New information and photographs of HMS Venomous and HMS Hecla

A HARD FOUGHT SHIP

The story of HMS Venomous

I would rate this as being up in the same class as ‘The Cruel Sea’ for a picture of small ship life in World War 2.
Cdr Alastair Wilson RN (Ret) writing in the Naval Review

What's New
If you have photographs, letters home, a diary or a journal of a family member
who served on HMS Venomous please get in touch.

Bill Forster, Holywell House Publishing

Family stories about HMS Venomous

The son of AB Harold Knapton who took the Dutch lifeboat Zeemanshoop to Ramsgate after the 46 refugees from the Netherlands transferred to Venomous collected six copies of the book from our "office" in Holywell Hill, St Albans, and will be sending details of his father's service career for the web site. The daughters of Eric Pountney, the wireless operator on Venomous from 1939 to October 1943, have sent me their father's service record and some wonderful wartime photographs taken aboard the ship. If you have stories to tell - or photographs to scan - do get in touch

Paul Herrington's father served on HMS Witherington, one of the 69 V & W Class destroyers, identical sister ships of Venomous. Paul has the ship's bell and named his house Witherington and received a copy as a Christmas gift from his wife. Some of the photographs taken by Lt Peter Kershaw RNVR on Venomous between 1939-41 appear on this web site as well as in the book. After the war he named several of the tied houses owned by the family brewery after the ships on which he served. Sadly - but sensibly - non were named after HMS Venomous.

When the balloon went up ...

As Venomous left Cherbourg at dawn on the 10 May she received the all-Fleet broadcast that Germany had invaded France and the low countries. The dramatic events of the next four weeks make this one of the most exciting chapters in A Hard Fought Ship.

Dutch lifeboat crammed with Jewish refugees

Dutch lifeboat crammed with Jewish refugees

Venomous spent the first week off the Dutch coast. On the 15 May Lt Peter Kershaw RNVR photographed an overcrowded lifeboat, the Zeemanshoop, full of refugees (left) many of them Jewish, and the Dutch tug Atjeh carrying Cdr Goodenough's demolition team.

On the 21 May Venomous saved vital equipment from Calais and brought back nurses and employees of Courtauld's factory including 16 year old John Esslemont and his father.

On the 22 May she escorted the cross channel ferries taking the Welsh and Irish Guards to defend Boulogne and left the harbour with its decks crowded with children and nuns . Peter Kershaw photographed the extraordinary scene.

Venomous returned to Boulogne the following day with six other V & Ws to bring the troops back while fighting off air attacks and German tanks. Lt Cdr Colin G.W. Donald RN, a young officer on Venomous in 1926-8, commanded HMS Vimy. This was his first and last command.

There was no respite, between the 31 May and the 4 June Venomous made five trips to the beaches and North Mole of Dunkirk and brought 4,410 troops.

The detailed description of these events are told first hand by the men aboard Venomous and illustrated with their photographs in A Hard Fought Ship which can be bought on this web site post free.

In memory of those who died when HMS Hecla sank on Armistice Day 1942
HMS Marne torpedoed

There were 799 ratings and 39 officers aboard the destroyer depot ship, HMS Hecla, when it was torpedoed off the coast of Morocco on 11 November 1942, Armistice Day.

556 were rescued, twelve killed and 273 reported "missing presumed killed". HMS Marne rescued 64 before a torpedo blew off its stern (left) but the vast majority, 493, were saved by HMS Venomous despite having to break off its rescue to attack the German U-boat.

The description of that long night in A Hard Fought Ship is the most detailed yet written and will probably never be superseded. The photographs of Lt Leslie Eaton and AB Cyril Hely on Venomous and the paintings of Herbert McWilliams, done within a week of his rescue, are combined with memories of the officers and men on Venomous and the stories told by the survivors of HMS Hecla. These include Herbert McWilliams, Fred Lemberg, Norman Johns, George Male, Edward Coleman, Les Rowles, Fred Woods and Greg Clarke.

But you can Find out more about HMS Hecla in Iceland and South Africa and read the stories of survivors received since publication. The unsung hero of that long night was Warrant Officer H.J.B. Button DSM RN, the Anti Submarine Boatswain on HMS Venomous. For the full story Read the Book.

The Battle of the Atlantic

Homer McPhee

On the 18 December 1940 Venomous became part of the First Escort Group at Londonderry escorting the convoys which kept Britain from being starved into submission. Some of the men on Venomous met their wives at Londonderry and their children still live in the town. After refuelling at Iceland Venomous occasionally rejoined the convoys and continued to Halifax in Nova Scotia.

The protection of these convoys by Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy escorts created a link between Canada and Northern Ireland which is still maintained today. Members of the Nova Scotia Naval Officers' Association (NSNOA) were amongst the Canadian naval veterans who made a pilgrimage to Londonderry on the 6 - 8 May and on the 18 June Captain John Rodgaard USN (Ret) spoke about his book on HMS Venomous at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax. HMCS Sackville, the last of the 120 Canadian built corvettes which escorted convoys to Londonderry, is preserved in Halifax as Canada's Naval Memorial.

Lt Homer McPhee RN (1919-2006) on left, a popular Canadian officer on HMS Venomous in 1941, transferred to the RCN after the war and retired as its longest serving officer. He shared a cabin with Sub Lt John Tucker RNR (1920-2011) on the right who died on the 25 January this year. His description of the convoy system was invaluable. The daughter of Lt Cdr Angus Mackenzie RNR (below) lives in Halifax and his ashes were scattered in Bedford Basin where the convoys assembled.

HMS Venomous remained an Atlantic escort until April 1942 interrupted by major repairs after detonating a mine in Liverpool bay on New Year's Eve 1940 and repairs and refit after a collision with the flotilla leader, HMS Keppel, in November 1941.

"Bloodie" Mackenzie
Angus Mackenzie and John McBeath

Lt Angus A Mackenzie RNR was “No. 1” on HMS Venomous to Lt Cdr John McBeath RN in May 1940 (Mackenzie is on the left with McBeath on the right in Lt Peter Kershaw's photograph). He was an outspoken officer known by his fellow officers as “Bloodie” Mackenzie but John McBeath recognised his seamanship and powers of leadership.

Venomous evacuated the Welsh and Irish Guards from Boulogne and helped bring back the BEF from Dunkirk and Mackenzie was twice Mentioned in Dispatches (MID) and promoted to Lt Cdr before leaving Venomous to take command of HMS Vimiera in February 1941.

A Hard Fought Ship covers the ten months he served on Venomous but his daughter, Sheena Mackenzie, has helped me give on this web site a more rounded picture of the wartime service and post-war business career of an extraordinary man.

The man in the green beret
Sydney Compston (1939)

Sydney Compston volunteered for the Royal Navy in November 1939 and was accepted just before he received his call-up papers for the local infantry regiment. After initial training at HMS Drake in Devonport, Plymouth, he was posted to HMS Venomous and remained aboard until its refit at Troon following the collision with HMS Keppel in December 1941. He was aboard during the action at Boulogne when Venomous evacuated the Welsh and Irish Guards on the 23 May 1940 and on the five trips Venomous made to the north Mole and beaches at Dunkirk where from his post at B Gun he saw General Alexander, the commanding officer of the BEF, on the open bridge.

Sydney's memory of his time on Venomous was exceptionally good and he made a very significant contribution to the new edition of A Hard Fought Ship. He described the fitting of ASDIC during the refit at Portsmouth in 1940 and contrasted this modern technology to detect U-boats with the cutlasses which in the tradition of Nelson's navy were stored ready for use. His name crops up repeatedly in the index and he recalled many incidents for the book and the names of shipmates for adding to the list of ratings.

For Sydney Venomous was only the prelude to an exciting war and he turned up at the book launch wearing the green beret of the Royal Navy Commandos.

Venomous as a Mediterranean escort 1942-3
Jack Bolton AB/ST

I occasionaly receive orders for A Hard Fought Ship from relatives of the men who served on HMS Venomous and this often leads to new information about events described in the book.

Ray Bolton bought a copy for his father, Jack Bolton (on right), who is now 88 but was only 19 when he joined HMS Venomous at Londonderry in June 1942. Linda Atkinson bought the book for her uncle, Chris Hargreaves, the youngest brother of Bob Hargreaves (left) who joined Venomous at Troon in March of 1942. Sadly, Bob died a few months ago but Chris has recalled some of the stories he told during his final illness.

I have drawn on their memories, photographs and service records to give some new details about events described in the book including the rescue of Hecla survivors, a case of cannibalism and the landings on Sicily.

From the Arctic to Alexandria

David Hoggins, Gunlayer 3rd Class

David Hoggins at the Hecla, Marne & Venomous Association fiftieth anniversary reunion in 1992

After the collision with HMS Keppel in November 1941 Venomous was towed to Troon on the west coast of Scotland for repair and a major refit during which most of its officers and crew were replaced. Only Cdr Hugh Falcon-Steward RN, its CO, and a few of its senior POs and the RDF operator, Fred Thomas, remained from its first wartime commission. Its second commission which began in April 1942 would take it from Murmansk in Arctic Russia to Alexandria in Egypt and only ended, "its engine shot", at Falmouth in October 1943.

David Hoggins was 19 years old when he joined HMS Venomous at Troon as a gun layer at the start of its second commission in April 1942. An exciting eighteen months lay ahead during which Venomous would rescue several hundred men from the destroyer depot ship, HMS Hecla, when it was torpedoed off the coast of North Africa.

David told the story of his wartime service on Venomous to his son Paul who accompanied him to the fifitieth anniversary reunion of the survivors of the Hecla at Stratford in 1992 (on right). Paul sent me the wartime photographs of his shipmates which accompany his father's memories of his time on Venomous on this web site.

"Paint ship" - artists at sea

Lt Herbert Hastings McWilliams SANF, 1944

The names of five marine artists are associated with HMS Venomous. Only one AB Robert T. Back (right) served on the ship and, sadly, non of his paintings of Venomous have been traced but he is perhaps the best known today - but not for his wartime pictures.

In my view the most talented of the five was the South African, Lt Herbert H. McWilliams SANF (left) who was taking passage on HMS Hecla to Algiers when it was torpedoed and he was rescued by Venomous. His paintings of Hecla sinking done within days of his rescue on the back of old charts are now in the Imperial War Museum, London.

LSA Donald Preece was also on Hecla but died that night. His shipmates commissioned his cartoons of Navy life and sent them home with letters to their families. Lt C.R.V. Holt RNVR was serving on HMS Velox, a sister ship of Venomous, when he drew the amusing but accurate caricature of Venomous in June 1943 and signed it with his initial CRVH. Cdr Eric E.C. Tufnell RN was commissioned by Lt Cdr Angus A Mackenzie RNR to paint four of the five ship on which he served: HMS Hood, HMS Venomous, HMS Liddesdale and HMS Undaunted. The exception being HMS Vimiera which sank in the Thames estuary after detonating a mine with heavy loss of life (Mackenzie was one of fourteen survivors).

The photographs in A Hard Fought Ship

“The book is copiously illustrated, some from the IWM, but the great majority being “snaps” taken by members of her crew – I always thought that such photographs were forbidden (I dare say they were, but . . . ). And where did the film come from? No matter, they add immeasurably to the book and with the participants own words bring back the Navy of 70 years ago. In fact, I would rate this as being up in the same class as ‘The Cruel Sea’ for a picture of small ship life in World War 2.”

From the review of A Hard Fought Ship by Alastair Wilson Commander RN (retired) in the Naval Review

The taking of photographs was indeed strictly forbidden but the rules were not enforced, at least on Venomous, and the officers were generally the worst offenders. We have about 300 photographs taken on the ship and 170 are in the book. They were taken by Lt Peter Kershaw RNVR (1939-41), AB “Freddo” Thomas, the RDF operator (1940-3), Lt Leslie Eaton (1942-3), AB Cyril Hely (1942-3) and others.

Frederick Norman Gwyn Thomas, "Freddo", joined Venomous in August 1940 and is now 90. He had an Ensign box camera and "had a good friend on board who had exactly the same camera as mine. All the snapshots of me were taken by him." He had his film developed and printed ashore. They were told never to photograph the RDF aerial, guns or torpedoe launcher and all photographs were to be shown to an officer and stamped on the reverse. Neither rule was strictly enforced. Freddo remember how on one occasion he left an envelope of photographs with an officer and it was returned unoppened.

Since publication many more photographs have been lent for scanning including photographs taken by Cyril Hely, whose wife gave him a camera on his 21st birthday shortly before he joined Venomous, and George Wilson, the ASDIC operator on Venomous when HMS Hecla was torpedoed..

HMS "Verminous"
Lt C.R.V. Holt RNVR

David Durell was one year old when his father Lt Cdr Henry Dumaresq Durell was killed along with most of the ship's company when HMS Isis hit a mine off the Normandy beaches on the 20 July1944.

As Lt Henry D. Durell (left) he was CO of HMS Venomous from February to October 1943 but we had no photographs of him in the book which was already with the designer. The memorial to HMS Isis in Portsmouth cathedral led to the HMS Isis Survivors Association and via a member to David Durell and his wife Penny in a remote part of South West Ireland without broadband.

The amusing light hearted sketch of HMS "Verminous" was presented to his father in June 1943 and Penny arranged for a photographer friend, Sue Money, to take a brilliant high resolution colour photograph and e-mail it to me over her broadband connection. Penny identified the artist (right) and traced his family. See the painting and read the story behind it.

HMS Venomous in the Mediterranean, 1923-9
Venomous was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1923 and Valletta became its home port for the next six years. On the 2 November 1924 as Venomous entered the Grand Harbour after a cruise in the Western Mediterranean “she rammed and sank a motorboat from the Caledon Class light cruiser, HMS Calypso. Fortunately, all hands were saved from the warm waters” (A Hard Fought Ship, page 50). The unexpected outcome of this narrowly averted tragedy are still felt today. Read the full story.

Since publication of A Hard Fought Ship we have been contacted by the son of Lt Cdr Colin G.W. Donald RN who as a young officer on HMS Venomous in 1926-8 kept a Diary which together with his photographs sheds fresh light on what it was like to be an officer aboard a V&W Class destroyer in peacetime. His son, Frank Donald, tells his father's story.

TS Venomous
HMS Venomous was finally broken up for scrap at Charlestown on the Firth of Forth in 1948 but its name has been kept alive by the Sea Cadet Unit in Loughborough, TS Venomous, which received its commissioning pennant that year. Bob Moore, co-author of A Hard Fought Ship, was the CO of TS Venomous for 13 years from 1990 to 2003.