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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: cathyaus on Friday 22 August 14 16:34 BST (UK)
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Can someone please help with some research that I am doing for Ordinary Seaman Michael John Joseph Reed-Lethbridge P/JX 368196.
He died on 1 August, 1943 & is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial Panel 76. (which I have found a photo of).
Need some assistance with Royal Navy - H.M.M.G.B. 657 - can someone please explain is this the name of the vessel he was on & any idea what happened on 1 August, 1943 & was this an enemy attack on a boat or did Michael Reed-Lethbridge die of other causes ??
Thanks
Cathy
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Hi Cathy,
it is the Motor Gun Boat 657,
I will try to find out more.
Regards
Rudolf
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Some info here:
http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/17193.html
Mined off Rimini, 12th September 1944
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On operations off Sicily around that time
http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3420&page=4
"20th MGB Flotilla
MGB 657, MGB 658, MGB 659, MGB 660, MGB 662
14/7/43 MGB 659 and MGB 662 escort Ulster Monarch and Tetcott, with a special reconnaisance column embarked, into Augusta Harbour Sicily. MGB 659 runs aground 600 yds from an enemy held fort. Whilst stranded, MGB 659 claims a Fw190 aircraft shot down. MGB 659 is towed off by a destroyer on the following day.
26-27/7/43 MGB 657, MGB 658 and 659, bombard the railway station and sidings at Taormina, Sicily.
1943 Raids with French commandos in the Tyrrhenian Sea"
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Hi Cathy,
As Rudolf has said above, the vessel in question is the HM Motor Gun Boat 657.
From what I can tell from piecing bits together is that MGB 657 was probably in the Mediterranean off Sicily & may have been involved in the the invasion of Sicily, which took place at the beginning of August 1943.
Incidentally the MGB 657 was sunk off Italy in the Adriatic Sea on 12th September 1944.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
David
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Killed in action per this inscription http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=56704221&PIpi=24307841
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Hi Cathy,
there is no known grave for him.
"Killed in Action - Buried at Sea - Aged 19 Years"
The Mediterranean Sea.
MGB 657, is a Motor Gun Boat, Fairmile D (MGB) type, 20th MGB Flotilla.
There are two books (658 is the sister boat):
- Reynolds, Leonard C. Motor Gunboat 658: The Small Boat War in the Mediterranean 1955/2002. ISBN 0-304-36183-6
- Reynolds, Leonard C. Dog Boats at War: Royal Navy D Class MTBs and MGBs, 1939-1945. 2000. ISBN 978-0-7509-1443-7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairmile_D_motor_torpedo_boat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairmile_D_motor_torpedo_boat)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Gun_Boat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Gun_Boat)
May be a helpful forum:
http://cfv.org.uk/forum/search.php?keywords=MGB+657&sid=d7d0cd46ee10eafade52e7b45f26c579 (http://cfv.org.uk/forum/search.php?keywords=MGB+657&sid=d7d0cd46ee10eafade52e7b45f26c579)
Rudolf
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Thanks to everyone who replied :)
I guess there was no major incident on that day that would be the cause of Ordinary Seaman Reed-Lethbridge's death.
Cathy
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Hi cathyaus, You may not believe this, but my dad Richard Newton served on MGB 657 and was very badly wounded on the same night as Mr Reed-Lethbridge was killed, (if my memory serves me right 31/07/ - 01/08/1943). My dad thought they were had been attacked by German flack ships, but after some research I found out that it was German e-boats. My Dad was taking ammunition to the 6 pounder gun when he was singled out by a German machine gunner, and that was the end of his time on 657. He recovered and went on to serve on ML 919 in the European theatre. I have quiet a bit of information on this if you would like to email me. (*)
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My father in law, Robert James Tinsley, served on this ship until it was mined. He is 89 now and living in a nursing home in Weston super Mare. I would be very interested in any details of crew members or photographs.
I have ordered two books by Leonard Reynolds which should give me a good start.
Simon
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Dear Cathy,
I attach some notes on the ship, but nothing on August 1943
Lt Cdr John Douglas Maitland RCNVR
DSC & Bar, Croix de Guerre avec Palme, Mentioned in Despatches
1916 - 1997
Much of this is based on an article written by Heather Dickson (Maitland), his daughter.
JDM commanded the 56th MGB/MTB Flotilla in the Adriatic from 1942 to 1944. It was based on various ports, at Bastia, Brindisi, Komiza and Ancona.
The 56th Flotilla had a distinctive Canadian character despite being part of the Royal Navy. He is best known as one of the famous “Three Musketeers” (the others being Lt Cdr Cornelius “Corny” Burke and Lt Tom Ladner) who commanded Fairmile D motor gun boats in the Adriatic.
The boats themselves were of wooden construction, 115 ft long, with a draught of 4.5 feet (three times the length but with less draught than the yacht your Chief skippers). They had two Packard engines, max speed 29 knots (33 mph) and range 500 miles (three return crossings of the English Channel), so needed frequent refueling. Your Chief has briefly served on a vessel of similar size (though much slower) and can assure you that they are very cramped with a crew of 30.
His own command from 1943 was MGB 657, ordered on 18 Nov 1941, built by Woodnutt & Co. Ltd. St Helens, Isle of Wight, but only commissioned on 9 February 1943. She was damaged by a mine on 12 September 1944 and declared a total loss.