My father, Cecil William (Bill)
Burn - shown seated in photo - served as an Engine Room Artificer
on the Halcyon Class minesweeper HMS
Sharpshooter from November 1941 to December 1946. He died in 1975. I knew little of the
exploits of his ship and decided to find out more. In early 2003 while
searching the internet for information
I came across similar enquiries made by 'Bubbles' (Kathryn Venn) whose father
(Reuben Bradley) had also served on board at the same time.
We made contact with each other
and
shared information. We soon discovered a photo of the ship's company which
showed both of our fathers. The successful sharing of information encouraged
me to start carrying out more research into Sharpshooter's history, starting
at the National Archive but then exploring the Imperial War Museum and the
National Maritime Museum.
It soon became clear that the
nature of the Halcyon minesweepers' work meant that they often worked together
in Flotillas and the histories of each ship were closely intertwined. While carrying out my own research I was starting to build up a parallel body
of information about Sharpshooter's sister ships. It was also clear from the
internet that a number of other
people were trying to find out more about their relatives who had served on
these other Halcyon Class ships.
I decided to set up this site in
order to share all the information I had found with relatives and anyone else
interested in the often gallant history of these small ships. I also
wanted to give others an opportunity to contribute information to the site,
especially about their
relatives, creating a fitting memorial to their memory.
Although I will continue
to add information as I come across it, the
further development of the site depends on information from others to bring it to life so please
if
you have any
information you think could add to the site, please
contact me.
Bill Burn
Aylesbury, April 2006
