HMS Ganges Association

Ldg. Signalman Tom Barron

It led to a poem published in a local newspaper, correspondence leading to Australia, and a visit to a church in Swinbrook, Oxfordshire.
It was that summer that my wife and I in Portsmouth for a few days holiday decided to visit the Submarine museum at Gosport.
During World War 2 four of my boyhood friends lost their lives in the Royal Navy; HMS Barham, HMS Repulse, HMS Nigeria and, or so I thought, HM Submarine Thunderbolt. The 'Thunderbolt' was the salvaged, and renamed 'Thetis' which sank off Liverpool whilst on trials in June 1939 with almost her entire crew and the dockyard staff who were on board for the trials.
I was convinced that my friend Tommy Barron went down on the 'Thunderbolt' when she was sunk by an Italian corvette off Sicily on 13 March 1943.
What convinced me of that I do not know. Having been boyhood friends, we were brought up on the Grove Hill council estate in Middlesbrough, a few hundred yards apart, it was inevitable that when by chance we were on leave together that we would meet and go around together for that leave. Tom was in submarines then and perhaps we talked about the 'Thunderbolt'. Whatever the reason, when I next came home on leave and I learned that Tom was missing, presumed killed, I was convinced that he went down with the 'Thunderbolt'.
And so we come to that day in 1999 that I visited the submarine museum. In the museum there is a book which visitors can look through, which contains the names of all the British submarines that were sunk in World War 2 and the names of their crews. Naturally I looked up the 'Thunderbolt' and was astonished not to find Tom's name there.
When I returned home I wrote to the museum. Mrs Margaret Bidmead the Keeper of the Archives was an absolute treasure. She provided me with a lot of information which I will include in this article, and a two page extract from a book 'Beneath the Waves' by A.S.Evans.

Briefly; Tom was on HM Submarine P514. This was an American submarine, built in 1918, which was transferred in March 1942 to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease Agreement of 1941.
On the 20th June 1942 P514 put to sea from the fishing village of Argentia on Canada's Eastern seaboard, en route to St John's in Newfoundland and escorted by the flower class corvette 'HMS Primrose'.
On the same day the Canadian minesweeper, 'HMCS Georgian' sailed from St John's at 10.30 am to meet an incoming convoy. There were reports of two U-boats in the vicinity. During the early hours of June 21st with visibility down to about 400 yards and P514 on the surface the Canadian minesweeper picked up the sound of a submarine. Unaware of the presence of P514 and not receiving a response to a challenge with a blue night lamp, she rammed the submarine sinking her with all hands.

This information, discounting my previous belief, had a strong emotional effect upon me and I put my feelings into a poem, 'No Reprise' which I sent to the poetry editor of the local Evening Gazette in the hope that it would be published and perhaps somebody in Tom's family might see it, and get some solace from it. It was published and was seen, not by a member of Tom's family, but a close friend of the family, Mrs Nichols who got in touch with me. We met at my house. She told me that two of Tom's brothers had emigrated to Australia and that she wanted my permission to send them a copy of the poem. Tom's sister, who had remained in Middlesbrough, had died. In 1998, Mrs Nichols and her husband had visited Tom's brother Clifford in West Australia. They noticed a photograph of a Royal Navy seaman on display and Mr Nichols enquired who it was. He was told that it was Tom who had lost his life on a submarine in world war 2. And so, by these coincidences the lives of Clifford Barron, Mr and Mrs Nichols and myself, who had been previously unaware of each other, crossed.
I gave Mrs Nichols copies of all the information that I had gathered and she sent it to Clifford Barron. He wrote to me including a photograph of Tom, copies of the letters from Buckingham Palace and the Commodore of Chatham Naval Barracks which was Tom's depot, to Tom's parents. Also a copy of a letter Tom had written to his sister. These are all attached below. He also told me that the family of Lieutenant Phillimore had dedicated a window to him in their local church, St Mary's Church, Swinbrook.
My wife and I visited the church. There is a plaque on the wall "To the honoured memory of the Officers and ship's company of HM Submarine P514" with details of the tragedy. It refers to "her Commanding Officer Lieut. Walter Augustus Phillimore Royal Navy". There surely is some confusion here as the official list of P514's crew shows Lieutenant Commander RME Pain to be the Commanding Officer.

From Mrs Bidmead, the Keeper of the Archives at the museum I received a copy of Tom's record in submarines.
These show that Leading Signalman Thomas Barron, C/JX 145688 joined submarines on 29.4.'41.
His record card shows that he passed the Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus on 17 April 1941.
He had joined HMS Dolphin, the submarine depot in Gosport in a training class on the second of April and on the 29th, already mentioned above, he is recorded as being 'additional crew'.
On the 14th of May he is 'spare crew' at HMS Cyclops, a depot ship at Rothesay and on the first of July he joined HM Submarine Sunfish. His card also shows him in the shore base HMS Elfin at Blyth. My guess is that he was undergoing training on the 'Sunfish'.
On the 28th October 1941 he is shown as back at Dolphin as additional crew.
On the first of February 1942 he is spare crew at Saker 11, an accommodation address in New York for persons standing by ships being built or repaired in the USA during WW2.
From Saker 11 he is next shown as being on HMS P514. Clearly he had travelled to the USA to stand by the P514 which was transferred to the Royal Navy in March.
The next entry on the card is D-D 21-6-42.  The 21 June 1942 is the date that P514 was sunk.
Tom was promoted to Leading Signalman (Temporary) on 19.9.40, that is to say, one year before he volunteered for submarines.

From Mac Brodie the membership secretary of the HMS Ganges Association I learned that Tom joined HMS Ganges, the boys' training establishment at Shotley in Suffolk on 3 September 1935 and was in Rodney Division, 240 class, 15 mess.
His instructor was Yeoman Price. All Ganges boys know that Rodney Division was located in 'the long covered way'.

The loss of a submarine by accident or error is an occasion of particular regret.
In 1942 the Royal Navy lost two submarines by means other than enemy action.
One of them was the P514 (Lieutenant Commander R.M.E. Pain).
The P514 was one of nine United States Navy submarines transferred to the Royal Navy under the Lend Lease Agreement of 1941. She had been launched as the R19 in January 1918. In June 1919 she arrived at Pearl Harbour to begin almost twelve years of training submariners and testing equipment.
On 9 March 1942 she entered the service of His Majesty King George VI. The P514 spent her remaining days operating with the Royal Canadian Navy, largely in the capacity of a training vessel.
A Ship's Movement Card of two months into her service with the Royal Canadian Navy states: 'Arriving Argentia May 27.
Will divide time between B and C Groups till L27 arrived in July. Then to B Group only.'
On Canada's eastern seaboard, the fishing village of Argentia was where in August 1941 the Atlantic Charter was signed by Roosevelt and Churchill aboard ships off shore. And it was from Argentia that 32-year-old Lieutenant-Commander Richard Pain put to sea on the afternoon of 20 June.
Escorted by the flower class corvette Primrose, P514 had been routed along the 'safest inshore route' to St John's, Newfoundland,
65 miles to the north. HMC Minesweeper Georgian lay alongside at St John's. Her log for 20 June shows that at 0815 hands were fell in to secure ship ready for sea. At 0945 the steering gear, telemotor, telegraphs, etc., were tested and found to be in order. By 1030 Georgian had slipped her lines; thirty minutes later she was passing the harbour entrance and making for a designated area to await the arrival of the six-ship convoy (CL43) she was to escort the 300 miles to Sydney, a small township of Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia.
The latest summary of U-boat dispositions had shown that two U-boats were in the vicinity of Cape Race.
By 1430 that afternoon, convoy CL43 had arrived and the passage to Sydney was begun. During the early hours of the 21st Lieutenant-Commander Stanley, RCN, Georgian's captain, picked up unmistakable diesel HE whilst listening for hydrophone effect of the convoy.
At the same time sound signals from another convoy (SC88) were heard. Convoy SC88, routed along a line approximately eight miles southward of that followed by Georgian's convoy, was proceeding eastwards escorted by five RCN ships and was about ten miles to the north of its correct course.
The two convoys and P514 with HMS Primrose had arrivedat the same time in position 46 33'N 53 40'W. Visibility was about 400 yards. Immediately after hearing SC88's sound signals, Georgian also picked up asdic transmissions. These were probably from an escort of SC88 as P514's oscillator frequency was too low to have been picked up by Georgian.
The minesweeper's log records what happened next on that early morning encounter:
0303. Observed hydrophone effect and transmissions (bearing 260').
0305. Action stations.
0306. Hydrophone to starboard.
0306. Stopped engines.
0307 Full speed ahead. Stand by to ram.
0310. Rammed submarine.
0311. Half ahead.
0312 Slow ahead. Observed convoy to starboard.
0314. Full astern.
0320. Searching for survivors of submarine. East- and west-bound convoy scattered.
0410. Unable to locate submarine wreckage, or survivors.
Except for the corvette Primrose, no vessel in the area knew that P514 was at sea. Georgian had therefore assumed that the darkened shape crossing her bows from starboard to port was an enemy, especially when the vessel made no recognition signal.
Consequently the minesweeper had rammed the submarine midships on the port side, broadside on. An attempt to locate and possibly rescue survivors was put in hand.
Primrose, after dropping a buoy, made a search. From St John's the duty ship Dianthus was dispatched and by mid-afternoon had joined Primrose. The two vessels failed to establish contact with the submarines by A/S or hull tapping and after dusk they returned to St John's.
The body of a man dressed in British submariner's clothing had been sighted but could not be recovered.
Lack of information by the ships at sea as to what vessels they could expect to encounter was a contributing factor of the accident.
A disposition report warning Georgian of the presence of a Royal Navy submarine failed to reach her.
One of the recommendations of an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding P154's loss was that up-to-date details of ship movements should be given to vessels prior to sailing, and that relevant information received too late to be included in sailing orders or the nightly situation report should be promulgated by special signal to those concerned.
Considering the circumstances the action of Georgian's captain would appear to have been appropriate to the occasion.

HMS P514 Built By: Union Iron Works, America.
Laid Down: 28 January 1918
Launched: Not Known
Commissioned: Not Known
Pennant Number:
Motto: Crest:
Displacement: 569 Tons Surfaced.
680 Tons Submerged.
Dimensions: Length 186 ft. Beam 18 ft. 3 in. Draught 14 ft. 6 in.
Crew: Total of 33.
Propulsion: 2 x Sets Diesel Engines (880 BHP). 2 x Sets Electric Motors (934 H.P.). Twin Screws.
Range:
Armament: Four 21 -inch Bow Torpedo Tubes.
One 3-inch (US) 50 calibre Mk.5. gun on (US) Mk.7. mounting.
Max Speed: 13.5 knots Surfaced.
C/Os: Lt.Cmdr. RME Pain

History 21 June 1942 : Lost while on passage from Argentina to St Johns, Newfoundland.
Encountered one of own convoys and was rammed and sunk with all hands.
Handed over to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease Agreement.

Casualties:
Lt.-Cmdr. R M E Pain
Lt. W A Phillimore
Tempy Lt. C A Bentley RNR
Tempy Lt. J Taylor RNR
Tempy Lt. Engineering J F Magil RCNVR
PO. J McAlister
PO. H H Bowden
LS. J Gillan
LS. R F Burgess RFR
AB. G R Mason
AB. A W S Chambers
AB. D R Wilson
ERA. C Tall
ERA. J Steele
ERA. NC Bennett
SPO. BJ Black
SPO. J Gray L
Sto. R S James
AB. W H Worlock
AB. R W W Powell
AB. G Beal
AB. G Laing
AB. R W Allen
AB I N England
AB. H Goodwin
L Sto. J L Binns,
Mentioned in Despatches L Sto. G Dickson
L Sto. J R McDowell
Sto. T Battensby
Sto. E Curran
AB. F Holt
0 Sea. A Lidstone
PO.Tel. R H Carter
Tel. FC Ward
Tel. A Musgrave
Tel. H Patterson
L Sig. T Barron
Sto. J R Milford
Sto. A F Barnes
Sto. W J Dawson
Sto. F Bakis
Sto. R Murray

N.B. Disposal:
Lost, on 21 June 1942.
Rammed and sunk in error by minesweeper HMCS 'Georgian'

Buckingham Palace Letter of condolence from King George to Mrs. A. Barron.
The Queen and I offer you our heartfelt sympathy in your great sorrow.
We pray that your country's gratitude for a life so nobly given in its service may bring you some consolation.
Signed George R.I.

R.N.Barracks, Chatham
27th June 1942
Dear Madam,
It is with very deep regret that I have to inform you that your son, Thomas Barron, (Leading Signalman, Temporary, C/JX 145688), has been reported as missing, presumed killed, while on war service, 21st June 1942.
In order that information may be denied to the enemy, it is not at present possible to make public details of the operations during which your son became a casualty and I must ask you, therefore, to refrain from disclosing to those who do not already know it, the name of your son's ship, and to regard as confidential until such time as an official announcement can be made, anything beyond the fact that your son is missing, presumed killed, on war service.
There can, I fear, be no hope that your son is still alive and I should, therefore, like to express, on behalf of the officers and men of the Royal Navy, the high traditions of which your son helped to maintain, sincere sympathy with you in your sad bereavement.
I am, Madam,
Yours sincerely, (Signature indecipherable) Commodore.

Letter from Tom Barron to his sister.

Mrs.A.Barron,
35 Keith Rd Grove Hill,
Middlesbrough

Ldg.Sig.T.Barron
HM Submarine "P514"
c/o GPO London
May 29th 1942

Dear Doris,
Just a few lines to say all is well over here, and of course, hoping you are all OK over there.
I have a new hobby now, photograph painting, and I am really an expert at it now.
Have you seen John lately and how is Little John keeping?
I will be sending him a parcel of clothes when I get paid next so look out for them soon.
By the way you do not say whether you have received my first parcel yet.
If you haven't I will send you another one, but I hope it hasn't got lost as it is pretty valuable.
Have you and Blanche been to any dances just lately, I have seen some marvellous dance bands over here, I guess they have nothing to touch it at home.
Well Dot, I am having quite a good time where I am but I guess that after all there's no place like Home, and I am looking forward to going to St Chads with you all again soon, anyhow I guess I can go so far as to say I hope to be home again around Christmas.
So till the next time I will say Cheerio, so write soon.
Your Loving Brother,
Tommy. xx

Plaque in St Mary's Church, Swinbrook, Oxfordshire.

To the honoured memory of the Officers and Ship's company of HM Submarine P514 which was run down and sunk at 3am in a thick fog by an unwarned Convoy off the coast of Newfoundland 21 June 1942 and especially her Commanding Officer Lieut Walter Augustus Phillimore Royal Navy dearly loved son of Charles Augustus and Alice Phillimore of the Old Farm in this Parish in his 27th year. We thank God for his happy life and the happiness he gave.
Quam Dilectus The deck it was their field And Ocean was their grave.

No Reprise For Leading Signalman Thomas Barron 1920-1942.
Lost with HM Submarine P514

We last met on leave And drank, spun yarns
Laughed together,
Then you were gone.
I thought you went down in the Med,
I was sure I knew the spot on the map
Beneath the warm blue waters.
I was wrong I now learn
You went down in the Western Atlantic
And I feel guilt
As if not knowing
Was not caring.
In London The Royal Ballet
Are putting on The Nutcracker.
The lights dim
The audience suddenly hush,
Expectant
And from the pit
The overture
Overwhelms the tight packed rows.
In the Atlantic The seas rise,
The wind reaches a crescendo
And whips the seas to a frenzy.
The curtains open
The dancers are on stage
Leaping and whirling
The stage aflame with colour.
And then its reprise
Advance and retreat
Advance and retreat
Advance and retreat.
As the audience applaud
Some shout bravo
And a lone voice shouts "More".
From a thousand miles
I lay a garland of words
On the grey water above you.
We must not forget
We must not forget
We must not forget.

Bert Ward November 1999

I would like to thank and acknowledge the following for the assistance that they gave me in acquiring this information.
Mrs Margaret Bidmead, Keeper of the Archives at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum;
Mrs B.Nichols;
Clifford Barron;
Reverend Richard Coombs St Mary's Church, Swinbrook;
Mac Brodie Ganges Association;
Clive Watts Ganges Association.