Newman, John Windrush, son of Frederick John Newman, of the Temple, barrister-at-law, by Margaret Levonia, daughter of William Stewart Mackenzie, of Killiecrankie, Perthshire: b. Oct. 23, 1901; adm. Sept. 23, 1915 (A); left March 1918; served in the R.A.F. in Great War I; in the employment of Harrisons and Crosfield, East India Merchants, Quilon, South India; Lieut. Royal Army Ordnance Corps Dec. 21, 1939; Major; served in France to the evacuation of Dunkirk, and in Egypt and Syria; mentioned in despatches (France and Flanders) L.G. Dec. 20, 1940; m. Sept. 1, 1941, Ethel Joan, daughter of Capt. James Mould, D.S.O., M.C., of Dudley, Worcestershire; d. while awaiting demobilisation July 23, 1945.

John Windrush Newman was born in London on the 23rd of October 1900 the son of Frederick John Newman KC, a merchant and barrister at law, and Margaret Levonia (nee Mackenzie) Newman of The Bungalow, Harlow in Essex. He was christened at St Andrew’s Church, Hammersmith on the 27th of July 1902. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from the 23rd of September 1915 to March 1918.
On leaving school he enlisted in the Royal Air Force at a Cadet Distribution Depot on the 2nd of May 1918. On leaving the Royal Air Force he joined the firm of Harrisons & Crosfield, East India Merchants of Quilon in South India. He became a company director and lived at 1, Harcourt Buildings, Temple in London and later at 2, Temple Gardens, in London. He was granted a Patent (No. 349,617) on the 1st of March 1930 for “Improvements in the signs and the like”.
He gained a Royal Aero Club Certificate (No. 18075) at Brooklands Flying Club on the 6th of May 1936 while flying a Tiger Moth aircraft.
Following the outbreak of war he was mobilised and was appointed as a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on the 21st of December 1939. He served during the Battle of France in 1940 from where he was evacuated from Dunkirk. He also served in Egypt and Syria during his service.
He was married at Westminster on the 1st of September 1941 to Ethel Joan (nee Mould) of Kensington.
On the 22nd of July 1945, John Newman asked his commanding officer, Major Wilfred Sinclair, if he could borrow a Sten gun from the armoury. He was last seen on the following day by Warrant Officer Fenly Curtis, walking along a footpath towards Sileby, Leicestershire. He did not return to to his barracks and when his room was searched his suitcase was found to have been packed as he was due to be demobilised a short time later. Also found were three letters, one of which was addressed to Major Sinclair. A search party was formed which searched the area until 4am but returned without finding him. His body was later found in a field at Sileby with the Sten gun next to it and with two empty cartridges on the ground beside him.
An iquiry into his death was convened at Loughborough where the Coroner called several witnesses who testified that John Newman had been suffering from deafness which had led to him suffering from poor mental health for some time. The Coroner recorded a vedict of: - “Death from a self inflicted gunshot wound while the balance of his mind was disturbed.”
He was Mentioned in Despatches.
He is commemorated at Mortlake Crematorium, Panel 9.

Rogers, Patrick Heron Thorold, son of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (qv); b. 17 Oct. 1909; adm. Sept. 1923 (R); left July 1927; Balliol Coll. Oxf., matric. 1928, BA 1931 (1st class hons Jurispru­dence), LLB 1932; called to the Bar (Middle Temple) Jan. 1933 (1st class hons and cert. of hon­our Bar finals; BCL 1937; PO RAFVR Oct. 1941; m. 29 July 1937 Jacqueline, d. of Percy A. Sweetinburgh of Hampstead; killed in action Mar. 1942.

Patrick Heron Thorold Rogers was born at Barnet, Middlesex on the 17th of October 1909 the elder son of Arthur George Liddon Rogers OW, a civil servant for the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and Emily Norah (nee Miller-Hallett) Rogers of “Mount Skippet”, Ramsden in Oxfordshire and of 17, Barkton Gardens, Earls Court in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1923 to July 1927. He matriculated for Balliol College, Oxford in 1928 and was awarded a First Class BA in Jurisprudence in 1931. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in January 1933 having won First Class Honours and a Certificate of Honour in the final examinations for the Bar in 1937. He worked from chambers at 4, Paper Buildings, Temple and lectured at the Faculty of Law at King’s College, London University and at the Police College, Hendon.
He was married at Temple Church, Marylebone on the 29th of June 1937 to Bertha Jacqueline Alice (nee Sweetinburgh) of Berkley Court. He was the author of “Roger’s Questions and Answers on Criminal Law” and “The Effect of War on Contract”, published in 1940. He co-wrote “The Solicitor’s handbook of War Legislation” with Stanley Marks Krusin.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as an Observer and rose to the rank of Leading Aircraftman before being commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 4th of October 1941.
Patrick Rogers and his crew took off in Beaufort Mk II AW272 for an operational flight off the coast of Caithness. When it returned to base the aircraft was low on fuel and the crew was having trouble locating the airfield. The aircraft struck the Hill of Stemster near Achavanich at 10.30pm and crashed killing Patrick Rogers and injuring the rest of the crew.
The crew was: -
Pilot Officer Anthony Edgar Buchanan Barnard (Pilot) (Shock and an injured right arm) (Killed in action 13th April 1943)
Pilot Officer Patrick Heron Thorold Rogers (Observer)
Sergeant E. W. Hill (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) (Slightly injured, shock and minor abrasions)
Sergeant William Henry Parsons (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) (Seriously injured, fracture and dislocation of the spine)
William Parsons was taken to Stracathro Hospital where he died from his injuries at 7.40 on the 12th July 1942.
His mother received the following telegram dated the 14th of March 1942: - “Deeply regret to inform you that your son Pilot Officer Patrick Heron Thorold Rogers is reported to have lost his life as the result of air operations on 12th March 1942. The Air Council express their profound sympathy. His wife has been informed.”
His funeral took place on the 18th of March 1942.
A friend wrote of him: -
“In Patrick Heron Thorold Rogers, the Bar has lost one of its most brilliant young practitioners, and Westminster one of its most promising alumni. He was up Rigaud’s from 1923 to 1928, and was joint winner of the Vincent Prize in the latter year. Thence he passed on to Balliol, where he not only achieved a First in the School of Jurisprudence and another First in the postgraduate School of Civil Law, but also won the Winter Williams Scholarship. He obtained a First again in his Bar Examinations, and was awarded the Certificate of Honour for the Middle Temple. He also won the Barstow Scholarship, and was one of the Harmsworth Law Scholars for 1933. In practice he was well-known for his clear-headed advocacy; and for his keen grasp of the subtleties of his profession; though only 32 at his death he had been appointed Lecturer in Law at Kings College, London, and at the Police College, Hendon, and had written three books on legal matters connected with the war. No one would have cared to set any limit on his ultimate achievement. Believing that it was for him to share whatever danger might be the price of victory, he volunteered for flying duties with the R.A.F. On Thursday, March 12th, he was killed while returning from an operational flight. His loss is a public one, but to us, his friends and schoolfellows, it is all the more poignant for our memories of a character as striking as it was sincere. He was blessed with kindliness and courage, and he reaped his reward in success in his profession and complete happiness in his marriage. A life so richly lived and “So generously laid down” calls for no further epitaph.”
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Balliol College, Oxford and on the memorial at King’s College, London University. He is also commemorated on the memorial at the Middle Temple.
He is buried at St James’ Church, Ramsden.

Ryan, Lionel Ernest Norwood, eldest son of George Norwood Ryan, of Teddington, Middx, by Isabella, daughter of James Anderson, of Aberdeen; b. July 16, 1888; adm. as (non­ resident) K.S. Sept. 25, 1902; went into College 1903; left (with Triplett) July 1907; Ch. Ch. Oxon., matric. Michaelmas 1907; sometime in the shipping office of M. Samuel and Co., London, and of Samuel Samuel and Co. Ltd., Yokohama, Japan; agent, Canadian Pacific Railway Co., Shanghai, China, April 1916 - May 1919; chief asst. Hong-Kong, July 1920-5; agent 1926; d. in the Japanese Internment Camp at Hong Kong Feb. 27, 1945; he bequeathed a share of his residue, amounting to about £6,000, to the Westminster School Society.

Lionel Ernest Norwood Ryan was born at Kingston, Surrey on the 16th of July 1888 the eldest son of George Norwood Ryan, a ship broker, and Isabella “Bella” (nee Anderson) Ryan of 21, Gwendolyn Avenue Putney in Surrey, later of “St John’s”, Somers Road, Reigate in Surrey. He was christened at Surbiton on the 23rd of October 1888.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was a non resident King’s Scholar from the 25th of September 1902 and was up College from 1903 to July 1907. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps where he was promoted to Sergeant on the 9th of August 1906. He was a member of the Shooting VIII in 1906 and 1907 and competed for the school in the Ashburton Shield Competition in the latter year. He was a member of the Debating Society in 1907. He matriculated for Christ Church, Oxford in 1907 and was awarded a Triplett Exhibition.
On leaving university he went to work as a shipping agent’s clerk for the office of M. Samuel & Company of London and of Samuel and Samuel & Company Ltd of Yokohama. He moved to China where he worked for the Canadian Pacific Company at Shanghai from April 1916 to May 1919 before transferring to their Hong Kong office as a Superintendant Assistant from July 1920. He was a member of the Hong Kong Club and of the Civil Defence Service.
He was captured and interned in a camp by the Japanese at the fall of Hong Kong on the 25th of December 1941. He was a Canadian national and the Canadians in the camp were released and repatriated to Canada in August 1943. Lionel Ryan and a Mr. Drummond were not among those who were released. A diary, kept by Franklin Gimson noted in August 1943 that: -“In the evening, Drummond and Ryan, two Canadians whose names had been excluded from the list (repatriation) came to see me and took the matter very calmly. All they asked was that they might be included on the list if vacancies occurred."
He died at The British Civilian Internment Camp at Stanley in Hong Kong from pneumonia brought on by a brain tumour.
He left the sum of £6,000 to the Westminster Society in his will.
His brothers, 2nd Lieutenant Warwick John Norwood Ryan, Queen’s Own Dorset Yeomanry died on the 5th of September 1916 and Captain Edward St John Norwood Ryan MC, 12th (Service) Battalion East Surrey Regiment, was killed in action on the 22nd of October 1918.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Christ Church, Oxford.
He is buried at Stanley Military Cemetery.

Pardoe, George Patrick Lefroy, brother of Stephen Walter Lefroy Pardoe (qv); b. 25 June 1916; adm. May 1930 (R); left July 1934; Aeronautical Engineering Coll. Chelsea, AFRAeS 1937; Vickers (Aviation) Ltd and Follando Aircraft Co.; Fleet Air Arm 1941-4 (Lieut. (A) RNVR), served Fighter Command UK and FAA Salerno; killed on active service 25 Jan. 1944.

George Patrick Lefroy “Pat” Pardoe was born at Purley, Surrey on the 25th of June 1916 the youngest son of Stephen George Pardoe, a newspaper manager, and Mabel Gertrude (nee Lefroy) Pardoe of 36, Foxley Lane, Purley in Surrey. He was christened at St James’ Church, Riddlesdown on the 22nd of October 1916. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from May 1930 to July 1934. He went on to the Aeronautical Engineering College, Chelsea and qualified AFRAc.S in 1937. He joined the staff of Vickers (Aviation) Ltd as an aeronautical technician, and later joined the Follando Aircraft Company. He was awarded a Royal Aero Club Certificate (No. 14607) at Brooklands Flying Club on the 18th of November 1936 while flying a DH Moth aircraft. He was elected as an Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in October 1941.
He enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1941 and was commissioned as a Sub Lieutenant (A) on the 30th of July 1942. He joined 879 Naval Air Squadron on the 22nd of March 1943. He served for a time with Fighter Command before joining the Fleet Air Arm. He saw action during the landings at Salerno on board the escort carrier HMS Attacker (D02).
On the 29th of January 1944 Pat Pardoe was flying Seafire Mk IIC LR761 and was leading a formation of other aircraft on a low flying photo reconnaissance exercise when his aircraft crashed into a hillside at Glenarm near Larne in County Antrim, at 11.15am killing him.
His mother received the following telegram: - “From Admiralty. Deeply regret to inform you that your son Sub Lieutenant (A) G. P. L. Pardoe RNVR has been killed in an aircraft accident.”
He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant (A) on the 17th of March 1944.
He is buried at Larne New Cemetery Section 10, Block F, Grave 899.

Parker, David Shirley, son of John Anthony Parker, solicitor, of Bromley, Kent, and Ethelwyn, d. of Samuel Arthur Stanger of Bromley; b. 18 Dec. 1916; adm. Sept. 1930 (R); left Dec. 1933; arti­cled to a solicitor; RAFVR 1941-3 (Flt Lieut.), 51st Bomber Sqdn; m. 20 Aug. 1941 Moira McNeill of Kildonan, I. of Arran; killed on active service 24 Sept. 1943.

David Shirley Parker was born at Bromley, Kent on the 18th of December 1916 the only son of John Anthony Parker, a solicitor, and Ethelwyn (nee Stanger) Parker of “Packwood”, 10, Homefield Road, Bromley. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1930 to December 1933. He was a member of the 4th Rowing VIII in 1933. On leaving school he became an articled clerk to a firm of solicitors. He was a member of Bromley Cricket Club and was an Assistant Scout Master with the St John’s Troop, 14th Bromley Scouts. He was also a member of the local amateur dramatic group, the Quavers, appearing in several of their productions.
He attended No. 5 Air Crew Selection Board on the 3rd of July 1940 where he was selected for pilot training. He enlisted as Aircraftman 2nd Class 1255393 in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at No. 1 Reception Centre, Uxbridge on the 6th of July 1940. Six days later he reported to Blackpool for his basic training. On the 6th of September 1940 he was posted to No. 3 Initial Training Wing at Torquay and completed his initial training on the 6th of November 1940 when he was promoted to Leading Aircraftman. He was posted to No. 3 Service Flying Training School at South Cerney where he trained on both single and twin engined aircraft. He was awarded his Wings and was promoted to Sergeant on the 14th of June 1941. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 15th of June 1941. He was then posted to No. 2 School of Air Navigation at RAF Squires Gate before being posted to No. 12 Operational Training Unit at RAF Benson on the 23rd of August 1941, but soon transferred to No. 19 Operational Training Unit at RAF Kinloss where he converted to Whitleys.
He was married on the 20th of August 1941 to Flight Officer Moira (nee McNeill) of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
He was posted to 51 Squadron on the 19th of November 1941 where he flew on his first operation against enemy shipping in the harbour at Brest on the 17th of December.
He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 15th of June 1942.
David Parker and his crew took off from RAF Chivenor 5.24am on the 20th of June 1942 in Whitley Mk V BD191 for an anti submarine sortie and was carrying a load of depth charges and bombs. At 8.05am they received a message diverting them to search for the crew of a Wellington aircraft which had come down in the sea. The aircraft was flying at 1,000 feet towards the Scilly Isles when the port engine developed a glycol leak. The aircraft descended to 500 feet where the bomb load was jettisoned and the port engine feathered. At 100 feet the aircraft stalled and hit the water with the crew managing to board the life raft before the aircraft sank four minutes later. They were rescued two hours later and were landed at St Mary’s on the Scilly Isle at 4.30pm.
On the 24th of September 1942, David Parker and his crew were having a rest day, having been stood down from operations for the day. That morning the operations room called to request a crew to take off and to search for a dinghy which had been reported as having been seen in the Bristol Channel, between Lundy Island and Cardiff. As Parker and two of his crew were nearby when the call came in to the flight office they quickly boarded Whitley Mk V Z9425 and called for two members of the ground crew to join them. They took off from RAF Chivenor and once airborne they began searching the Channel and working their way eastwards. Having been airborne for two hours the rear gunner reported that there was a glycol leak in the port engine and that white smoke was trailing past his turret. David Parker shut down the port engine to avoid it overheating. With the aircraft flying at 1,500 feet he decided to return to base and crossed the coast between Lynton and Porlock but before they had gone much further the starboard engine began to backfire and to overheat. He told the crew that he was going to make a forced landing and seeing a field ahead he warned them to brace themselves. The aircraft crash landed at North Horridge Farm near the village of Chelfham, and one mile to the east of Chelfham viaduct with the front half of the aircraft being reduced to a tangled mass of wreckage when it crashed through a hedge and into a sunken road, killing David Parker and the two ground crewmen who had been with him in the cockpit.
The rear gunner was in the bomb bay area when the aircraft crashed and was injured but was rescued and was assisted away from the aircraft by the son of the farmer who had seen the aircraft crash. Having placed the rear gunner a safe distance from the aircraft, he returned to it to find the wireless operator crawling out of it injured, but alive. The two injured men were taken to North Devon Infirmary.
The crew was: -
Flight Lieutenant David Shirley Parker (Pilot)
Corporal Robert Victor Doak (Ground Crew, 51 Squadron)
Corporal Harry Todd (Ground Crew, 51 Squadron)
Sergeant Eric Ford Goodwin (Rear Gunner) (Injured/Survived)
Sergeant Hugh Alan Roberts (Wireless Operator) (Injured/Survived) (Killed in action 13th May 1943)
He is commemorated on the Boy Scouts Roll of Honour.
He is commemorated at Plymouth City Crematorium Panel 5.

Percy-Pitt, Patrick George, son of Percy Pitt, composer, and Margaret, d. of G. H. Bruce of Syd­ney NSW; b. 13 July 1919; adm. May 1933 (G); left Apr. 1935; 2nd Lieut. RE (TA) Sept. 1938, transf. RA Aug. 1940 (Lieut.); accidentally killed on active service 27 July 1941.

Patrick George “Pat” Percy-Pitt was born in London on the 13th of July 1919 the only son of Percival George “Percy” Pitt, a conductor, and Ivy Margaret (nee Bruce) Pitt, a professional singer, of 19, Eton Villas, Hampstead, later of 43, Portland Court, Great Portland Street in London.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from May 1933 to April 1935. He enlisted as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers in the Territorial Army and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 26th (London Electrical Engineers) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers on the 23rd of September 1938. He transferred to the Royal Artillery at the same rank on the 1st of August 1940 when his unit was transferred from the Royal Engineers to the Royal Artillery and was re-designated as a Searchlight Regiment.
On the night of the 28th of July 1941, George Percy-Pitt was riding a motor cycle near Chelmsford, Essex when he was in collision with an “unlit road obstruction”. He was taken to Clacton Hospital where he died from his injuries the following day. An inquest into the accident recorded a verdict of accidental death.
His funeral took place at 11am on the 1st of August 1941.
He is remembered on his father’s grave at Hampstead Cemetery.
He is buried at St Mary’s Church, Frinton Row B, Grave 18.

Pierson, Peter Douglas Humphrey, son of George H. Pierson, manufacturing chemist, and Hel­ena Marion, d. of William Edward Jones of Eastnor, Herefordshire; b. 12 July 1919; adm. May 1933 (H); left July 1936; enlisted Gunner HAC, transf. RHA 1940 (L/Bdr), p.o.w. Greece 1941; d. as prisoner in Germany 18 Oct. 1942.

Peter Douglas Humphrey Pierson was born at St Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire on the 12th of July 1919 the son of George Humphrey Pierson, a manufacturing chemist, and Helena Marion (nee Jones) Pierson of 94, Queensway, Bayswater, London W2.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Homeboarders from May 1933 to July 1936.
He enlisted as a Gunner in the Honourable Artillery Company in 1939 where he served with D Battery. He transferred to the 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery in 1940. He was posted to Egypt and later to Greece.
He was captured at the fall of Greece on the 28th of April 1941 and was taken to Germany where he was interned at Stalag XVIIIA at Wolfsburg from the 24th of September 1941 as POW No. 1208. On his arrival there it was recorded that he was six feet four inches tall and that he had brown hair.
He was admitted to the hospital at Wolfsberg on the 18th of October 1942 suffering from typhus. He died there the following day.
He was buried at Wolfsberg Cemetery II, Grave 24 on the 21st of October 1942 but his body was later exhumed and moved to its present location.
He is buried at Klagenfurt War Cemetery Plot 6, Row A, Grave 4.

Montefiore, Langton, brother of Leslie Montefiore (q.v.); b. April 6, 1904; adm. Sept. 26 1918 (A); left Easter 1922; admitted a member of the London Stock Exchange 1927; 2nd Lieut. R.A.S.C. March 30, 1940; Capt.; m. June 2, 1927, Millicent, daughter of S. Lazarus, of St. Marylebone; killed on active service in Greece 27 April 1941.

Langton Montefiore was born at Chartridge, Buckinghamshire on the 6th of April 1904 the second son of Harry John Montefiore, a stockbroker and member of the London Stock Exchange, and Harriet (nee Montefiore) Montefiore of Chartridge Grange, near Chesham, later of “Fingest”, near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from the 26th of September 1918 and Easter 1922. He was a member of the Debating Society in 1921. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Corporal in September 1921. On leaving school he went to work as a stockbroker and was admitted as a Member of the London Stock Exchange in 1927. He was married at Marylebone on the 2nd of June 1927 to Millicent (nee Lazarus) and they lived at 80, Eaton Place in London and at “Valley Holme”, Horsted Keynes in Sussex. They had a son, born on the 6th of May 1928. Following the outbreak of war he was appointed as a Deputy Area Officer for Air Raid Precautions. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps on the 30th of March 1940.
At 7pm on the 24th of April 1941, a convoy of trucks of the 308th Reserve Motor Transport Company, Royal Army Service Corps left Argos, Greece to head for Kalamata where they were to be evacuated to Egypt following the collapse of the Allied resistance to the German invasion of Greece. Driver T/199458 F.G. Lee reported that Major James Garrard Black, 2nd Lieutenant J.M. Carroll Lieutenant Mansfield, Langton Montefiore and about 100 men were among those who remained at Argos from where they made their way to the beaches in Nauplia Bay to await evacuation to Crete. They boarded the 11, 636 ton passenger liner SS Slamat, under the command of Master Tjalling Luidinga, on the night of the 26th/27th of April and set sail at 4.15am on the 27th of April. SS Slamat sailed south as part of a convoy and was in the Argolic Gulf when the convoy was attacked firstly by Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters and then by Junkers 87, Junkers 88 and Dornier 17 bombers at 7.15am. During the attack SS Slamat was struck between the bridge and the forward funnel by a 550lb bomb and was set on fire. As she listed to starboard, she was hit by a second bomb and the order was given to abandon the ship. With many of life boats and life rafts having been destroyed in the bombing, most of the survivors swam clear of the sinking ship with two overcrowded life boats capsizing. Some of the survivors were machine gunned in the water by enemy fighters. The destroyer HMS Diamond began taking survivors on board but was forced to stop and speed away when she too came under attack from enemy aircraft. HMS Diamond returned at 8.15am to rescue more survivors and at 9.16am the destroyer HMS Wryneck was ordered to join her in the rescue of the men in the water. At 9.25am HMS Diamond reported that she had picked up most of the survivors and was heading for Souda Bay but, when HMS Wryneck joined HMS Diamond at 11am both of the destroyers returned to SS Slamat where they found two more lifeboats and rescued their occupants. With SS Slamat on fire from stem to stern, she was scuttled by HMS Diamond with a single torpedo before the destroyer left the area with around 600 survivors on board. It is believed that Langton Montefiore was among those who were rescued from the water by the two destroyers.
At 1.15pm, a formation of Junkers 87 “Stuka” dive bombers attacked the two destroyers from out of the sun,with two bombs landing on HMS Diamond destroying her lifeboats and she sank eight minutes later. HMS Wryneck was hit by three bombs and sank ten to fifteen minutes later.
About 1,000 men were lost in the bombing of the three ships with only eight from the five hundred evacuees on board SS Slamat surviving the sinkings.
He is commemorated on the Athens Memorial Face 8.

Meyer, Edward Stirling, son of William Charles Bernhard Meyer MD FRCS and Alice Elizabeth Stirling, writer, d. of Col. Alexander Surlmg, Black Watch, of Perth; b. 8 Dec. 1920; adm. Sept. 1933 (KS); Capt. of the school 1938-9; left July 1939; Ch. Ch. Oxf., matric. 1939; Black Watch 1941-4 (Capt.), wounded, despatches (Middle East) Jan. 1944; killed in action (NW Europe) 1944.

Edward Stirling Meyer was born at Marylebone, London on the 8th of December 1920 the elder son of Dr William Charles Bernard Meyer BA MB Ch.B FRCS, a surgeon, and Alice Elizabeth (nee Stirling) Meyer MA, a writer, of 215, North End Road, West Kensington in London. He was educated at the Froebel Institute, Westminster and at Westminster School where he was admitted as a King’s Scholar from September 1933 to July 1939. He was awarded the Science VI Form Prize in 1936. He was a member of the Cricket XI in 1938 and 1939 and was a member of the Rowing VIII in 1939. He was a member of the Eton Fives team from 1937 and was a member of the First Pair in 1938 and 1939 and served on the Committee of the Debating Society in 1938. He was elected as Captain of Gym in 1938 and was a member of the Squash team in the same year. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1937. He was Captain of School from 1938 to 1939. He won the Westminster Scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford and matriculated in 1939. He did not complete his degree as he left the College for military service.
He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) on the 12th of March 1941 and was promoted to temporary Captain on the 13th of January 1944. He was wounded in the Middle East in 1943 and was Mentioned in Despatches for: -“Gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East”, which was announced by the War Office on the 13th of January 1944.
At 8am on the morning of the 10th of June 1944, the 7th Battalion, Black Watch arrived off the Normandy beaches at Courseulles-sur-Mer and began unloading at 6am the following morning. On the 20th of June 1944, the Battalion relieved the 3rd/7th Gordon Highlanders at the Bois de Bavent. They occupied the positions in the thick woodland where they were under sniper fire and they came under shell fire during the afternoon. The following day enemy patrols probed their positions and they were subjected to further shelling. On the 22nd of June, they came under heavy shell and mortar fire throughout the day and suffered casualties of two men killed and six wounded. On the 23rd of June, B Company was approached by an enemy tank which was repelled and later, the Regimental Aid Post received a direct hit from an enemy shell which killed three men. That afternoon Edward Meyer lead a patrol out towards the German lines to a position known as “Timber Post”, to the east of the Battalion’s positions, where he heard an enemy working party, but did not engage them before returning to the woods.
On the 26th of June 1944, the Battalion was relieved by the 7th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and was to move to Escoville. At noon, during the relief, heavy shelling and mortar fire fell on their positions and Edward Meyer was killed by the explosion of a mortar shell. Two other men were killed and four more were wounded.
The Westminster School magazine, The Elizabethan, wrote of him: - “He was a boy of all-round ability, and conspicuous among his qualities was the indomitable courage and determination by which he triumphed over an almost excessive natural shyness and over disappointments resulting from ailments and accidents. He was training for the medical profession, but threw it up to join the fighting services.”
He is buried at La Delivrande War Cemetery Plot V, Row A, Grave 6.

Edwards, John Oswald Valentine, brother of Edward Cecil Theodore Edwards (qv); b. 14 Feb. 1912; adm. Jan. 1926 (A), (B) Sept. 1926; left July 1930; Keble Coll. Oxf., matric. 1930, BA 1933, MA 1937; 2nd Lieut. E. Surrey Regt Jan. 1932, Lieut. Jan. 1935, Capt. Jan. 1940, attached Burma Defence Force; killed in action at Paungde, Burma, 10 Apr. 1942.

John Oswald Valentine Edwards was born at Oxford, Oxfordshire on the 14th of February 1912 the third and youngest son of the Reverend Robert Stephen Edwards, Vicar of Westcote Barton, and Anne Rosalie Tannatt (nee Pryce) Edwards of Westcote Barton, Rectory, later of 25, St Margaret’s Road, Oxford and of 56, Elsham Road, Kensington in London. He was christened at the Church of St Mary and St John, Cowley on the 9th of March 1912. He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford from May 1918 to 1919 and returned as a boarder from May 1922 to 1925. He went on to Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from January 1926 and up Busby’s from September 1926 to July 1930. He rowed for his House in 1928, winning House Colours the following year, and was a member of the 1st Rowing VIII in 1930 where he rowed at bow and won his School Colours in the same year. The Elizabethan wrote the following of his 1930 season: - “He carried out the rowing tradition of his family in spirit if not in bulk. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head coming forward, which is not good for breathing, nor for getting a swift beginning –and his finish tended to be awkward with the same hunch, but he was an effective oar through his good blade work, and his knowledge of how to drive.”
He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1930.
He matriculated for Keble College, Oxford in 1930 and was awarded a BA in 1933 and a MA in 1937. He rowed for his College while he was at Oxford, winning the Challenge Pairs with E.L. Dams in 1932. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant as a University Candidate on the General List on the 7th of July 1931. He was elected as a member of the London Rowing Club in 1932.
He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant to the East Surrey Regiment from the General List on the 28th of October 1933, with seniority from the 28th of January 1932. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 28th of January 1935. He served in India from 1935 to 1937 and then at Khartoum in the Sudan. He was seconded to the Burma Defence Force and was transferred to the Special Employed List. He served as the second in command of the Myitkyina Battalion, Burma Frontier Force from the 11th of July 1938 and was drafted to Rangoon where large scale riots were taking place that month. He was promoted to Captain on the 28th of January 1940.
Towards the end of 1940, the Regiment was reorganised and he was transferred to Frontier Force 2 (F.F.2), Burma Frontier Force. These were mobile detachments of troops made up of independent columns, which were to engage the enemy until such time as they could be joined by regular forces. F.F.2. was responsible for the defence of the Southern Tenasserim Coast and for special missions up to the border with Thailand. John Edwards was appointed to the command of No. 1 Column. In June 1941 and the unit began looking for a suitable base in the area of the village of Thawbawleik from which to operate. The new camp was constructed and when the men moved into it John Edwards and Captain Booker began a reconnaissance of the area, with John Edwards exploring the area on foot as far as the border with Thailand. In October 1941, the unit was relieved after which it spent its time watching the tracks into Burma in case of hostilities. At this time John Edwards and No. 1 Column were based at Lenya from where they reconnoitred the tracks which ran across the Thailand/Burma border. A short time later No. 1 Column received orders to move to Hnohng Hin where they were to demolish a bridge in the event of a Japanese invasion.
The Japanese invaded Burma on the 8th of December 1941 when John Edwards reported to Headquarters that he had seen unidentified aircraft flying high over the Maw Daung Pass. The following day he received orders to move to investigate reports of Japanese forces at Prachaub Khirikhan but was ordered not to engage with any enemy forces he found there. On the 10th of December the Columns were ordered to implement the destruction of the bridges as they had planned. No. 1 Column continued towards Prachaub Khirikhan and during the night of the 12th of December heavy firing was heard from the direction the Column had taken. A short while after this, two of Edward’s men arrived back at base to report that No. 1 Column had been attacked by a large number of Japanese troops and that there had been heavy casualties amongst the Burmese. By the 15th of December John Edwards and his remaining men were back at the main camp where he reported the loss of his wireless section, along with their messages and ciphers. It was decided to cancel the operation to destroy the bridges. On the 17th of December 1941, F.F.2 left the camp and on the 21st of December a patrol from the unit was sent to investigate reports of enemy landings at Bokpyin.
With the Japanese now arriving in Burma in strength it was decided to evacuate the Burmese troops from Mergui and to concentrate them at Tavoy. F.F.2 was to cover the evacuation. On the 19th of December it was decided that Tavoy was under such a threat from the advancing Japanese that the men would be evacuated to Rangoon instead. F.F.2 was evacuated between the 20th and 22nd of January 1942. When it reached Rangoon it was sent to Pyawbwe to reorganise.
Once they had rested, John Edwards was given command of No. 2 Column which was attached to the 17th Indian Division on the 10th of February where it began its new role as a Divisional Reconnaissance unit. It was to patrol the area between the road from Kyaikto to Thaton and on the coast from Kyaikto to a track running from Theinzeik to Kadaik as far as the Bilin River. It was also to support the coast watching detachments of the Burma Auxiliary Force and of the Burma Military Police and to report immediately of any Japanese landings. John Edwards had three platoons of the Burma Military Police under his command to assist with patrolling and with the general defence of the area.
On the 16th of February 1942, the Japanese began attacking the area of the Bilin River and on the 18th of February John Edwards was ordered to seek out the enemy and to attack them. By the following day the 17th Division had begun a general withdrawal and ordered F.F.2. to protect its northern flank while it did so. At 2.30pm on the 21st of February No. 2 Column was heavily engaged by enemy forces. In spite of reports that his unit had been surrounded, John Edwards managed to extricate his men and lead them towards the Sittang River, engaging enemy troops near Mokpalin on the way during which his Column became scattered. They rejoined the Division at Pegu where the Column commanders reported that their men were totally demoralised. The stragglers arrived at Pegu to rejoin the column over the next several days.
On the 10th of March 1942 he was at Tharawaddy when he and his remaining 90 men were merged with F.F.6. and were attached to the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment where they were to form a rearguard in defence of the Division’s continuing withdrawal. They followed the 17th Division’s withdrawal themselves during which time they ambushed a number of Japanese troops at Letpadan on the 18th of March causing heavy casualties amongst them. They rejoined the Division on the 30th of March at Prome. John Edwards was killed during a Japanese attack on the town of Paungde, just to the south of Prome.
A friend wrote: - “I always thought that Oswald was a great character and a most entertaining and interesting man, one of the few I really regarded as a friend. How well I remember his decided views on life and the arguments we used to have together!”
His brother, Wing Commander Edward Cecil Theodore Edwards OW, 53 Squadron, Royal Air Force, was killed in action on the 31st of August 1940.
He and his brother are commemorated on a stone in the churchyard at Westcote Barton and on the war memorials at the Dragon School and at Keble College, Oxford. He is also commemorated on the war memorial at the London Rowing Club.
He is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial Face 13.