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This story is contributed by David Robert Griffiths the son of Petty Officer Morgan Griffiths, RN who is now sadly deceased.
David Griffiths is fully aware of the terms and conditions of the website.

I am the son of P.O. Morgan Griffiths. After the war my father, who has now passed away, told us a little of what happened to him during those grim times. I am finding out more since he has gone, about his war exploits and what these brave men had done.

In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, as a small boy of three years, the first memory I have of my father is seeing a tall, dark, good-looking man in a Royal Navy uniform, home for a short period of shore leave before returning to his duties, leaving behind another increase in our family. My mother, now over 90 years of age, always said father was a good ‘producer’. They eventually had 9 children (6 boys and 3 girls)!

Dad was posted aboard the minesweeper HMS Bramble on escort duty to the North Russia seas, supporting merchant ships and their precious cargo from England to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel. The treacherous voyage would take about two weeks in convoy. They fought their way through enduring harsh cold weather, gales, rough seas and ice.

The British convoys were under almost constant attack from German U-Boats, surface ships and, when visibility permitted, aircraft. It was during one of these convoys, (JW51B), that on 31st December, 1942, both HMS Bramble and HMS Achates were sunk by the German cruiser the Admiral Hipper, accompanied by two Maasz class destroyers, the Friedrich Eckholdt and the Richard Bielzen. The complete crew of the Bramble, comprising 121 officers and men, were lost.

My father was able to tell me about this, as he was one of the lucky sailors posted off the ship only two days before the ill-fated trip. My father hardly spoke of the war years, but around Christmas time he would mention and remember with pride the Bramble and all the shipmates he had lost. His words have never been forgotten, and over sixty years on we still light a candle in memory of the heroes that were lost.

As the years go by I have been trying to get in touch with as many families as possible of the Bramble’s sailors, to reunite them so that they can learn more about the loved ones they lost, and the shipmates they sailed with, also a little about the gallant minesweeper Bramble.

I would gladly share the information I have. Many a good seaman lost their lives during the war years. The survivors, relatives and I will never forget them.

David Robert Griffiths.

There are more stories about HMS Bramble and HMS Achates. see titles: ‘The Loss of HMS Achates’ ‘Russian Convoy JW51B, OFFICIAL REPORT’, and ‘HMS Onslow on Russian Convoy’

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