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John Alexander was born in Hull in 1913 off Walcott Street on Hessle Road; he attended Constable Street School and (like most school leavers down Hessle road) went to sea on the trawlers, serving as a Fireman/trimmer. He married a Hessle road girl, Julia Arthur, in 1937 and they moved to Gipsyville.

As war broke out and recruitment for the Merchant navy got underway family legend has it that John went to Sea on the toss of a coin between himself and another man, John won the toss and joined the Merchant Navy as a Fireman/trimmer and the other man continued on the trawlers on the home front.

It’s not known which vessel he first served on but the first one which he is documented for (from the Registry of Shipping and Seamen) was the American vessel DOMINO. He then joined in turn the JERSEY as a Donkeyman/Greaser in February 1941 and then the VOL TURNO in January 1942 transferring to the KELSO in May of that year. It was on the KELSO that on 8th August 1942 the Halifax/UK convoy SC94 he was part of was attacked, the KELSO was sunk by U176; John was shipwrecked and lucky to be alive as the KELSO was carrying some 2000 tons of ammunition. He was picked up within 24 hours and returned to the UK. His wage slip for that date shows he was paid up until the day he was torpedoed only!

John returned to Hull and his wife to recuperate, he was uninjured, and it was on 23rd September 1942 that he joined the SS NEWTON PINE (Cardiff) and set sail on 3rd Oct from Loch Ewe as part of convoy ONS 136 bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. She Lost contact with the convoy in a storm and on 15 October, alone and making only 8 knots, was sighted and sunk by U-410, according to the log of U-410 the captain of the U Boat could not obtain from the 25 — 30 survivors in lifeboats the name of the vessel but further research has shown that the vessel probably was the NEWTON PINE. The vessel was recorded as lost with all hands on 16th October 1942. Perhaps John managed to get into a lifeboat only to perish with his crewmates in the Atlantic or perhaps he went down with the ship, sadly he never knew that he had left his wife pregnant with his only child, a son. Johns widow Julia received notification of his presumed loss and this was published in the Hull Daily Mail dated 17/12/1942.

He was awarded the following medals; 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Africa Star and the War Medal. Like many thousands of Merchant Seamen John was awarded his medals posthumously. John’s name along with a short citation is recorded at the Tower Hill Memorial in London.

John’s wife Julia continued to raise their son, also named John, she eventually re-married some 12 years later, outliving her second husband who died in the late 1960’s she continued to periodically mourn for John, her first husband and probably one true love and, in a fit of depression one day burnt almost all photographs and letters pertaining to him.

My Grandma would only rarely be drawn on my Grandfather and what he was like and what happened to him during the war as it was too upsetting for her and so it was only after her death that I was able to conduct my research and quiz my Father as to what she had told him about the Father he never met.

My own research has revealed that we have several photographs of my Grandfather which were long thought lost and a precious letter from him to my Grandmother when he was on board the KELSO docked in Egypt.

There was never a street memorial to my Grandfather, unlike a lot of streets in Hull who had lost residents and piecing together my grandfather’s war work and subsequent death has been a long and arduous process so I feel that I must document him for his memory.

Lee Alexander
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Originally submitted to www.hullwebs.co.uk
Transcribed by Alan Brigham

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