231817 Stkr. Godfrey "Taffy" Williams Royal Navy HMS Dorsetshire My Grandfather Godfrey Williams served as a stoker on the , he was there when she sank. He had very fond memories of his time serving on board, he had attributes to the drinking of rum as saving his life. He said that just as the sirens started blaring, and everyone leaped and ran to their stations, he stopped back and nicked his friend's tot of rum - just ahead of him, his friend got caught in an explosion. If he hadn't stopped, he would have been killed too.
He was also fond of telling me that in one of the photos of when the crew were plucking Bismarck survivors from the sea, that it was his feet that you can see in the top corner of the photo (I don't know if this is true or not, but I like to think it is)! He made friends with one of the survivors he helped pull from the sea, a gentleman named Otto, and they remained in contact after the war.
He died some years ago now, but his memory and influence live on.
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