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Cragg-Hamilton, Derek, son of Sydney Charles Cragg-Hamilton and Edith, d. of Abel Simner of Friog, Merioneth; b. 3 Apr. 1909; adm. Sept. 1922 (A); left July 1927; adm. a solicitor Nov. 1932, practised in London; 2nd Lieut. 92 Bde RA (TA) Sept. 1927, Lieut. Sept. 1930, Capt. May 1934, temp. Maj. Jan. 1939; killed in action Dunkirk May 1940.

Derek Cragg-Hamilton was born at Ravenscourt Park, London on the 3rd of April 1909 the only son of Sydney Charles Cragg-Hamilton, an actor, and Edith Emily Marguerite (nee Simner) Cragg-Hamilton of 77, Hamlet Gardens, South Hammersmith, later of Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. He was christened at St Peter’s Church, Hammersmith on the 12th of June 1909. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from September 1922 to July 1927 where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Corporal in 1926. He was appointed as a Monitor in April 1926 and as Head of Ashburnham in September 1926. On leaving school he studied law and he qualified as a solicitor in November 1932. He practised at Temple Chambers, Temple Avenue, London. He served as Hon. Secretary of The Old Westminster Boat Club in 1929 and 1930 and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Old Westminsters in 1932.
He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 92 (5th London) Field Brigade in the Territorial Army on the 25th of September 1927 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 25th of September 1930. He was promoted to Captain on the 10th of May 1934 and to Major in January 1939. He was appointed as the commanding officer of 365 Battery.
On the 31st of May 1940, 92 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery was positioned to the west of Bulskamp where it was defending the perimeter of the evacuation area around Dunkirk when German counter battery fire began falling on the Headquarters of 365 Battery. Derek Cragg-Hamilton and four gunners were killed during the exchange of fire.
The Middlesex Chronicle wrote: - “Many of the older residents will remember the cherry, happy personality of this fine, upstanding soldier who was 6ft 6 1/2 ins. in height.”
The Elizabethan wrote: - “The death of Major Derek Cragg-Hamilton, R.A., T.A., during the retirement to Dunkirk, has brought sadness to many, for he had many friends. In the law, which he chose as his profession, in the Territorials, which he joined as a recreation and a duty, and among Westminsters of all ages who shared with him a common affection for the School he was equally popular, and the directness and simplicity of his character won him general respect. Derek Cragg-Hamilton was the son of the late Sydney Charles Cragg-Hamilton. He was born on 3rd April, 1909, and in 1922 entered Westminster as a day boy up Ashburnham. Although his subsequent career showed that he had good critical abilities and the power of mastering detail, he travelled up the School but slowly. He was never one to whom success came easily. Success came because he worked for it, and it was a tribute to the solid qualities of his character when, in his last year at Westminster, he was appointed head of his house, although still only in the Shell. He left in 1927, and for the next five years underwent the arduous and sometimes dreary training necessary to become a solicitor. Most of his Westminster friends and contemporaries had gone to either Oxford or Cambridge, and he may perhaps have felt some natural regret that he was no longer with them, sharing their fresh interests and pleasures. If he did, he kept his feelings to himself and he threw himself wholeheartedly into his new work. At this time also began the connexion with the Territorials, which in the end took him to France early last September and last May to Belgium. He was gazetted 2nd Lieut., 92nd Brigade, R.A., T.A., in 1927, and was promoted Lieutenant in 1930. Captain in 1934, and Major last year. He was an enthusiastic soldier, and he was always keen to get any boys who had recently left the School into his battery, with the result that the foundress was toasted last November 17th in at least one mess in northern France. His ability as a lawyer received a tribute in a notice in The Times, and this is not the place to recapitulate it. While his Westminster friends realized that he was efficient at his job, they did not perhaps realize how much his judgment was respected and how much he might have achieved had not his career been suddenly cut short. But no one who came in contact with him could have remained unaware for long of his enthusiasm for the School and his devotion to its interests. His work on the War Memorial Committee and on successive Committees of the Westminster Ball brought him into touch with a very large number of Old Westminsters; and because some of the masters were privileged to count him as their friend, his views on the School did not remain static as the point which they had reached when he ceased to be a member of it, but moved forward with every phase of its development. He was, indeed, one of the very few people to whom one could "talk Westminster" with the complete assurance that his opinion would be based not only on sympathy and understanding, but also on knowledge of where the School's true interests lay. To Watermen of the last twelve years he was a familiar figure. Although never a first-class oar himself, he was an immensely hard worker in a boat and a good judge of a crew. He followed the fortunes of the School eight with keenness, and his appearances at Putney or at Henley were welcomed with delight. It was characteristic of him that when, a few years ago, he had followed a School eight down to Westminster in the launch and a minor crisis had occurred because one of the crew had been taken ill, he should have stepped into the boat and, although quite untrained, should have rowed back to Putney. It was characteristic, too, that when home on leave for a short time last December, one of his first actions should have been to come round to Westminster to find out how the School was getting on in exile, and in particular what chances there were of carrying on rowing at Lancing. In him Westminster loses a loyal friend, and his mother, to whom we offer our deep sympathy, a devoted son.”
He is buried at Veurne Communal Cemetery Extension Row C, Grave 5.

Crook, Philip John Lancaster, son of Edward Arnold Crook, glove manufacturer, of Gt Malvern, Worcs, and Mary Clare Broad, d. of Lieut.-Col. John Lancaster IMS; b. 29 May 1920; adm. May 1934 (B); left July 1938; Univ. of Birmingham; Roy. Tank Regt 1941-3 (Lieut.); killed in action (N. Africa) Apr. 1943.

Philip John Lancaster Crook was born at Streatham, London on the 29th of May 1920 the only son of Edward Arnold Crook, a glove manufacturer, and Mary Clare Broad (nee Lancaster) Crook, later of 5, Heathcroft, Hampstead, London NW11. He was the twin of his sister Elizabeth Lorna.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from May 1934 to July 1938. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1937. He was articled to a firm of solicitors before going on to the University of Birmingham from where he graduated LLb.
He attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment on the 8th of March 1941.
On the 1st of April 1943, Philip Crook was with A Squadron, 50th Royal Tank Regiment which was resting in camp at Djorf. During the day a party from the Squadron was organised to visit the scene of a battle in which they had been involved at the Mareth Line on the 22nd of March 1943 against the German 15th Panzer Division. They were to try to learn the lessons of the fighting there and to salvage equipment from the area. They had been warned that the area had been heavily booby trapped and mined by the Germans before they had retreated and were instructed to take extreme care. During the trip, for reasons which are not known, Philip Crook left the track which had been swept and found to be clear of mines. Following the explosion of a German “S” anti personnel mine he was found lying on the ground badly wounded by shrapnel. He was evacuated to an Advanced Dressing Station where he died of his wounds a few hours later.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Malvern and on the memorial at the University of Birmingham.
He is buried at Sfax War Cemetery Plot X Row D, Grave 20.

Cumberland, Bentinck Howard, son of Walter Bertie Cumberland, GPO engineer, of Hendon, and Edith Howard, d. of Edmund Rawles of Hampstead; b. 6 Sept. 1917; adm. Apr. 1931 (R); left July 1936; The Loyal Regt 1940-3 (Capt.); killed in action (N. Africa) 30 Apr. 1943.

Bentinck Howard “Benty” Cumberland was born at Hampstead, London on the 6th of September 1917 the only son of Walter Bertie Cumberland, an engineer for the General Post Office, and Edith Howard (nee Rawles) Cumberland of 26, Shirehall Lane, Hendon in Middlesex. He was christened at St Mark’s Church, Marylebone on the 20th of October 1917. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from April 1931 to July 1936. He was a member of the 1st Rowing VIII in 1935 and 1936 where he rowed at No. 6. On leaving school he was articled to a firm of chartered accountants. He was elected as a member of the London Rowing Club in 1936.
He attended the 163rd Officer Cadet Training Unit (Artists Rifles) before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) on the 3rd of August 1940 where he was later appointed as Battalion Transport Officer.
On the 29th of April 1943 the 1st Battalion, The Loyal Regiment was near Djebel Rhaouas in Tunisia where they had been involved in heavy fighting the previous day and were preparing to renew their attack. At 6am that morning 14 enemy tanks passed through the Gabgab gap towards the Battalion but soon came under British artillery fire and withdrew at 8am. Later than morning B Company was ordered to join C Company to reinforce 117 Metre Hill where enemy tanks had been seen. At 1.30pm 20 enemy tanks managed to infiltrate a gap in the British positions and established themselves on a nearby ridge where they dominated the approaches to 117 Metre Hill. As soon as this move had been completed a further 20 enemy tanks, supported by infantry, advanced through the Gabgab Gap and headed towards The Loyals’ positions on 117 Metre Hill. C Company called down artillery fire on the enemy force but this did not deter them and they continued to advance. At 2.30pm, tanks of the 145th Royal Tank Regiment began moving forward to attack the enemy tanks but they lost six of their number in a short space of time and so they took up static positions some two miles from 117 Metre Hill where they fired in support of the infantry but this was largely ineffective.
The German force closed and overran the The Loyals’ Support Company on the western side of the hill, and destroyed most of the Battalion’s transport. The Battalion had also lost all of its anti tank guns. Having suffered very heavy casualties, the survivors formed into small groups on the perimeter of their position while the German tanks dug in where they were and continued firing on the British positions for the rest of the day. Just before dawn, rations were brought up to the forward British troops and it was at this time that Bentinck Cumberland was killed by mortar fire.
At dawn on the 30th of April 1943, the Germans began withdrawing through the Gabgab Gap and new anti tank guns were brought forward to defend the gap should they return.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at the London Rowing Club.
He is buried at Massicault War Cemetery Plot V, Row M Grave 3.

Currier, David Fletcher, son of Edward Putnam Currier of New York and Dorothy Fletcher of Melrose, Mass.; b. 9 Aug. 1915; adm. 21 Sept. 1933 (B); left July 1934; Yale Univ., AB 1938; USNR 1941-3 (Lieut.); posth. commendation for outstanding performance of duty; m. 8 Mar. 1941 Margaret Pitkin, d. of Richmond L. Brown of Greenwich, Conn.; killed in action in USS Plymouth 5 Aug. 1943.

David Fletcher Currier was born at Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York on the 9th of August 1914 the son of Edward Putnam Currier, a dealer in investment securities, and Dorothy (nee Fletcher) Currier of Tarrytown, New York. He was educated at Milton Academy, Massachusetts and at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from the 21st of September 1933 to July 1934. He was a member of the 1st VI Lawn Tennis team in 1934. He went on to Yale University where he was a member of the Freshman basketball and baseball teams and was a member of the University Baseball Squad, the Fence Club, Scroll and Key, of the Torch Honor Society and of the Calhoun College touch football team in his Sophomore year. He was a member of the National Reserve Officers Training Corps.
He graduated with a BA in 1938 and went to work for Morgan & Lockwood of 44, Wall Street, New York City. He was employed by American Airlines from April 1939 to July 1940.
He was married at Greenwich, Connecticut on the 8th of March 1941 to Margaret Pitkin (nee Brown); they had two children, Barbara and David Fletcher Jr., born on the 10th of January 1943.
He was a member of the New York Local Defence Force from 1938 and undertook a V-7 training course on board the Midshipman’s training ship USS Prairie State from November 1940 to February 1941. On the 18th of August 1941 he was called up for active duty with the United Stated Navy with the rank of Ensign and was posted to the Naval Reserve Training School at Staten Island. He served on inshore patrol duty from Staten Island from the 18th of August to the 12th of November 1941 and served in the Port Director’s Office in New York City from the 12th of November 1941 to the 23rd of February 1942. From the 23rd of February to the 5th of April 1942 he served at the Instructor training School at Fort Schuyler before being posted to the Naval Training School (Local Defence) based at Boston from the 5th of April to September 1942.
He was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade on the 15th of June 1942 and trained at the Sound School at Key West, Florida from the 2nd to the 16th of September 1942. He went on to the Submarine Chaser Training Center at Miami, Florida from the 16th of September to the 29th of October 1942. On the 31st of October 1942 he was appointed as Executive Officer and Navigator on a gunboat and was appointed as its commanding officer on the 8th of February 1943. On the 18th of June 1943 he was posted as Navigator to the patrol gunboat USS Plymouth (PG-57) and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of July 1943.
The USS Plymouth, under the command of Lieutenant Ormsby M. Mitchel Jr. USN, set sail from New York on the 4th of August 1943 as part of an escort for a coastal convoy which was bound for Key West.
At 9.37pm on the 5th of August 1943, the USS Plymouth was sailing some 90 miles off the coast of Elizabeth City, North Carolina when she picked up a contact on her sonar. As she swung to port to bear on the contact she was struck by a torpedo which had been fired by the U Boat U-566, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Hornkohl. She had been struck just behind the bridge and the explosion forced her to roll to starboard before taking a heavy list to port. Her entire port side forward of the bridge was engulfed in flames and she sank two minutes later with the loss of 95 men from her crew of 179 officers and men. The survivors were picked up by the coast guard cutter USS Calypso and landed at Norfolk, Virginia the following day.
He received a posthumous Citation from the Secretary of the Navy for outstanding performance of his duty.
He is commemorated on the East Coast Memorial, Battery Park, New York.

Dalton, John Michael, son of Sir John Cornelius Dalton Kt. MIEE, barrister, and his first wife Winifred, d. of Charles Robertson; b. 20 Mar. 1924; adm. Sept. 1937 (B); left July 1940; Gonville & Caius Coll. Camb., matric. 1941; read for Bar, Gray’s Inn; 2nd Lieut. RE 1944; accidentally killed on active service with a Parachute Sqdn 7 Oct. 1944.

John Michael Dalton was born in Surrey on the 20th of March 1924 the only son of Sir John Cornelius Dalton MIEE FCIS, a barrister at law, and Lady Winifred (nee Robertson) Dalton of 20, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea in London and of “Little Brook”, North Holmwood in Surrey. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from September 1937 to July 1940. He matriculated for Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1941 and read for the Bar at Gray’s Inn before enlisting into the army where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on the 23rd of July 1944. He joined the 4th Parachute Squadron based at Bisbrooke Hall, Glaston on the 22nd of August 1944. The unit left Glaston in late August and, being the most junior officer, John Dalton was chosen to remain behind with the Residue Party, which was to gather up spare equipment and to secure the base until the unit returned from operations when it was to move to Wragby. He was billeted at Glaston House.
At 4.30am on the morning of the 7th of October 1944, the officer in charge at Glaston received a telephone call from Leicester to say that John Dalton had been killed in a motor accident.
His funeral took place on the 12th of October 1944.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Gray’s Inn.
He is buried at St Mary Magdalene Church, Holmwood.

Davies, Kenneth Frederick, son of Frederick Albert Davies of Beaconsfield, and Ellen Florence, d. of Alfred George Phillips of Devonport; b. 16 Dec. 1918; adm. Sept. 1932 (R); left Dec. 1936; RAF in WW2 (Corpl Armourer); lost in HM Minelayer Welshman (Med.) 1 Feb. 1943.

Kenneth Frederick Davies was born at Acton, Middlesex on the 16th of December 1918 the son of Frederick Albert Davies, secretary to a public company, and Ellen Florence (nee Phillips) Davies of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. He was christened at St Martin’s Church, West Acton on the 21st of June 1919. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1932 to December 1936. On leaving school he worked as an Assistant Transport Superintendant and lodged at 9, Nevern Square, Kensington in London.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as an armourer and rose to the rank of Corporal.
In January 1943, Kenneth Davies boarded the cruiser minelayer HMS Welshman (M84) , under the command of Captain William Howard Dennis Friedberger DSO RN, which was transporting men and stores from Malta to Tobruk. At 5.45pm on the 1st of February 1943, HMS Welshman was struck by two torpedoes from of a spread of four which had been fired by the U Boat U-617, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Albrecht Brandt. The main deck area flooded and she capsized and sank two hours later with the loss of 163 of her passengers and crew. Several of the casualties were caused by exploding depth charges as she sank. 118 survivors were picked up after five hours in the water by the destroyers HMS Tetcott and HMS Belvoir and were taken to Alexandria. A further 6 survivors were rescued by small craft which had sailed out from Tobruk.
He is commemorated on the Malta Memorial Panel 9, Column 2.

de Bathe, Sir Christopher Albert, Bart., son of Capt. Patrick Wynne de Bathe, of Westminster, by Violet Lindsay, elder daughter of Nicholas Wood, M. P.; b. Sept. 17, 1905; adm. April 26, 1918 (R); left April 1919; went to Rugby School; 2nd Lieut. Highland Light Inf. 1925; retired 1927; Hon. Attache to the British Embassy at Constantinople 1930, and at Brussels 1931; correspondent for The Times in Persia 1932-3; succeeded his grandfather as 6th baronet Aug. 1940; Pilot Officer (A. and S. D.) R.A.F.V.R. Aug. 19, 1940; m. Jan. 11, 1932, Edna, daughter of Arthur Terrell, of Melbourne, Australia; killed on active service June 3, 1941.

Sir Christopher Albert de Bathe was born in London on the 17th of September 1905 the only son of Captain Patrick Wynne de Bathe Bt., HM Diplomatic Service, and Violet Lindsay (nee Wood later Compton) de Bathe of 121, Rue de la Commerce, Brussels, later of “Blackwater”, Lyndhurst in Hampshire. He was christened at St Paul’s Church, Wilton Place, Knightsbridge on the 17th of October 1905. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from the 26th of April 1918 to April 1919. He went on to Rugby School where he was in Cotton House from May 1919 to December 1921.
He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst from 1923 before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry on the 29th of January 1925. He resigned his commission on the 19th of March 1927. He served as Hon Attaché in HM Diplomatic Service at Constantinople in 1930 and at Brussels in 1931. He was the Persia correspondent for the Times newspaper from 1932 to 1933.
He was married at St Michael’s Church, Pimlico on the 22nd of January 1932 to Edna Winifred (nee Terrell); they had a daughter, Charlotte Louise, born on the 24th of September 1934.
He succeeded to the Baronetcy on the death of his uncle in August 1940, becoming the 6th Baron de Bathe of Knightstown. He was a member of the Naval and Military Club.
He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 19th of August 1940.
On the 3rd of June 1941 Christopher de Bathe and a group of Royal Air Force officers were gathered on a golf course in Berkshire to watch some twin engined aircraft practicing dive bombing. He and three others were walking across the practice ground when he was struck and decapitated by the propeller of an aircraft which was flying at very low level.
His funeral took place at 3pm on the 10th of June 1941 and a memorial service was held in his memory at 3pm the following day at St Mark’s Church, South Audley Street, London.
He is buried at St Andrew’s Church, West Stoke.

Dearmer, Anthony, son of Percy Dearmer (qv) and his second wife; b. 23 June 1920; adm. Sept. 1933 (G); left Apr. 1936; Sgt RAFVR, killed on active service Apr. 1943.

Anthony Dearmer was born at Streatham, London on the 23rd of June 1920 the youngest son of the Reverend Dr Percy Dearmer DD OW, Professor of Ecclesiastical Art at King’s College, London, and his second wife, Nancy “Nan” (nee Knowles) Dearmer of 48, Jubilee Place, Chelsea in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from September 1933 to April 1936.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner and rose to the rank of Sergeant.
Anthony Dearmer took off on the 7th of April 1943 with his pilot, Flying Officer Taylor, in Beaufort Mk I DX114 for a training exercise. During the flight the aircraft was forced to ditch into the sea off the coast of Ayr. His body was recovered from the sea some 2 miles to the North East of Ailsa Craig. Flying Officer Taylor survived the accident.
He is buried at Greenock Cemetery Section CCC Grave 1333.

Dulley, Hugh William Macpherson, brother of John Herbert Macpherson Dulley (q.v.); b. July 11, 1903; adm. as K.S. Sept. 27, 1917; left Aug. 1922; in the employment of Messrs. Gibbs and Co. at Valparaiso, Chile 1925-30, and with Messrs. Jardine Matheson & Co. at Hongkong 1930; rowed no. 3 in the English Eight at the Olympic Games at Paris 1924; Sub-Lieut. Hongkong Royal Naval Volunteer Force Dec. 1935; Lieut. Dec. 1936; Lieut.-Cdr. June 1940; m. Nov. 23, 1936, Therese, elder daughter of Max Sander, of Hull; killed in action at Hong Kong Dec. 1941.

Hugh William Macpherson “Peter” Dulley was born at Wellingborough, Northamptonshire on the 11th of July 1903 the son of Herbert Dulley, a brewer, and Agnes Leonora (nee Macpherson) Dulley later of 5, King’s Bench Walk, Inner Temple in London. He was christened at All Hallows Church, Wellingborough on the 8th of November 1903.
He was admitted to Westminster School as a resident King’s Scholar from the 27th of September 1917 to August 1922 and was appointed as head of the King’s Scholars in September 1921. He was also appointed as a Monitor in September 1921 and was appointed as Editor of the Elizabethan in the same month. He was a member of the 1st Rowing VIII in 1921, where he rowed at bow, and was appointed as Head of The Water in the same year. In 1922 he rowed at stroke and the Elizabethan wrote the following on his 1922 season: - “A very good all round oar with one or two rather bad faults. As a stroke he has done excellent work, showing splendid judgement, and an inexhaustible supply of energy. It will be a difficult to find a substitute possessing his peculiar faculty of being able to size up the opposing crew during the course of a race.”
He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Company Sergeant Major in September 1921.
He was a member of the Thames Rowing Club from a young age and won the Junior Sculls at the Reading Regatta of 1923. He rowed at No. 3 in the Great Britain Rowing VIII at the 1924 Paris Olympics where the crew finished in fourth place by half a length. He embarked at Liverpool on board the SS Oroya on the 22nd of January 1925 bound for Chile where he went to work for Messrs. Gibbs and Company at Valparaiso from 1925 and later returned to London. He was appointed as Head of the Water for The Old Westminster Boat Club in 1929, a position from which he resigned in 1930 when he went abroad once again.
He set sail from London on board the SS Rawalpindi on the 24th of January 1930 bound for Hong Kong where he joined the staff of Messrs. Jardine Matheson to work as a clerk. He was a keen sailor and was commissioned as a Sub Lieutenant in the Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Reserve in December 1935. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 2nd of December 1936. He was married on the 23rd of November 1936 to Therese (nee Sander) of Tonbridge, having met her on New Year’s Eve the previous year. They lived at Victoria in Hong Kong. Eight months pregnant, Therese was evacuated to the Philippines in July 1940 where she had a son, Hugh OW, born on the 25th of July 1940. They later sailed to Australia, stopping briefly at Hong Kong en route.
He served on board HMPS Perla from 1939 and was based at the Royal Navy base HMS Tamar III in Hong Kong in 1941. In November 1941 he was posted to the sloop/drillship HMS Cornflower, the Headquarters of the Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Force. The ship was moored to the south west of Kellett Island, close to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, of which many of its recruits were members. In August 1939 the Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Force was merged with the Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Reserve giving it a total strength of one hundred and ten officers. Peter Dulley was placed in command of a 500 ton ocean going tug and successfully sailed it to Aden in spite of his inexperience. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on the 15th of June 1940.
On the morning of the 8th of December 1941, the Japanese launched an attack across the Chinese border into the New Territories and advanced towards the island of Hong Kong. On the evening of the 18th of December their forces crossed the Lye Mun Pass and landed on the island where they had established a strong beachhead by the following morning. In the early hours of the morning of the 19th of December the commanding officer of the Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Commander Vernall, received an urgent telephone call from the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment requesting that a naval patrol be sent to investigate reports of fifth columnists signalling from Postbridge House at the top of Repulse Bay. At 5am a party led by Hugh Dulley set off in a truck from their base at Deep Water Bay and travelled up the Repulse Bay Road to the Wong Nei Chong Gap where they arrived at the driveway leading to Postbridge House at 5.20am. They reached the house to find it occupied by members of the Royal Artillery. Hugh Dulley, assuming they had gone to the wrong house, decided to check another nearby house and led his men towards their truck. As they went back down the driveway they saw shadowy figures and heard voices just before a hand grenade was thrown towards their party which caused no casualties. Thinking that he may have run into a Canadian unit he shouted at them; this was followed by a burst of machine gun fire. The group scattered and made their way back to Postbridge House where, at 6.30am, they saw enemy troops digging in around the building on the surrounding slopes. Having had their communications with the outside world cut, they exchanged fire with the Japanese with Hugh Dulley taking up a position at a window in an upstairs room from where he sniped at the enemy troops. By 10.45am the defenders were running low on ammunition but a telephone line had been established and reinforcements were requested to be sent to relieve them. They were reached by a few reinforcements at around noon who brought three machine guns and 15,000 rounds of ammunition. During the afternoon the Japanese began to work their way around the building and those defenders who were positioned at the garden wall were ordered to fall back to the house. Towards evening a small party of Japanese managed to get close enough to the house to lay explosive charges against the building. A short time later there was a massive explosion which blew out all of the windows, demolished the stairwell and started a number of fires in the building which illuminated the defenders. This was followed by heavy fire from enemy machine guns with grenades being thrown into the house. Hugh Dulley was killed at this time and with the situation now considered to be untenable, the order was given to evacuate the building under the cover of darkness.
He was Mentioned in Despatches, which was announced in the London Gazette of the 2nd of July 1945.
He was the author of “A Voyage to War”, which was published by his son in 2016.
He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial Panel 96, Column 3.

Doswell, Algernon Michael, son of Algernon George Doswell, accountant, of Sydenham, Kent; b. 1 June 1918; adm. Sept. 1931 (G); left July 1936; Univ. of Lond., fenced for the University 1939; MN radio officer, lost in the Norwegian SS Polyana, sunk by enemy action Apr. 1941.

Algernon Michael Doswell was born at Torquay, Devon on the 1st of June 1918 the only son of George Algernon Doswell, an accountant for a railway company, and Hilda Elizabeth (nee Fortune) Doswell of 17, Crescent Wood Road, Camberwell in Kent, later of 22, Ingleby Road, Ilford in Essex. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from September 1931 to July 1936. He was a member of the Fencing team in 1934 and 1935, winning the Foil Medal in 1935, and was appointed as Captain. He represented the school in the Public Schools Fencing Championship in April 1934. He went on to the University of London where he studied Architecture and fenced for the university in 1939.
He trained as a wireless operator with the General Post Office from the 6th of May 1940 before enlisting in the Merchant Navy. He was posted to the steam merchant SS Polyana.
The SS Polyana, under the command of Master Karl Jacobsen, set sail from Sutherland on the 22nd of March 1941 bound for Oban where she was to join a convoy. She set sail from Oban on the 7th of April 1941 as part of Convoy OG-58 but detached from the convoy on the 14th of April 1941 and sailed on unescorted bound for Freetown where she was due to arrive on the 30th of April.
At 11.57pm on the 24th of April 1941, the SS Polyana was sailing alone, about 250 miles to the west south west of Cape Verde Island, when the U Boat U-103, under the command of Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze, fired a torpedo at her which missed. At 12.38am on the 25th of April 1941 U-103 fired a second torpedo which struck her close to the bridge and she sank about one minute later with the loss of her entire crew of twenty five.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission record the date of his death as having occurred on the 23rd of April 1941 but all other records have the loss of the SS Polyana as having occurred on the 25th of April 1941.
He is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial Panel 82.