2nd Clarinet
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In Memeory - HMS Arethusa18th November 1942.
On the 18th November 1942, the following members of the Royal Marines Band Service gave their lives while serving onboard HMS Arethusa.
Bandmaster W.H. Walker.
Band Corporal C.W. Capelhorn.
Musicians S.J. Merrifield, M.G. Coles, R.W. Wood, H.W. Fletcher, H.S. Wilmot, R.J. Perry and R.A. Greenway.
I have posted below the circumstances of that day.
HMS Arethusa was the name ship of her class of light cruisers built for the Royal Navy.
She was built by Chatham Dockyard, with the keel being laid down on 25 January 1933.
She was launched on 6 March 1934, and commissioned 21 May 1935.
History
Arethusa was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean on completion, and was still there at the onset of World War II in September 1939.
However, early in 1940 she and her sister HMS Penelope were recalled to the Home Fleet, where they formed the 2nd Cruiser Squadron with the remainder of the class.
She participated in the Norwegian campaign in April 1940, but on 8 May she joined the Nore Command, where she supported the defending forces in Calais and later aided the evacuations from French Atlantic ports.
On 28 June 1940 she was a component of the newly formed Force "H" at Gibraltar, with whom she participated in the action against Vichy French forces at Mers el Kebir in July 1940.
With Force "H" she took part in convoy protection patrols in the Atlantic and operated in the Mediterranean.
During the Bismarck sortie in May 1941 she was employed in Iceland and Faroes waters, but by July she had returned to the Mediterranean, where she escorted Malta convoys and ran supply trips to the island herself.
Towards the end of 1941 she returned to home waters and took part in the Lofoten raid in December, where she was damaged by near misses. After refit and repair at Chatham until April 1942, she returned to the Mediterranean in June 1942, where she joined the 15th Cruiser Squadron, operating mostly in support of the resupply of Malta.
While on one such operation (Stoneage), Arethusa left Alexandria to form a part of the escort for a convoy to Malta, she was 450 miles from port she was torpedoed by low flying enemy aircraft on 18 November 1942.
The explosion and resulting fire took the lives of 156 men from the ship's complement of approximately 500.
She was towed into Alexandria with 'heavy casualties'.
Arethusa was the only casualty of "Operation Stoneage" and the arrival of the 4 merchant ships of convoy MW-13 effectively marked the end of the siege of Malta.
Extract from the official Admiralty account.
'The Arethusa was attacked simultaneously from both sides and was able to avoid all but one of the torpedoes. This torpedo hit her and caused a violent explosion accompanied by a severe blast.
The blast killed instantaneously all the men in the vicinity.
Some not quite so close were badly burned by the flash and some of these unfortunately died later of their injuries.
The next of kin of these men were informed that their kinsmen had died from burn injury, but it can now be stated with some certainty that all the remainder were killed at once by the tremendous blast and that they would not have suffered pain.
Their bodies were buried at sea, altogether, three services were held, and they were taken by the Chaplain very beautifully and reverently.
A memorial service was held ashore later when the ship reached port and it was a most impressive service.
Correspondence is now being exchanged with the Commodore of the Royal Naval Barracks at Chatham about a permanent memorial to these gallant men to be placed in the Barracks Church.
It will probably form a part of the general memorial to all the men of the Chatham Division who lose or have lost their lives in this present war.'
Damage to the ship, the hole beneath 'B Turret' can be seen.
To give some sense of scale you can see 2 men surveying the damage at the bottom of the photograph
History
Temporary repair work lasted until 7 February 1943, after which she proceeded to Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, for full repair.
These were completed by 15 December 1943, and the ship then returned to Britain, but she did not become fully operational again until early June 1944, when she immediately sailed for the invasion of Normandy, forming part of Force "D" off Sword Beach.
To those named above and the ships crew who also died…..R.I.P.
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