The Royal Marines Band Service On-line Community

2nd Clarinet · Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:48 am Post subject: In Memory - HMS Bonadventure

31st March 1941.

On the 31st March 1941, the following members of the Royal Marines Band Service gave their lives while serving onboard HMS Bonadventure.

Bandmaster G.B.G. Brain
Band Corporal R.J. Packer
Musician E.W. Goymer.

I have posted below, the circumstances of that day.

HMS Bonaventure was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy.

Due to shortages Bonaventure, Dido and Phoebe were completed without one 5.25 inch gun and had a 4 inch starshell gun instead as its main armament.

She was built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland), with the keel being laid down on 30 August 1937.
She was launched on 19 April 1939, and commissioned 24 May 1940.

History
Bonaventure served initially with the Home Fleet on completion, and escorted WS convoys.

While on such duty with WS5a on 25 December 1940, the convoy was attacked by Admiral Hipper, although no damage was incurred or inflicted.
Almost immediately afterwards the ship was ordered to the Mediterranean.

On 28 December 1940, Bonaventure intercepted the German blockade runner Baden (8204 tons) off Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. The German ship was en route from Tenerife to France. A capture was not possible due to the bad weather, so Bonaventure sank the ship with a torpedo.

Bonaventure was a part of Force "F" during the Operation Excess convoy to Malta in January 1941, she was attacked by the Italian torpedo boats Circe and Vega south of Pantelleria, but sank Vega on 10 January 1941. She suffered two fatalities during the exchange of fire.

On March 22, while escorting a convoy to Malta, she was damaged by near misses while at Malta.

She then participated in the Greek campaign, but on 31 March 1941, while escorting a convoy from Greece to Alexandria, she was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Ambra south of Crete with 139 lives lost.

To those named above and the ships company who also died…..R.I.P.
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