Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
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104367
Samuel William Clark
Royal Navy HMS Eagle
from:Southwark
My grandad, Samuel Clark, joined the Navy in 1940. He trained at HMS Collingwood naval base and I have inherited a group photo taken at Collingwood.
Whilst serving on HMS Eagle (an aircraft carrier ship) in the Med, the ship was torpedoed by the German U-73 submarine and sank within 6 minutes. Sam dived off and managed to stay afloat until rescued (there were two rescue boats - British escort destroyer HMS Laforey and the tug HMS Jaunty - and they managed to rescue over 900 men. 158 men were lost at sea.) Grandad was one of the lucky ones that day. He used to love to tell how he was stranded at sea with sharks swimming around him for several hours!