Albert Briffett: Merchant Navy

Albert Briffett was the Third Engineering Officer aboard the SS Araby when it hit an acoustic mine in the Thames Estuary two days after Christmas in 1940.

He was 28 years of age; he played in goal for the Barry Suburb Football Club and cricket at Barry Athletic Club. He is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.

Edwin Davies

Another Barry man who took part in Russian Convoy work was Thomas Edwin Davies who joined the Royal Navy in April 1940.

In December 1942 he was serving as an able seaman aboard HMS Obdurate, part of a force protecting convoy JW51B on its way from Scotland to Russia.

On Christmas Eve, a patrolling German aircraft spotted the convoy and U-354 was ordered to stalk the ships.

For four days the convoy ploughed on through storms whilst the German force gathered ready to attack. On the morning of 30th December the ASDIC operator on HMS Obdurate spotted the U-354 and the destroyer increased speed and set course to ram but the u-boat escaped.

The following day the convoy came under attack from the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and the pocket battleship Lutzow, plus their squadron of escorting destroyers.

The ensuing battle was short but savage. HMS Achates was sunk and HMS Onslow badly damaged, its captain winning the Victoria Cross in the process, but the German force was driven off.

Barry Waterfront was a busy dock during WW2

With it's prominent docks, it has been said that statistically Barry, near Cardiff in south Wales, had more people serving in the Merchant Navy than any other British Port.

The stories on this page are extracts from a forthcoming book by local Military Historian, Dr Jonathon Hicks of those of Barrians who served in the Merchant and Royal Navies during the Second World War.

Peter Bayon: Merchant Navy

Peter Bayon left school at fourteen in 1941, and started work in the Royal Ordnance Factory in Llanishen. His sister had married the Chief Officer of the SS Gripfast and he encouraged Peter to join him in the Merchant Navy.

One Monday Peter left work and by Wednesday, 9th May 1942 he was aboard the Gripfast.

He began his time in the Merchant Navy as a fifteen-year-old Mess Room Boy, responsible to the ship’s engineers. Peter had his own tiny cabin in the stern of the ship, so close to the ship’s side that the floor was curved. He had to shut the door to get into his bed and rats ran in and out of the cabin, often stealing his socks!

On 9th July 1942, the Gripfast was on its way from Barry to Sheerness when it came under attack in a part of the English Channel known as ‘E Boat Alley’. Here the German motor torpedo boats would lie in wait to pick off the merchant ships as they followed a line of dark blue buoys.

Explosions sounded across the water as ships were hit and vivid flashes and flames soared up into the night sky. A lifeboat was lowered to rescue men from the doomed ships. By 3 a.m. the attack had ceased and Peter turned in for the night, sleeping in his life jacket as a precaution.

He was awoken by a loud crash and the ship shook, throwing his oil lamp to the floor. He raced to the deck. The Gripfast was being machine-gunned by a German aircraft that had then dropped a bomb right onto its deck. Remembering his new-purchased jacket, he returned to his cabin to retrieve it. When he came back on deck he was amazed to find it now level with the surface of the sea. He swam quickly away from the sinking ship. An upturned lifeboat broke the surface nearby and he scrambled on top of it before being rescued an hour or so later.

Peter returned to his mother’s grocery shop with the sad news that his brother-in-law had been one of the five crewmen who had perished that night.