In Remembrance Of Those Of Our Families Who Did Not Return From Wartime Service In The Armed Forces
More details of those who served will be added as and when discovered through family history research. The author would be grateful to hear of any details (and corrections or comments) you have in addition to what is mentioned below.
World War Two
Killed on Active Service
Alfred Smith Park, Able Seaman (RN), HMS Tynwald, torpedoed 12th November 1942.
Alfred was the first husband of Mary (Maisie) Smart, daughter of Mary McKay of Lockers, granddaughter to George McKay. Alfred and Maisie married in 1940. Maisie is pictured in the McKay family group photograph seen from the link to the right of this page. They had one son, Alistair, born 1941. (Maisie subsequently married Hendry Wilson, also seen in that photograph).
HMS Tynwald trained in anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare off Mull (at ToberMory), December 1941. It was involved in Naval operations connected with the expedition to North Africa in 1942 in a vast armada necessary to carry and escort the assault and support troops through waters where a formidable concentration of U-boats were assembled. There were difficulties of manœuvring large numbers of vessels in the Straits of Gibraltar and in the approaches to the landing beaches without lights and with no moon, and the troops had to be landed on a potentially hostile shore dead on time and possibly also in the face of submarine, surface and air attacks by the Axis forces.
In the early morning of 12 November, HMS Tynwald (Capt. (retired) Philip George Wodehouse, DSO, RN) was at short notice, ready to sail from 0445 hrs onwards, in the expectation of an Axis air raid at dawn. She was anchored next to sister ship HMS Roberts. HMS Tynwald was hit by 2 torpedoes fired by Italian submarine Argo (Lt. Pasquale Gigli) and settled rapidly in 7 metres of water with 10 dead. Survivors were rescued by HMS Roberts and corvette HMS Samphire.
As a very interesting and important footnote, Alfred’s brother-in-law (Maisie’s brother) Charlie Smart was also involved in this story as he was on board the Tynwald or a sister ship which was also torpedoed in the same action. Happily Charlie was rescued after some time in the oily water, and lived on until well after the war ended (year to be confirmed).
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Alfred Thomson McKay, Flying Officer, RAFVR, shot down 1944, Holland.
Alfred went to Florida and trained as a Pilot, but subsequently posted to Canada (Saskatchewan) for Navigator training early in the war. He served in Malta, North Africa, and Italy.
He was Navigator and crew member on a Lancaster Bomber from 12 Squadron, when it was shot down and crashed into a river near the town of Asten killing all six crew on April 27, 1944. The history surrounding the aircraft and the crash have been penned in a Dutch book of wartime events, called ‘Night Flight over the Peel’, which has been translated into English by a Dutch student for the McKays. There is also a page dedicated to Alfred on this website with a little more information.
It has been said that Lancaster Bomber aircrew life expectation after becoming operational in the early years of the war, was just 2 weeks. Brave men indeed.
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Stephen McKay 2875660 Lance Corporal 2nd Bn., Gordon Highlanders, attached to the Corps of Military Police
Stephen’s father was Frank McKay, son of George McKay of Lockers. He enlisted in the Gordons August 1940, posted to the Corps of Military Police 5 September 1941. Stephen was killed whilst on motor cycle patrol at Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, Malaya ). He died on Sunday 11 January 1942. Age 27.
Additional information: Resident of 36 Old Rd., Huntly, Aberdeenshire.
Burial Cemetery: TAIPING WAR CEMETERY, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.
Grave/Memorial Reference: 1. H. 11.
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