Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Navy, HMS Welshman. Died 01/02/1943. Age 19.

 

Born in 1923 the only son of Harpur Vernon Edwards & Nancy Barrington nee Palmer. His parents divorced & both re-married, his father a Medical Practitioner settled in Felixstowe after his military career. In 1939 his father was living at 2 Bath Road. 

 

HMS Welshman was a Cruiser-Minelayer that was used by the Royal Navy to run supplies to Malta, particularly ammunition. On 1st February 1943, HMS Welshman had left Malta, bound for Tobruk when she was hit aft by a torpedo fired from U-617. Serious flooding of the mine deck caused instability & couldn't be corrected, she sank in less than two hours.155 were killed including 2 civilians, survivors rescued by two escort vessels were taken to Alexandria. Commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.