Page 112 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

FOOTS CRAY MEMORIAL

FRANK ERIC BLAZIER Able Seaman, Royal Navy HMS Vervain
1923 -1945

Frank's parents, Eric Frank and Maud, lived on The Parade, North Cray. Frank married
Eileen Hills in the spring of 1944. Before volunteering for the Navy in 1940, Frank played
football for his employer's team and enjoyed an active life. His younger brother, Percy, was
in the Merchant Navy.

Frank was assigned to HMS Vervain. Early in 1942, the ship played an import part in
rescuing eight survivors from the British merchant vessel "Ramsay" which had been
torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. In November 1942, HMS
Vervain picked up 52 men from the American merchant ship Yaka, tragically torpedoed and
damaged by a German U-boat south-south-east of Cape Farewell. On 8th March 1943, HMS
Vervain picked up five survivors from the British merchant ship Fort Lamy which was
torpedoed and sunk at the end of February. The surviving men had been floating helplessly
in the sea for about twelve days before being rescued. It is not hard to imagine what relief
those unfortunate sailors felt when they were hauled on board, as well as sadness that they
had lost so many of their colleagues.

Frank must have had many such dramatic episodes as his ship sailed the dangerous seas
around the British coast. At 11.45 on 20th February 1945, HMS Vervain, which was
escorting a convoy in the Irish Sea, sustained a direct hit by a German U-Boat and was
sunk. The Commander, 30 Officers and 45 ratings were lost, including Frank. Three
officers and 30 ratings were fortunately rescued. Frank was a nephew of Frank Godley of
Sidcup who was the first non-commissioned officer to win the Victoria Cross during the
First World War.

In Memoriam: Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial

WALTER EDWARD BOWEN, Gunner, 64th Regiment, Royal Artillery
1903- 1944

Walter Bowen the son of William Bowen, (blacksmith) and joined the Army early in the War
and was assigned to the Royal Artillery. His regiment was stationed in the UK (Fulham,
London) until November 1942 when it was sent to Iraq and the Middle East. From 1943
Walter Bowen served with his Regiment in Italy.

The Italian Campaign On 3rd September 1943, the allies invaded the Italian mainland, the
invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on
the Allied side. Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat
became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive lies. Coriano
Ridge was the last important Ridge in the way of the Allied advance in the Adriatic sector in
the autumn of 1944. Its capture was the key to Rimini and eventually to the River Po.
German parachute and panzer troops, aided by bad weather, resisted all attacks on their
positions between 4th and 12th September 1944. During this intensive fighting Walter
Bowen was killed.

In Memoriam: Walter Bowen was buried in the Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, which
contains 1,939 commonwealth burials of the Second world War.

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