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Introduction

On 5 April 1945, only a few weeks before the end of the Second World War, the SS Gasray (London) was sunk by the Germans in the North Sea with the loss of 8 lives. One of the Allied seafarers who died that day was Robert Atkinson from South Shields.

This article has been written largely based on information supplied by Robert's daughter Diane, and her husband Tom Coyne. For a time, Mrs Joyce Atkinson, Diane's mother had problems being recognised by the authorities as Robert's widow. This seems to have been due to a combination of restricting information about the sinking of Merchant vessels and some of the official records being incomplete or incorrect.

The information in this article about the SS Gasray has been cross checked with what some other sources suggest. These are credited at the end of the article.

1941 wedding

On 15 September 1941 Robert Atkinson married Joyce Williamson at the Anglican Church of St Mary, Tyne Dock in the County Borough of South Shields. Robert was 20 years old and Joyce was only slightly younger at 19 years of age. Robert lived at 23 Hope Street, South Shields and Joyce lived at 94 Bede Street, South Shields.

The wedding was conducted by the Curate of St Mary's, the Reverend Harold V. Chisholm. Robert and Joyce's wedding was registered as Entry No 435 in the Parish Register. According to the Marriage Certificate, the witnesses at the wedding were two friends: Stephen Wood and Wilhelmina Carr.

Robert's parents were Robert (Senior) and Elizabeth Atkinson, although Robert (Senior) was already deceased in September 1941. After the wedding, Joyce became Robert's next of kin. On 26 September Robert's change in details, including the change of his registered home address to Bede Street was registered by the Mercantile Marine Office at South Shields. A copy of the photograph of Robert from these 1941 documents is attached with this article.

Twelve months later, on 29 September 1942 Robert and Joyce’s first child, a daughter called Ann, was born. Tragically, Ann died of meningitis in April 1943. However, in 1945 when Robert was at sea on what turned out to be his last journey he had only recently learnt the good news that Joyce was expecting their second child. This meant that Diane was born after her father died at sea. For some reason Joyce initially had problems being recognised as Robert‘s widow, but fortunately with the marriage and seamen’s records Joyce eventually proved that she was Robert's 'Next of Kin'.

Sinking of the SS Gasray

Although Robert's relations knew that the SS Gasray was sunk about 2 miles off St Abb's Head on 5 April 1945, they did not know the exact circumstances of its sinking. According to some people, the vessel was sunk a German aircraft while others have said it was sunk by a German submarine. There are websites on the Internet that give conflicting information about how the Gasray was sunk (see below). Having checked these and some other accounts, it is possible that what may have happened is that the Gasray was firstly sighted by a German aeroplane, which then relayed co-ordinates to a submarine, and it was the submarine that actually sunk the Gasray.

Even the websites that state the Gasray was sunk by German submarine do not concur with the specific U-Boat that fired the torpedo. For example, one source states that the Gasray was sunk by U-2321 while a second source states that it was sunk by the U-978. As can be seen, without checking the official German records about their submarines, or possibly the records held by the National Archives, it is difficult to determine the full truth of the matter, at least for this article.

Nevertheless, many of the facts about the sinking of the SS Gasray are undisputed, which are given here. At the time it was sunk, the SS Gasray was carrying a cargo of ballast between Grangemouth and Blyth, Northumberland. With a tonnage of 1.406, the vessel was originally launched as the War Char and completed in September 1919, taking the name Whitworth. After several changes of name and ownership the vessel became the Gasray in 1940. In 1945 its owners were Comben Longstaff and Co Ltd, London.

On 5 April 1945, there were 24 on board the SS Gasray: the Master, R.E. Baker, 17 other crewmen and 6 gunners. Of the 24 on board, 6 crewmen and 2 gunners lost their lives, with the others were picked up either by the St Abb's lifeboat or the Clova, a British coaster. Unfortunately, one of those who lost their lives was Robert Atkinson from South Shields.

Remembering those lost at sea

Because Diane was born in 1945 she has no personal memories of her father. As stated above, Diane's mother Joyce had problems in being recognised as Robert's widow. Indeed, at the time of writing this article (September 2005) the official Commonwealth War Graves Commission record still does not list Robert's next of kin. In most cases, I have found the CWGC records are generally correct, although in some instances the details are incomplete, as in Robert's case.

As someone lost at sea and with no known grave, Robert Atkinson is commemorated on Panel 51 of the World War Two extension of the Tower Hill Memorial, London. Robert was still only aged 23 when he died and is listed as a Fireman. He is one of almost 24, 000 seamen from the Second World War who are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial. It can be found near the Tower of London.

For those relatives and friends of those lost at sea with no known grave, the Tower Hill Memorial provides a lasting memorial to their memory. However, more personal memories about loved ones lost at sea in the World Wars have been remembered and passed on to younger family members. So, Robert's sacrifice in the service of his country is still remembered by his family. Hopefully, this article will assist in recognising Robert’s sacrifice.

Conclusion

To confirm the actual details of how the SS Gasray was sunk requires checking with what is recorded in the official archives. Suffice to say for the purposes of this article that the basic facts are that it was sunk in the early evening of 5 April 1945 with the loss of 8 lives, including Robert Atkinson. I would like to dedicate this article to their memory.

I would like to thank Diane and Tom Coyne, daughter and son-in-law respectively of Robert Atkinson for providing most of the information contained in this article. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge the Internet websites listed below as additional sources of information.

Acknowledgements to websites consulted for this article:
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