Monday 13 August 2012




To find details on Sunderland boxer Jack Casey please follow the link below:

Sunday 15 July 2012

The Red Duster


Mercantile Marine War Medal designed by Harold Stabler.

Awarded to those who had made a voyage through a war zone or danger zone during the 1914-1918 war. Approximately 133,000 Mercantile Marine War Medals were awarded.

The green, red and white ribbon colours symbolise navigation lights and was worn with the green furthest from the shoulder.



SS Caithness - 3rd May 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine U-52
Kenneth Noel French - Apprentice - Age 17
Born at Ryhope.
Son of John Watson French & Mary Alice French (nee Moffatt) 33 Chatsworth St., Sunderland.

SS Lowmount - 7th May 1917
Hit a mine laid by German submarine UC-70 on route to Stockton from Bilbao with a cargo of iron ore.
5 lives lost.
James Callan - Fireman - Age 33
Son of John Callan & the late Elizabeth Callan, 2 Arras Lane, Sunderland.

Joseph Harrison - Mess Room Steward - Age 20
Son of Simon and Barbara Harrison, 17 Burleigh St., Sunderland.

SS Farnham - 19th May 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine UB-50 on route to the Clyde from Bizerta with a cargo of iron ore.
17 lives lost.
Alfred Andrew Dunn - Second Engineer - Age 26
Born Sunderland.
Son of Charlotte Jefferson (formerly Dunn) & the late Coulson Dunn, 16 Valley Mount, Harrogate.

Thomas Purdy Newton - First Engineer - Age 57
Born Sunderland.
Husband of Lillie Newton, 11 Sydenham Terrace, Sunderland.

Charles Stoddart Westerby - Master - Age 47
Husband of Ann Ingham Westerby, 4 Ettrick Grove, Sunderland.

SS England - 23rd May 1917
Sunk by the German submarine U-65.
3 lives lost
Thomas Bonner - Fourth Engineer - Age 58
Born at Sunderland.
Husband of Mary Bonner, 20 Warkworth Avenue, Whitley Bay.

SS Highbury - 31st May 1917
Sunk by the German submarine U-82 on route to Birkenhead from Antofagasta with a cargo of nitrate.
40 lives lost.
Alfred Henderson Atkinson - Second Engineer - Age 26
Born Sunderland.
Son of Joseph Atkinson & the late Esther Atkinson (nee Fowler) 101 Hendon Rd., Sunderland.

SS Mavisbrook - 17th May 1918
Torpedoed by German submarine UB-50 on route Malta from Cardiff with a cargo of coal. 18 lives lost.
Charles Ernest Harrison - Second Engineer - Age 33
Born at Houghton-le-Spring.
Son of A. J. Harrison, 6 Featherstone St., Roker, Sunderland.

SS Manchester Miller - 5th June 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine U-66 on route to Manchester from Philadelphia.
8 lives lost.
George Albert Victor Taylor - Second Engineer - Age 28
Born Sunderland.
Son of Rachael & the late George Taylor.
Husband of Isabella Taylor (nee Lawther) 3 Cairo St., Sunderland.

SS Corinthia - 10th June 1917

Albert Edward Cummings - Apprentice - Age 16

Son of James William & Mary Lizzie Cummings, 8 Beatrice St., Sunderland.


SS Dart - 14th June 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine UC-47 on route to Garston from Huelva with a cargo of pyrites.
4 lives lost.
Samuel Armstrong Thompson - Third Engineer - Age 52
Born Sunderland.
Son of the late Capt. Samuel Wm. John & Margaret Ann Thompson.
Husband of Hannah Thompson (nee James) 2 Athol Park, Sunderland.

SS Stanhope - 17th June 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine UB-31 on route to Dunkirk from Barrow.
James Taylor Ashworth - Third Engineer - Age 28
Born Hartlepool.
Husband of Elizabeth Ashworth (nee Bower) 70 Kitchener St., Sunderland.

Eli Trenchard - Steward - Age 31
Born Sunderland.
Son of Eli and Elizabeth Trenchard, 188 North St., South Bank, Yorks.


SS Guildhall - 25th June 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine U-62 on route to Cardiff from Valencia.
12 lives lost.
Oliver Gaudie Colvin - Third Engineer - Age 24
Born Sunderland.
Son of Robert Anderson Colvin & Amelia Colvin, 7 Ann St., Sunderland.

SS Twilight - 28th June 1917
Thomas Reed - Second Engineer - Age 51
Son of John Carter Reed & Lucinda Reed, of Sunderland.
Husband of Anne Emma Florence Reed, 51 Penhcoad St., Grange, Cardiff.
Buried Dunkirk Town Cemetery
Grave Ref: I. E. 8

SS Dulwich - 10th June 1917
Hit a mine laid by German submarine UB-12 on route to London from Seaham with a cargo of coal.
5 lives lost.
John Butters - Fireman - Age 57
Born Sunderland.
Son of the late Henry & Jane Butters.
Husband of Mary Butters (nee Smith) 51 Cambridge St., South Shields.

William Hutching - Able Seaman – Age 28
Born Sunderland.
Son of the late William & Jane Hutching.
Husband of Dorothy Middleton Hutching (nee Bickford) 81 Coleridge Avenue, South Shields.

SS Goathland - 4th July 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine U-84 on route to the Gulf of Mexico from St. Nazaire. 
21 lives lost.
James Mordey - Apprentice - Age 16
Born Sunderland.

SS Bellucia - 7th July 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine.
Robert Stanley Bell - Third Engineer - Age 26
Born Silksworth.
Son of James Bell, 6 Edith St., Dawdon.

SS Calliope - 09th July 1917
Ernest James Lambton - Third Engineer - Age 22
Born at Seaham Harbour.
Son of Priscilla and the late George Lambton.
Husband of Sarah Ellen Lambton (Nee Nurse) 1 Church Rd., Hetton-le-Hole.


SS Eloby - 19th July 1917
Torpedoed by German submarine U-38.
156 lives lost.
William Cunningham - Carpenter - Age 61
Born Sunderland.
Son of the late William Cunningham.
Husband of Ruth Isabella Cunningham (nee Howie) 1 Banning St., Birkenhead.