Post by Administrator on Jun 28, 2020 1:14:00 GMT
Newport sailor Ivor John Tilley DSM sailed on WW2 Arctic convoys
Merchant seaman Ivor John Tilley won a medal for bravery when his Second World War convoy – heading across the Arctic Sea to deliver vital supplies to the Soviet Union – was nearly decimated in attacks by German submarines and the Luftwaffe. Local author Andrew Hemmings talked to Nicholas Thomas about the Newport sailor's life and experiences during 'the worst journey in the world'.
On July 4, 1942, chief steward Horace Carswell was aboard the cargo ship Empire Tide when Luftwaffe planes began raining down attacks on PQ17.
"The alarm bells were soon ringing for 'action stations'", he later wrote. "Between 40 and 50 Jerries came racing in from all directions...that filled the Arctic sky with the thunder of high powered engines.
"Fragments of ice from shattered floes spattered on deck. Warships and Merchantmen combined to fill the sky with the fury of high explosives.
"The rain of steel made you thankful for a tin 'battle bowler', inadequate protection though it was."
Also aboard Empire Tide was Newport man Ivor John Tilley, a former soldier who had fought in the First World War trenches and served in India before taking a job in the Merchant Navy in 1924.
Tilley was a greaser, at the heart of the ship's engine room, keeping Empire Tide moving amid relentless death and destruction. As the German warplanes continued their aerial assault, a U-boat opened fire on the convoy, sinking the US cargo ship SS Christopher Newport.
LINK
Merchant seaman Ivor John Tilley won a medal for bravery when his Second World War convoy – heading across the Arctic Sea to deliver vital supplies to the Soviet Union – was nearly decimated in attacks by German submarines and the Luftwaffe. Local author Andrew Hemmings talked to Nicholas Thomas about the Newport sailor's life and experiences during 'the worst journey in the world'.
On July 4, 1942, chief steward Horace Carswell was aboard the cargo ship Empire Tide when Luftwaffe planes began raining down attacks on PQ17.
"The alarm bells were soon ringing for 'action stations'", he later wrote. "Between 40 and 50 Jerries came racing in from all directions...that filled the Arctic sky with the thunder of high powered engines.
"Fragments of ice from shattered floes spattered on deck. Warships and Merchantmen combined to fill the sky with the fury of high explosives.
"The rain of steel made you thankful for a tin 'battle bowler', inadequate protection though it was."
Also aboard Empire Tide was Newport man Ivor John Tilley, a former soldier who had fought in the First World War trenches and served in India before taking a job in the Merchant Navy in 1924.
Tilley was a greaser, at the heart of the ship's engine room, keeping Empire Tide moving amid relentless death and destruction. As the German warplanes continued their aerial assault, a U-boat opened fire on the convoy, sinking the US cargo ship SS Christopher Newport.
LINK