I saw your web-site while doing a little research about my Dad. He was an ASDIC operator on the Gossamer, and survived the bombing in 1942. He was mentioned in despatches for saving the life of a crew member during the sinking of a ship – I’m almost certain it was the Gossamer. He was on the ship when she assisted the Edinburgh, and told tales of helping my uncle (who was an officer on the Edinburgh) onto the Gossamer. He also said that the heard the final torpedo through the earphones, as it missed the Gossamer by a fraction before hitting the Edinburgh. He told me that there was a print out of the sound of the torpedo, and he intended to keep it (to assist him as a raconteur) but lost it in the sinking. 

As an ASDIC operator he assisted in the sinking of a U-boat while on the Gossamer. (He told the tale of him and the depth charge layer tossing a coin for a Soviet medal which was awarded to the ship for the sinking of the U-Boat. Dad said he lost.) 

Dad died in 1992.  

His name was Colin Kennedy Page, 24/02/18 to 25/03/92. He joined the RN as a regular in 1936, and served until 1946 – when he left to go whaling in the south Atlantic.

Mark Page

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Webmaster: I gave Mark some details about his father's 'mention' (see below) and asked if there were any more recollections....

I don’t have too many facts and figures about Dad’s service (I have his Navy papers, still), just memories of him sitting at the tea table telling stories. However the stories mostly involved the ‘social’ side of the war. He was reticent about the actual fighting, and only had one or two accounts like the ones I mentioned to you. I guess he (like many I’ve read about) wanted to dwell on the positive sides of his wartime experience rather than the bad side of it. 

Only two vague recollections come to mind, only one of which may have been the Gossamer.

He kicked a live Mills bomb (which had fallen out of a mis-firing compressed air launcher) over the side and it exploded almost instantly. He wasn’t injured by the Mills bomb until 1975 when in his sleep he relived the experience and kicked the wall next to his bed. His foot and ankle swelled like a balloon and turned almost black up the calf. He was off work for weeks it was so bad. I can only imagine how close the shave was that 30 years on it could have that effect on him.  

He also spent some time on a MTB (I see from his Navy Papers that it might have been ML 132) in the channel towards the end of the battle of Britain. On this period he would not be drawn about the war, but rather told how Daphne Du Maurier would buy the crew drinks in a pub (I think it was Falmouth). Perhaps she bought them drinks as the commander was the grandson of Charles Dickens. Somehow he had become an Oerlikon gunner. Something dreadful happened in the Channel which he never talked about – even all my Mum knew was it was pretty awful. In that theatre I guess it’s pretty useless to speculate. Anyway the RN was very short of ASDIC operators and Dad was (metaphorically) dragged kicking and screaming back to his proper job. He tells me that on the next trip out the MTB didn’t come back, lost with all hands. (However I wonder if this is true or muddled up, as I see that there is a book available about MTB’s by Peter Dickens – wonder if it is the same chap.)

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Note: See photo of reunion on Gossamer Crew page