大象传媒

This is a testament to my Great Uncle Ivor Alexander who was lost at sea at the age of 21 on June 8th 1940 after the ship he was serving on, the HMS Juniper was engaged and sunk by enemy battleships.
Raised in the coal mining town of Selston, Nottinghamshire, in March 1940 he would find himself aboard the minesweeper/anti-submarine vessel HMS Juniper (Pennant No T123) serving as Ordinary Seaman Ivor Alexander LT/JX 179311.
The ship, purposeley built for the Royal Navy in 1939 by Messrs Ferguson Brothers in Glasgow was based on traditional fishing trawler designs which were readily available at that time but fitted out accordingly to meet the needs for its war time uses. The Juniper was one of twenty vessels built at that time known as 'Tree Class' after being named after varieties of trees.
Launched in December 1939 and commisioned in March 1940, it had a speed of 12 knots and was armed with one 4 inch gun and a number of smaller weapons.
At sea, the cramped conditions would be alien for the 35 man crew, a trawler would normally be the working place for a handfull of seasoned fishermen,and would be very uncomfortable in a heavy storm. This would be particularly hard on men like Ivor who had no experience with a peace time fishing fleet and no concept of life at sea. These small ships would ride the waves, rather than push a path through like larger vessels and would make the simplest of tasks almost impossible in a heavy swell.
And so, between 5th-8th June 1940, Operation Alphabet would see the evacuation of British and Allied Forces from Norway.
On 7th June 1940, The Juniper, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Seymour Grenfell RN, sailed from Tromso, far north of Narvik, escorting the 5600 ton tanker SS Oilpioneer. At dawn next day she sighted heavy warships and wirelessed an urgent signal on reporting her discovery. Then ordering the tanker to sail independently, she hoisted her battle flags and bravely sailed in to challenge the big ships. Back came the reply that she was the British cruiser Southampton. But she was not, in fact she was the Admiral Hipper (18200 Ton, 1600 crew) accompanied by the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and 4 destroyers. The Hippers heavy guns proceeded to blast Juniper (505 Ton, 35 crew) out of the water. Only 4 crew from the Juniper were pulled from the water, along with 25 from the tanker, to spend the rest of the war in POW camps.
As a footnote, this was small fry to what the enemy ships were to inflict on the Royal Navy. On the same afternoon the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst would meet up and sink the Aircraft Carrier HMS Glorious including its defending destroyers Acasta and Ardent with the loss of over 1500 lives.
The only personal information I have is a photograph of Ivor in his naval uniform and a letter written from aboard ship to his sister (my grandmother) on 22nd April 1940 some 6 weeks prior to that fateful day.
There is no mention in the letter of the danger that must have been constantly present in everyones thoughts, in fact he manages to mention what a 'swell' time they were having. His main concern was not for himself but that for his mothers welfare.
From a single letter and a photograph, I have spent many hours researching to put this story together so that his name and his brave and selfless actions will never be forgotten. This story is for everyone who have similar tales to relate and for my children and their children who should not be allowed to forget the sacrifices men and women of past generations did to give them the lives they lead today.

I would be particulary interested to contact any relatives of the crew of the Juniper and to those who may have information as to the fate of the 4 survivors. I believe that captured Navy personnel were taken to German POW camps known as Marlag.

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