry to hear of the loss of the ship in which Miss Airey was a passenger. “It is a terrible thing,” said Miss Merry, “Miss Airey was only 18 when she came to us. She had a very happy disposition and was extremely conscientious. When she completed her training she became a staff nurse in the operating theatre.”
The War Office letter to Mr C. Airey mentions, with deep regret, that reports show that “there can be no possibility that your daughter survived the loss of the ship in which she was taking passage.”
With no known grave but the sea, Freda and her colleagues are all commemorated on Panel 22 of the Brookwood 1939 – 1945 Memorial in Surrey, England. Freda is also remembered on Storth War Memorial and the war memorial in St James’ Church, Arnside, Cumbria.

Freda Airey ©Valerie Pearson

Freda Airey ©Valerie Pearson

Freda Airey Storth War Memorial ©Valerie Pearson