|
Worked
on ships’ companies |
Albert
William Farndale 30 June 1920 Lineage not identified
FAR00866
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Headlines of Albert Farndale’s life are
in brown.
Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Context and local history are in purple.
Geographical
context is in green.
Guisborough
1920
Albert W Farndale, MSN Farndale, was born in Guisborough District in the third quarter
of 1920 (GRO Vol 9D Page 1034).
1921
1921 Census – An unidentified
establishment at Guisborough. This may have been the Guisborough Poor Law
Institution.
Albert William Farndale, born Guisborough, inmate, 1 year
old, both parents alive
At
sea
1941
In 1941 he was assistant steward on The British Zeal, bound
for New York. He had served for 3 years at sea, and was 5 ft 9.5 inches tall,
and 137 lbs weight.
1943
In 1943 and 1944 Albert W Farndale, 23, travelled to New
York on the Queen Elizabeth
|
1943 |
British, Assistant
Engineer Steward, 6 years service |
Queen Elizabeth |
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5 August 1943 |
British, Assistant
Engineer Steward |
Queen Elizabeth |
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1944 |
England, Assistant
Steward, 23, born in Guisborough,
living in Rugby |
SS Queen Elizabeth |
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|
24 April 1944 |
British. Arrived
in New York from the Port of Middlesbrough.
Assistant Steward. |
Empire Law |
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1944 |
England |
Rangitiki |
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15 June 1944 |
British |
Rangitiki |
1944 on the SS Rangitiki:
At the start of the Second World War, it was
decided that Queen Elizabeth was so vital to the war effort that she must not
have her movements tracked by German spies operating in the Clydebank area. An
elaborate ruse suggested to any German observers that she would sail to
Southampton to complete her fitting-out. Another factor prompting the ship’s
departure was the necessity to clear the fitting-out berth at the shipyard for
the battleship HMS Duke of York, for final fitting-out, as only it could
accommodate the King George V-class battleships
By the beginning of March 1940, Queen
Elizabeth was ready to move; the ship had been fuelled, and adjustments to her
compass were made, along with some final testing of equipment. The Cunard
colours were painted over with battleship grey, and on the morning of 3 March,
the ship quietly left her moorings in the Clyde and proceeded out of the river,
where she was met by a King's Messenger, who presented sealed orders directly
to the captain.
They were to take the ship directly to New
York, in the neutral United States, not to stop or even slow to drop off the
Southampton harbour pilot who had embarked on at Clydebank, and to maintain
strict radio silence. Later that day, when she was due to arrive at
Southampton, the city was bombed by the Luftwaffe.
Queen Elizabeth zigzagged across the Atlantic
to elude German U-boats and took six days to reach New York at an average speed
of 26 knots. There she found herself moored alongside both Queen Mary and the
French Line's Normandie, the only time the world's three largest ocean liners
were ever berthed together.[16] Captain Townley received two telegrams on his
arrival, one from his wife, and the other from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
thanking him for the vessel's safe delivery. The ship was then secured so that
no one could board her without prior permission, including port officials.
Queen Elizabeth left the port of New York on
13 November 1940, for Singapore to receive her troopship conversion. After two
stops to refuel and replenish her stores in Trinidad and Cape Town, she arrived
in Singapore's naval docks, where she was fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and
her hull repainted grey.
Queen Elizabeth left Singapore on 11 February,
and on 23 February 1942, secretly arrived in Esquimalt, British Columbia,
Canada. She underwent refit work in drydock adding accommodation and armaments,
and three hundred naval ratings quickly painted the hull. In mid-March,
carrying 8,000 American soldiers, Queen Elizabeth began a 7,700-mile voyage
from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. She then carried Australian troops to
theatres of operation in Asia and Africa. After 1942, the two Queens were
relocated to the North Atlantic for the transportation of American troops to
Europe. Their high speeds allowed them to outrun hazards, principally German
U-boats, usually allowing them to travel outside a convoy and without escort. Nevertheless,
Queen Elizabeth was the target of U-704, which fired four torpedoes at her on 9
November 1942. The commander, Horst Wilhelm Kessler, heard a detonation and
Nazi radio propaganda claimed she was sunk. In reality, one of the torpedoes
detonated prematurely and the ship was unharmed.
Queen Elizabeth as a troopship in World War 2
During her war service Queen Elizabeth carried
more than 750,000 troops, and sailed some 500,000 miles (800,000 km).
1952
On 28 June 1952 he arrived at Brownsville, Texas from
Wellington, NZ. He was second steward on the ship’s company on the Lumen.
1958
There is an article
about Albert William Farndale in the Hull Daily Mail on 30 August and 24
September 1958. He was then 38 and an unemployed seaman.
County
Durham
1961
Albert Farndale, married Elizabeth Mortimer in the first
quarter of 1961 (age 41) at Durham SE
District (MR).