The men who died on HMS Glorious … and their connection to Malta
On June 8, 1940, the aircraft carrier HMS Gloriousalong with its two escort destroyer escort HMS Ardent and HMS Acastawere sunk by two German pocket battleships Scharnhorst u Gneiss as they sailed independently from Narvik, Norway to Scapa Flow, Scotland.
The Norwegian campaign launched by the allied forces had failed and the allied forces were ordered to evacuate between 4 and 8 June.
The sinking of the Glorious and its two escort destroyers, with the loss of more than 1,531 men, resulted in major debates in the British parliament. Relatives of the missing men on the three ships and the public wanted answers to their many questions but, unfortunately, none arrived.
Due to increased pressure on parliament and the imminent fear of invasion by German forces, the British government decided to seal all documents related to this tragedy for a period of 100 years. It remains the only aircraft carrier to have a 100-year Secrecy Act imposed on it.
The men serving on HMS Glorious he had spent[afna ]time Malta when Glorious replaced the sister ship Brave in the Mediterranean fleet in 1930. They grew up liking people and their habits. Some became friends and some even married into Maltese families, with their children and grandchildren now part of the Glarac Society (Malta).
A large number of Maltese ratings served on HMS Glorious. The roughness of the Maltese landscape at the time also contrasted with the rich culture that Maltese history had to offer. Many of these men tried to capture these elements on film.
One such young man was a corporal of a 22-year-old cordless electrician from Totley, Yorkshire named John James Parsons. Family and friends used to call him Jack. He was stationed in Ħal Far and the surrounding area was something Jack found fascinating. He wrote to his mother and father and, in his letters, included photos and interesting information about activities in Valletta as well as around the island.
“More than 80 years have passed and we are no closer to the truth than our relatives were 80 years ago. I think enough time has passed and all documents relating to the tragedy should be made available to the public. the story is still sought after by the relatives and friends of all those who died on the three ships. “
His younger sister, Daisy Joyce Parsons, or Joy as she was known by pleasure, joined the fleet as Wren. While serving in Gibraltar, she met and married an Australian Air Force carpenter named Jim Perry.
I met their son, John, and his wife, Ros, when they came to visit Malta in hopes of following in the footsteps of John Jack’s uncle on the island. Show me photos and letters that Uncle Jack wrote about Malta. Some of these photos gave an interesting look at the family and society at large.
John and Ros were kind enough to give me a DVD with all the information and photos about Jack’s family and story.
When Jim and Joy returned to Australia as a married couple, they worked tirelessly to try to get Joy’s parents to live with them in Adelaide. When her parents eventually moved to Australia, they brought with them all the photos and letters Jack had written to them.
Photographs of rural families, fishermen, carnival as well as opera presentations at the opera house showed Jack’s love for photography. Everywhere he went, his camera was his companion. As a very young boy, Jack’s mother taught him the piano and, as he grew up, he began to appreciate art. He was a successful pianist with a taste for musicals and operas.
June 10 was the day the Ministry of Defense accepted the fact that the Germans had indeed drowned. Glorious and her destroyer escorts. The effect of this news here in Malta, as well as in the United Kingdom, has been devastating.
Families in Malta could not believe what they heard or read. No clear news was given on how and why this happened. Pressure was growing on the British parliament to conduct a full inquiry.
However, in a memorandum issued years later, the head of the military branch, a certain Mr. Powell, wrote and strongly advised against a detailed investigation into the tragedy of the Glorious. He wrote: “A full report on this date is misreading and invites Mr Stokes and other MPs to ask why this or that was not done.”
Not much could be done here in Malta as the news went down and then stopped shortly afterwards. Malta was now being bombed by the Italians and was experiencing the first direct effects of the war, with men and women killed in air raids or losing their homes due to their destruction by bombs dropped by planes. Italians.
When Jack’s mother heard the news about the Glorious, was slightly released because she was told he was a prisoner of war (POW). However, after months of trying to reach him failed, Jack was declared “presumed dead shot” by the Ministry of Defense.
This was also the case here in Malta, where my wife’s grandmother lost her son, Francis Polidano on the Glorious. She was asked to give food and clothing packages to her son, who was mistaken for a hand prisoner. Upon hearing the news, Jack’s mother closed her piano and never played the piano again. She never missed her son’s defeat.
More than 80 years have passed and we are closer to the truth than our relatives were 80 years ago. I think enough time has passed and all documents relating to the tragedy should be made available to the public. Information about this story is still sought by the relatives and friends of all those who died on the three ships.
The Admiralty is still causing a great deal of pain by refusing to issue any documents relating to this story. The men who died on the three ships surely deserve better than a country they have served loyally, in the end they pay with their lives.
The Glarac Association aims to conduct its annual Remembrance Service for all the men lost on the three ships and, especially for the Maltese ratings on Sunday 12 June.
Acknowledgments
My thanks and appreciation to John and Ros Perry from Lismore, New South Wales, Australia for their help in making this feature possible.
Freelance journalism costs money. Times of Malta Support for price of coffee.
Support us