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you have a comment, story,
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site, please email comments@kgva.org and
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addresses will not be passed
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| Hi,
I have just started to
research my late fathers
service history and I believe
he was part of the ships
company during the sinking of
the Bismark and was wondering
if anyone remembers William
(Bill) Kinsella.
Unfortunately I do not have
any other history at the
moment other than he was in
the navy with my mothers
brother who was Bill Davies
from Bristol. My father was
origonally from Southern
Ireland with family
connections in Bridgend in
South Wales.
Regards
Len Chappell
(My father passed away in
1967).
|
Dear
friends
By chance I 'googled' through
the internet and found your
association.
My grandfather, Commander
Harmsen (Royal Ducth Navy)
was commanding officer of the
Dutch destroyer Isaac Sweers
during WW 2. In that capacity
he served for some time in
the British Home Fleet and
met also the Commander in
Chief (Admiral Tovey) and KG
5's Captain (Patterson). We
still have a picture of their
encounter on the compass
platform of the battleship.
My grandfather told me once
that he spend several times
at the KG 5 and enjoyed the
friendly environment there.
The Isaac Sweers was
torpedoed in 1943 near Malta;
my grandfather survived this
event because he had just got
an other assigment.
I hope some of the
'survivors' of KG 5 will read
this and accept Dutch
appreciation for the
wonderful work ship and crew
made during the war.
Hans Moerkerk
Amsterdam The Netherlands.
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| Received
from George & Muriel on
17 July 2011 Dear
friends of the KGV, My
name is George Haynes. I
appear to be the last member
in Australia of the original crew
that commissioned KGV 71
years ago this coming
October. I
wonder how many are left in
UK - 2 names come to mind -
Douglas Turtle and Harold
Thompson. I
left the ship in 1943 only to
rejoin her in 1944 to come
out to the BPF. I left the RN in
1948 and completed my time in
the RFR. I settled in
Australia in 1949. We
had our own branch of the KGV
association for about 10
Years. Unfortunately Anno
Domini has been catching up
with us and only 6 of us
remain. If
anyone would care to drop me
an E-Mail or even snail mail
I would be pleased to hear
from them. GeorgeMuriel@bigpond.com.au or 39
John Miller Street, Ryde,2112
N.S.W. Australia.
Best wishes, George
Haynes.
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| By email
from George and Muriel Looking
for information re 2010
reunion at Portsmouth.
Seeking information regarding
ex KGV member Percy Akers as we
didn't hear from him at
Christmas. George
Haynes formerly treasurer KGV
association Australia.
Best wishes to
all my old shipmates in UK.
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Statement
by Hon Secretary and Hon
Treasurer
following
the passing of the resolution
to wind-up the KGVA at
mid-day 12 September after
Church parade
and during
the 6 months closure process
leading to the demise of the
Association
and the
birth of 'Friends of HMS KING
GEORGE V.'
Click on
the flag below to read their
letter
and
the Vice
President's note.
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| Received from
Sarah on 21 March 2010 My name is Sarah
and i am sorry to say i have
almost no info at all :(
I am looking
for info about my grandad and
all i know is he served on
this ship, i dont have an
exact date; all i know is it
would of been late 40's into
the 50's at some point.I
really hope someone can help
me i would be so very
greatful.
His details
are
Name: Robert
John Alty (everyone who knew
him would call him bob or
bobby)
DOB: 2nd
April 1931
He lived in
liverpool from the day he was
born onwards. I have a photo
of him from the late 50's if
that would jog anyones
memories but iam not sure how
to post pics on this site yet
so forgive me for not doing
so but i would be happy to
email it to anyone who would
like to take a look.
.jpg)
I am also
happy to give my email out.
sarah24484@hotmail.com
I hope to
hear news of any sort soon,
thank you for reading this.
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| Received
from Tony Dennis on 21 Jan
2010 I
am the son of a veteran of
HMS King George V. My
father joined her in
1943. After the war, Dad
married and left the UK to
settle in Australia, where we
all live. Dad says he has
never been the returned
services club type, but over
the years we have heard many,
many stories of his
experiences serving on HMS
King George V, and he is
obviously quite proud of his
service. Just the other
day I did a little research
on the net and found some
info about operations she
completed and Dad was eagerly
pointing to each one, and I'm
sure it bought a lot of
memories back for him. The
reason I am writing is, I
wonder if any of you have any
photos of the ship, and of
her crew, and if so would be
willing to send some on for
me to show him. My Dad was
relatively young, being just
18 years old in 1943 and he
is now going on 86, and quite
frail. He has just lost his
wife, my Mother before
Christmas. I have been around
to see him almost daily, and
after showing him the info I
collected saw his spirits
rise a bit for the first time
in weeks. I'll tell you his
name in case anyone remembers
him, and would like to send a
cheerio. He is Able Seaman
Peter James Dennis. I will
take just a moment to
let you know that because of
Dad's service, I have the
deepest respect for the
sacrifice that all you
wonderful veterans made to
secure us the
freedom that so many seem to
take for granted these days.
I wish you all the best, and
hope to hear from you soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Antony James Dennis.
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| Received
from Don Boyer in Hawaii on
12 Nov 09 To all
who served aboard HMS King
George V:
The two 1/350
models of these two fine
ships I have been
working on are now
complete and awaiting the
glazier finishing my case
glass. Having
served together in the
Pacific in late 1945, they
are painted as they appeared
around August 11,
1945 as they both
refueled from the tanker
USS Sabine. They would
both be enroute to Tokyo a
few days later. My
thanks to those of you who
came forward with information
on King George V's service in
the Pacific. Fair
winds and following seas,
Respectfully, Don G.
Boyer
Haleiwa, Hawaii
I thought you
might appreciate a couple of
photographs.
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| Received
from Andrew Pannell on 10
November 2009 WAR DIARIES OF
DAVID JOHN PANNELL (b. 10th
February 1926)
Mess 29 (Boys)
HMS King George V
FOREWORD
'I David
Pannell joined HMS King
George V just before my 17th
birthday, February 1943 at
Scarpa Flow in the Orkney
Islands.
Within days we sailed in
support of a Russian Convoy,
the main threat being the
German pocket-battleship
Scharnhorst and the much more
powerful Tirpitz, both known
to be harbouring in Norway.'
© Andrew Pannell ©
To read the complete
transcript click here
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|
| Recieved
from Jill Gould in reply to
Phil Stephenson Hi
Phil,
I am
also searching for
information about my
grandfather, who served as a
stoker on HMS King George V
in WW2. He died in 1998, and
left me with a shipping
pennant which I can
photograph for you if you
like. Your great grandfather
was probably my
granddad’s boss! I have
a local newspaper article and
photo of my granddad from D
day…in the article he
describes a memorable event
in which he gave a small girl
some biscuits. Sorry
I’m not exactly helpful
but I thought you would like
to know you aren’t alone
in your search! I would love
to discover some photos of my
granddad from those days.
Good luck in your search and
if you want me to scan the
newspaper article and
photograph the shipping
pennant I will.
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|
| Received
from Don Boyer in Hawaii on
10 Sept 09 To all you sailors
and gentlemen who served
aboard HMS King George V,
fair winds and following
seas.
My name is
Don Boyer, a naval historian
living in Hawaii. I am
currently finishing
a set of the 1/350
scale Tamiya King George
V and USS Missouri to be
cased together, commemorating
their bombardment
operations in
July-August of 1945 off the
coast of Japan. I have
both ships painted in the
schemes they carried at the
time, and they make
quite a nice display
together. I don't think
any modelers have put these
two together before, although
you can find thousands
of individual ones online, of
course. I've always
thought this would be a good
display as the shore
bombardment of the coast of
Japan in which they both
participated was the last
gunfire action of WWII for
both ships.
I am also
looking for some information
your organization may be able
to provide:
1.
I understand that British
vessels serving in the
Pacific carried a
non-standard set
of Pennant Numbers and I
am looking to find the number
carried by the King George V
in late 1945. I have
not been able to track down
the number in any of the
naval ship forums yet.
2.
I have also been trying
to track down any photographs
from 11 August 1945 when both
ships refuelled from the
oiler USS Sabine enroute to
Tokyo Bay for the surrender
ceremonies and occupation of
Japan. I have only
found one photo of the two
ships steaming
together on 16
August 1945 in Larry
Sowinski's "Action in
the Pacific," p.
191. The photograph was
taken from the deck of the
American carrier Bon Homme
Richard (CV-31), a ship I
would serve on some 22
years later.
If anyone
knows this information, or
can point me in the right
direction, I would be
delighted to hear from you,
as I can add that information
to the nameplate on my model
case.
When
completed, I will send a
photograph of the cased set.
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| Received
from Len Chester 5 Sept 09 Just seen the site,
I didn't know there was an
association. I was one of the
2 Royal Marine Boy Buglers on
board from 1942 until we paid
off in Gladstone Dock in
1944. I have written and had
published a book "Bugle
Boy" (available in
bookshops) where I mentioned
many occasions on KG V, with
photographs. I am now 84
years old living in
Tavistock, Devon. Best wishes
to any who remember the
Arctic convoys and the
Mediterannean.
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| Received
from Richard Holden on 20
July 09 Hello all from the
KGV
I found
this website by accident,
more photos of the boat would
be appreciated. Just to let
everyone know my name is
richard john holden, ex
soldier, 41 years old living
in the philippines. I am
currently building a 1/72
scale king george V
battleship, 10 feet 3 inches
long... and bloody heavy!!
construction is all wood and
carved by hand... if anyone
is interested with pictures,
please dont hesitate to email
me at trafalgarart@hotmail.com the KGV is not
finished yet, but looks a
good shape.
many thanks
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| Received
from Phil Stephenson on 3
July 09 Hello
all,
I'm looking for any
information on my great
grandfather Alfred Steel
Myers who was a Chief
Stoker on board KGV
between 40-42 and then 43-44.
He unfortunately died in the
60's and apart from his
service record we know very
little about what he was
doing.
If any one knew him, has any
information or pictures that
I could look through to try
and pick him out I'd be most
grateful.
Regards
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| Received
from George and Muriel on 23
May 09 Hi
there shipmates.
I served in KGV
from commissioning in 1940
to1943.Then from 1944 to
1946. I would like to
send my best wishes to all my
old shipmates especially
Peter Glaysher, Doug Turtle
and, Bas Richards. We are
getting rather thin on the
ground out here but we keep
in touch. Best
wishes for your coming
reunion.
George Haynes
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| Received
from Ken & Marilyn
Blackman on 14 Feb 2009. I am
approaching the age of 70 now
but I distinctly remember
going to Portsmouth to meet
my brother, Ron Blackman
(Junior Seaman Gunner), when
the ship returned from the
Pacific in March 1946. As a
youngster of 6 1/2 years I
remember being taken,
together with my mother and
father, to his Mess where
everything gleamed from what
must have been hours of
polishing. My mother was
totally in awe as we could
have as much sugar in our tea
as we liked after years of
rationing and my father, an
ex submariner, couldn't get
over the comfort of the Mess!
My brother had managed to
bring home some strange
yellow fruit, later
identified as bananas, which
I remember being shared with
all our neighbours at home. I
myself joined the RN in 1955
and served till 1983 and then
another 9 years in the RAN.
Still my favourite ship I
would just like to say hello
to all the Members and to
wish them well from
Australia.
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Received
from Raymond Bushell on 17
Jan 2009.
MY FATHER
DOUGLAS CHARLES BUSHELL
SERVED ON THE KGV IN WW2.
DAD DIED IN
1963 AND I HAVE VERY
LITTLE INFORMATION
PERTAINING TO HIS SERVICE
DURIND THE WAR. IF
ANYONE CAN REMEMBER HIM
OR HAS ANY INFORMATION, I
WOULD BE MOST PLEASED TO
HEAR FROM THEM.
Received
from Diane Bushell on 3 Apr
09
'My Grandfather served
on this ship and died in
1963. He also witnessed
the sinking of the Bismark.
My fathers name is Robert
Stuart Bushell,could you
possibly be related as I
know my Dads father was
twice married?'
Received
from Raymond on 13 Apr 09
THIS
IS MOST INTERESTING AS I
KNOW MY FATHER WAS
MARRIED TWICE, DURING HIS
IST MARRAGE HE LIVED
EITHER IN DAGENHAM OR SW
LONDON, RING ANY BELLS?
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You can read
the Summer 2009 Newsletter by
clicking on the image of
its front
page below.
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