General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
HMS Capel
Posted by:
Vin
()
Date: January 16, 2002 05:54AM
<HTML>Hello all,
I came across this story at www.thisisplymouth.co.uk
Local news section, 15-Jan-02.
Tragic story behind Edna`s rich red rose.
When Edna White wore a red rose at the dedication of the St Marychurch war
memorial she intended it as a tribute to "the boy next door", Tony Phillips,
killed on Boxing Day 1944 when his ship, the frigate HMS Capel, was torpedoed.
He was 19 and during one of his leaves he had helped his parents plant a deep
red rose tree in their front garden.
Edna White, who nursed air raid victims during the war, lived next door and
remembers vividly the news of Tony`s death during that tragic Christmas
and the rose tree.
" His mother always called it ' Tony`s rose,' " she recalls.
"I lived in that house 40 years and it was still blooming after i left. That`s why
i wore a rose in his memory."
Local historian Edna has been the driving force behind the war memorial and
it was while she was researching the names to be engraved on it that she
discovered that someone else, who lived not far away, also had a close
association with Tony Phillips.
Petty Officer Fred Darby was one of the lucky survivors of the HMS Capel
torpedoing, which cost the lives of 76 men.
Years later, as a Torquay postman, he delivered letters every day in Trumlands Road and never realised that one of the houses he called at was the home of
his dead shipmate.
Fred died last year and his widow Hilda realised the connection when she read
in the Herald Express that Mrs White was appealing for photographs for a book
of remembrance she is compiling to go with the memorial.
She travelled from her home in Kingskerswell, with her daughter, to attend
the dedication ceremony.
"Fred always said he was one of the lucky ones," she said.
"He had just came off watch and was on the deck when the ship was torpedoed.
Had he been below he too would have been lost.
"The most distressing part of it all was that the Capel should not have been at sea.
Her duty finished on December 24 and her crew should have been on Christmas
leave but with so many German submarines about she was sent out again.
"We had been married just one month and had a home in the Midlands.
Fred got a transfer to Torquay with the Post Office 28 years ago.
"All the times he delivered to Dene Bank and never knew of the Capel connection.
He had a photograph of 16 of his shipmates and he used to say:
"Nine of those lads didn`t make it.'
"I would just love to be able to tell him about the memorial
and the dedication ceremony."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My questions-
Which U-boat torpedoed HMS Capel ?
Could anyone post a picture of HMS Capel on this forum ?
Regards, Vin.</HTML>
I came across this story at www.thisisplymouth.co.uk
Local news section, 15-Jan-02.
Tragic story behind Edna`s rich red rose.
When Edna White wore a red rose at the dedication of the St Marychurch war
memorial she intended it as a tribute to "the boy next door", Tony Phillips,
killed on Boxing Day 1944 when his ship, the frigate HMS Capel, was torpedoed.
He was 19 and during one of his leaves he had helped his parents plant a deep
red rose tree in their front garden.
Edna White, who nursed air raid victims during the war, lived next door and
remembers vividly the news of Tony`s death during that tragic Christmas
and the rose tree.
" His mother always called it ' Tony`s rose,' " she recalls.
"I lived in that house 40 years and it was still blooming after i left. That`s why
i wore a rose in his memory."
Local historian Edna has been the driving force behind the war memorial and
it was while she was researching the names to be engraved on it that she
discovered that someone else, who lived not far away, also had a close
association with Tony Phillips.
Petty Officer Fred Darby was one of the lucky survivors of the HMS Capel
torpedoing, which cost the lives of 76 men.
Years later, as a Torquay postman, he delivered letters every day in Trumlands Road and never realised that one of the houses he called at was the home of
his dead shipmate.
Fred died last year and his widow Hilda realised the connection when she read
in the Herald Express that Mrs White was appealing for photographs for a book
of remembrance she is compiling to go with the memorial.
She travelled from her home in Kingskerswell, with her daughter, to attend
the dedication ceremony.
"Fred always said he was one of the lucky ones," she said.
"He had just came off watch and was on the deck when the ship was torpedoed.
Had he been below he too would have been lost.
"The most distressing part of it all was that the Capel should not have been at sea.
Her duty finished on December 24 and her crew should have been on Christmas
leave but with so many German submarines about she was sent out again.
"We had been married just one month and had a home in the Midlands.
Fred got a transfer to Torquay with the Post Office 28 years ago.
"All the times he delivered to Dene Bank and never knew of the Capel connection.
He had a photograph of 16 of his shipmates and he used to say:
"Nine of those lads didn`t make it.'
"I would just love to be able to tell him about the memorial
and the dedication ceremony."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My questions-
Which U-boat torpedoed HMS Capel ?
Could anyone post a picture of HMS Capel on this forum ?
Regards, Vin.</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
HMS Capel
|
Vin | 01/16/2002 05:54AM |
|
Re: HMS Capel
|
Rainer Kolbicz | 01/16/2002 06:42AM |
|
Re: HMS Capel
|
Vin | 01/16/2002 09:33AM |