# Malta Convoy re M.V.Waimarama.



## allenr.

This is for the oldies amongst us and is from Mr.Pat Harris, one of the few
survivors of the sinking of the M.V. Waimarama. during the Malta convoy in
1942. This was one of the New Zealand Shipping Co's ships before they got
the big grey paint job. Pat would like to know if there are any old members and mates who are still alive?. This message was requested by my older brother who lives not far from Pat in the North of the South Island of N.Z.
My Brother Mick is an ex Seafairer from the Harrison Line 1947 onwards, hopefully he will be joining Ships nostalgia soon, meanwhile if there are any
replies, I would be happy to recieve them
thanks for any help, Rob Allen.


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## Brian Twyman

Rob
This is one query I really would love to be able to answer.

But will you please pass on to Mr. Pat Harris my sincere thanks for his courage and his service during those dark days. I am sure I speak for all SN members in wishing him well. (Thumb) 
Best Regards
Brian


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## Geoff_E

I believe the well known actor Frederick Treves was a cadet on the Waimarama, is he still alive? I tried searching in google but it only brought up references to his acting roles, no biographical details.
He was interviewed for the television do***entary on "Operation Pedestal" and proved a very moving witness to this proud event in the annals of the Merchant Navy.


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## allenr.

thank you Brian and Geoff, I will pass your replies back up north as soon as
possible, just as a matter of interest when my brother was on one of the
Harrison ships he sailed with an A.B. who was also one of the Survivors,
thanks again for getting in touch. Rob Allen. R623365


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## David Davies

*mv Waimarama*

The Waimarama I believe was one of Shaw Savill's "W" class and as far as I can remember was involved in another incident in 1939 as relayed to me by a reliable source in the late 40's who had been on board her at the time. On leaving Curacao she fell in with and engaged a German merchant ship with her DEMS armament resulting in the German ship being holed and run ashore.
The outcome was that the German government declared it as an act of piracy on the part of Waimarama and any of her people on board at that time would be treated as pirates if they fell into German hands and dealt with accordingly. This of course was at the begining of the war. The reaction of the British government was to withdraw all their discharge books and issue them with new ones with no mention of Waimarama. These are the facts as I remember being told, perhaps some one else may have knowledge of this incident as I've never found any reference to it else ware even in Shaw Savill's history.


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## allenr.

*M.V. Waimarama*

David Davies, Thank you for your reply, I will pass this infor on
as soon as possible
Kind regards. Rob Allen. R623365


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## sparkie2182

This is a transcript of an interview with a modest "Freddie Treves".

A man with little to be modest about............


http://www.secondworldwarforum.com/my-oral-history-archive/navy/freddie-treves/


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## Hugh Ferguson

Geoff_E said:


> I believe the well known actor Frederick Treves was a cadet on the Waimarama, is he still alive? I tried searching in google but it only brought up references to his acting roles, no biographical details.
> He was interviewed for the television do***entary on "Operation Pedestal" and proved a very moving witness to this proud event in the annals of the Merchant Navy.


 Freddie Treaves to the best of my knowledge is still around and was, and possibly still is, living in Wimbledon. He was 17 at the Pedestal Convoy time and I guess would now be about 82/83.
Waimerama was a Shaw Savill vessel, not N.Z.S..


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## Binnacle

David Davies said:


> The Waimarama I believe was one of Shaw Savill's "W" class and as far as I can remember was involved in another incident in 1939 as relayed to me by a reliable source in the late 40's who had been on board her at the time. On leaving Curacao she fell in with and engaged a German merchant ship with her DEMS armament resulting in the German ship being holed and run ashore.
> The outcome was that the German government declared it as an act of piracy on the part of Waimarama and any of her people on board at that time would be treated as pirates if they fell into German hands and dealt with accordingly. This of course was at the begining of the war. The reaction of the British government was to withdraw all their discharge books and issue them with new ones with no mention of Waimarama. These are the facts as I remember being told, perhaps some one else may have knowledge of this incident as I've never found any reference to it else ware even in Shaw Savill's history.


On the 21st. Nov. 39 the German blockade runner Adolf Woermann, 8577 tons, which was reported by the British steamship Waimarama
on 20th Nov., is found by HMS Nepune near Ascension on 22nd Nov. and scuttled by her crew. - Source J. Rohwer.
Adolph Woermann - 21/11/39 sighted by British steamer, found by cruiser H.M.S. Neptune, scuttled to avoid capture near Ascension Is. 
- Source R.W. Jordan.


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## barnsey

John Gregson who was on the Blue Funnel "Deucalion" is still alive here in new Zealand. He was awarded the "Albert Medal" which was redesignated the "George Medal". This was for saving the life of a gunner who was on the poop with him when the ship was hit and set on fire. He said he din't think he saved the blokes life, he was saving his own life and being a strong swimmer at the time towed him along as well ....

John was a Pilot at Tauranga and aboard the tankers here in NZ with Union SS Co. He always struck one as a fine quiet bloke with a very nice sense of humour.

His great friend was Dave Lochead also another "Malta Convoy" survivor. David was on the "Rochester Castle" which made it into Malta. Dave was Master on the "Amokura" and lived near us in Picton .... another fine fellow to sail with. Sadly he passed away a couple or so years ago from the Big "C".

"Rochester Castle" sailed for quite a while after the war .....


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## Hugh Ferguson

I have received a private message from a member giving me Freddie Treve's address, so I guess he is still around. Quite a few years ago Channel 4 produced a splendid hour long film of the Pedestal Convoy which featured several of the people who were there. Freddie was one of them, as was a radio officer from the Waimerama, Jack Jackson; the 4th mate of the Rochester Castle, the commanders of H.M.S. Ledbury & Bramham; the chief officer of the Brisbane Star; a gunner from the Ohio and others.
The film was particularly interesting as it included Italian footage. I made some copies and sent one to a onetime U.Boat officer I met and befriended in 1945. He described it as the "Odyssey" of all the great sea battles of W.W.2! 
The people I know who are still around from that event are, as Barnsey says, John Gregson, Bob Sanders (A.B. Brisbane Star) and possibly Jimmy Whadcoat of the Rochester Castle. Jimmy became a Trinity House Medway pilot.


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## Hugh Ferguson

I've written to Freddie Treves and will post here if/when he replies.


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## taffy1

hi all.
a bit off the thread i know,i sailed on the rocherster castle in 1967.she still bore her scars of that epic convoy.we had to chip and paint the bridge,and we were told by the mate, to be careful if we found any chart paper under the paint. which we did,being curious we found some chart paper which we removed. to find bullet holes. these were all over the bridge.the mate was not a happy chappy.we had to make repairs to our work, so that it would pass inspection. but it did explain to us why she leaked like a sieve.being the only ship i sailed on ,where you had to wear your oilskins when on the wheel, during wet weather. no matter where you stood you got a constant drip drip on you.
best wishes geoff


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## Hugh Ferguson

Hugh Ferguson said:


> I've written to Freddie Treves and will post here if/when he replies.


 My letter to Freddie Treves has not been replied to, nor has it been returned to me, so I can only presume that it was received and he did not wish to respond.


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## John.H.Clark

Lloyds dictionary gives some detail. Capt R.S.Pearce . 87 crew lost including all officers , 12 of the crew, 2 gunners and 4 naval ratings were saved. I reall the Operation Pedestal do***entary and the very moving account of the loss of one cadet by a surviving cadet, who I assume is Mr Treves


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## Hugh Ferguson

John.H.Clark said:


> Lloyds dictionary gives some detail. Capt R.S.Pearce . 87 crew lost including all officers , 12 of the crew, 2 gunners and 4 naval ratings were saved. I reall the Operation Pedestal do***entary and the very moving account of the loss of one cadet by a surviving cadet, who I assume is Mr Treves


 John, If the do***entary to which you refer was the one screened by Channel 4, the crew member Freddie Treves gave aid to was a radio officer, John Jackson. In the film Freddie was seen to break down as he evidently felt that he should not have swum away leaving Jacko (as he was called) to his fate. Freddie was aged 17 at the time and I'm sure he did everything that it was possible for a teenager to have done in those ghastly cir***stances.
Jacko did survive and, in the film, praised Freddie for what he had done.
Some little while after that film was shown on Channel 4 I called on a near neighbour of mine and during the course of our chat she mentioned having had an uncle in the M.N.. One's immediate reaction to that is an enquiry as to which company, and the inevitable result to that is that they never know (well, in my experience it is)! The name, John Jackson, rang a bell with me and as soon as I got back in the house I put the recording of the film on and had it confirmed that a radio officer in the Waimerama had been John Jackson.
I quickly rang my neighbour to tell her and she immediately came to see for herself if it was indeed her uncle.He was the self same Jacko and had I known that fifteen years earlier I could have met him on the last occasion he visited his niece-he had since died.
Shortly after that neighbour's visit I called, for the first time, on another neighbour and got the second surprise of that day-he had been a crew member of the aircraft carrier Indomitable in that same convoy! For a small village there are (and have been) some very interesting people to have got to know.


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## K Haseldine

*Waimarama*

I have been researching some of my family that emigrated from England to New Zealand and found that one of them married Gilbert Charles R Annetts who was 5th (engineer?) Officer on The Waimarama and killed along with so many others off Malta 13th Aug 1942 age 40.

There is a website where you can 'visit' memorials to service men killed in action, leave a message, flowers etc. Gilbert is listed there. 

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs&

Thank you all for sharing your memories.
Karen


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## R58484956

Greetings Karen and a warm welcome to SN, Happy new year to you and bon voyage.


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## K Haseldine

*The Quest for Malta - on tv*

I've just noticed a prgramme called 'The Quest for Malta' is going to be on channel 531 the Military channel on the Do***entary section on Sky in UK.

It's showing at 5pm and 11 pm on Saturday 3rd January 2009. The description of the programme says:

"In 1942, the small island of Malta found itself caught between the Axis and Allied forces and under heavy bombardment. Survivors and soldiers recall how the island held out against the odds."

It's short notice, but I daresay it will be repeated in the future, so look out for it.

Thank you for the welcome to a newcomer.

Karen


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## Cherie little

*Info re waimarama??or Arthur Little*

Hi I'm Cherie my grandfather was a survivor of the waimarama Iv also had a keen interest in my grandad however he struggled deeply to talk about the war only leaving me with very small snippets he lived a full long life sadly he passed but in his 90's


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## Mic Errington

Hi,
My father was one of the DEMs on the Rochester Castle on convoy to Malta.


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## sjwoodssigns

allenr. said:


> This is for the oldies amongst us and is from Mr.Pat Harris, one of the few
> survivors of the sinking of the M.V. Waimarama. during the Malta convoy in
> 1942. This was one of the New Zealand Shipping Co's ships before they got
> the big grey paint job. Pat would like to know if there are any old members and mates who are still alive?. This message was requested by my older brother who lives not far from Pat in the North of the South Island of N.Z.
> My Brother Mick is an ex Seafairer from the Harrison Line 1947 onwards, hopefully he will be joining Ships nostalgia soon, meanwhile if there are any
> replies, I would be happy to recieve them
> thanks for any help, Rob Allen.





allenr. said:


> This is for the oldies amongst us and is from Mr.Pat Harris, one of the few
> survivors of the sinking of the M.V. Waimarama. during the Malta convoy in
> 1942. This was one of the New Zealand Shipping Co's ships before they got
> the big grey paint job. Pat would like to know if there are any old members and mates who are still alive?. This message was requested by my older brother who lives not far from Pat in the North of the South Island of N.Z.
> My Brother Mick is an ex Seafairer from the Harrison Line 1947 onwards, hopefully he will be joining Ships nostalgia soon, meanwhile if there are any
> replies, I would be happy to recieve them
> thanks for any help, Rob Allen.


This is the son of FRANCIS JOSEPH WOODS, i found out later after my father passed doing some research on his merchant seamans ships & sinkings that JOE was a survivor on the WAIMARAMA going into MALTA on that unbelievable day in August. Luckily like a few he was picked up by H M S LEDBURY & taken into Velletta habour
if there is any other merchant men alive or relivetives please contact me, STEPHEN WOODS , son of JOE, second cook on board.


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