The Hamilton Advertiser of 13th May 1942 told of how a few local men were saved from a sunken ship in WW2. Thank you to Wilma Bolton for sharing here.
“LETTERS were received on Wednesday conveying the glad tidings that, after some weeks on anxiety, three local young men who were on the cruiser “Edinburgh” when it was lost were safe.
The men from whom the cheerful news was received are:—
Gunner Hilbert Young, son of Mrs Isabella Young, widow, 4 Priestfield Road, High Blantyre;
Gunner Archibald Robertson, Bruce Terrace, Low Blantyre (lately with the Hamilton Advertiser,) and
Thomas Corstorphine, whose home is also in the old Blantyre Village.
Mrs Young has seven sons in uniform, truly a great record. Two of her sons (Jack and James) are in the police force in New Zealand; Alexander is in the New Zealand Expeditionary force and in now in the Middle East; Arthur is in the R.A.M.C. and also in the Middle East; Herbert is in the Royal Navy, which he joined three years ago; Edwin, under 16 years of age, is in training in the Army Cadet Corps.
Mrs Young’s two sons, Jack and James left their homeland fifteen years ago and settled in N.Z. Later they sent for two of their sisters, who went into domestic service, and some time afterwards the father along with Alexander, joined the members of his family abroad. Mrs Young and the remaining members of her family intended to follow and had made arrangements to do so, but circumstances intervened which made their reunion with the family impossible. Mr Young died five years ago.”
Pictured is the HMS Edinburgh, the cruiser lost in 1942.
On social media:
Jane Johnstone And unfortunately off the coast of Lagos , Nigeria my mum lost her first husband, Jim Thomson from Halfway on a Merchant Navy vessel. She was only married for two weeks……1942.
“I read with interest your article on the men from Blantyre who were saved from the HMS Edinburgh. My father’s brother, Edward (Eddie) was also on the Edinburgh. He told me the story of that fateful day on my last visit with him before he died in Canada.
He was 16 when he joined the navy after his father and mother , Catherine and James, died within months of each other in 1939. They all lived in Blantyre.Regards, Kate Corstorphine Spinelli”