|
|
|
HMS Copra
HMS Copra was a Royal Navy shorebase located in London, Southend and Largs. It was an administration depot handling the pay and records for Combined Operations personnel. It closed in early 1947.
30th Aug 1943 Accomodation
3rd Aug 1944 Reorganisation
Accomodation
Oct 1945 Reorganisation
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
|
Those known to have sailed in HMS Copra during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Barwell Alwyn David. AB.
- Barwick Ernest Ralph. Able Sea.
- Basey Charles Edward.
- Bird Arthur John. Sgt.
- Brown Peter George. PO. (d.14th Apr 1946)
- Chapman Raymond Dennis. Ldg Wireman.
- Clark Stanley. Ord.Tel.
- Daw William John. Cpl. (d.21st July 1944)
- Eccles John Alan. Stokr1.
- Formby Frederick. AB. (d.-)
- Guy William. Marine
- Hadley Ivan Eric. Ord.Sea.
- Hardwick Allan Robert.
- Harrison Edward William. Marine
- Hill John William. Stkr.
- Honeywood Douglas Alan. AB. (d.17th June 1944)
- Huxtable Cyril.
- Ings James. Ldg.Sea.
- Killelay Eric. LSea.
- Love Ernest Victor. ERM4.
- Love Gilbert. Seaman.
- McLean John. Able Sea.
- Parkes Samuel Isaiah. AB.
- Potten George Edward. Sea.
- Redhead William Thomas. Able Sea.
- Rowlands William.
- Stevens Charles Edward.
- Stevenson Alec.
- Thomas David Glynn. Capt. (d.25th June 1944)
- Venn Henry Albert. Lt. (d.6th June 1944)
- Vowell Maurice Lewis Hemming. Sgt.
- White Victor Noel. PO.
- Wilby Leonard. Able Sea.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
Records of HMS Copra from other sources.
|
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 22nd April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263973 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
- Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please read our Family History FAQ's
- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
|
We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates.
If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page.
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
Want to know more about HMS Copra? There are:4 items tagged HMS Copra available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
|
Cpl. William John Daw HMS Copra (d.21st July 1944) William Daw was killed in action 21st July 1944, aged 32. He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial in Kent.
He was the son of Jubilee John and Alice Clifford Daw, husband of Constance Daw. of Tonbridge, Kent.
|
Stokr1. John Alan Eccles HMS Copra My uncle John Eccles was killed during the D-Day landings.
|
Able Sea. John McLean HMS Quebec My father, John McLean voluntarily enlisted in the Royal Navy on Thursday 14th of November 1940.
My mother relayed a funny story and said that my father left home early in the morning on the 14th to go to get some milk from a local shop and didn't return until early evening. When my mother, who was obviously upset, asked him where he had been, he proudly told her he had enlisted in the Navy and would be leaving the next day.
His service record shows that his first posting was at HMS Collingwood followed by HMS Pembroke, Northney, Quebec and HMS Copra and was released from service in January 1946. I have little information about my father's service as he passed away in 1955 when I was only 9 years old.
My mother told me that my father had been on a landing craft during the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Normandy.
|
PO. Peter George Brown HMS Copra (d.14th Apr 1946) Peter Brown was a Petty Officer Radio Mech. and served in Combined Operations. He is buried in Ladywell Cemetery with a Commonwealth war grave headstone. He died at age 21.
|
Charles Edward Basey HMS Dinosaur My father, Charles Basey was born in Woolwich and joined the Royal Marines at Eastern Barracks on 27th of May 1942. He served on the ships HMS Dinosaur, HMS Hamilton, HMS Copra, and HBL RM Figyp (the spelling on his record sheet). He was discharged on 19th July 1946, class A.
|
Cyril Huxtable HMS Victory Cyril Huxtable was a telegraphist on HMS Victory from 28th of September 1940 to 25th of October 1940.
He also served on HMS Pembroke, HMS Claverhouse, HMS Quebec, HMS Salsette, HMS Salsette III, HMS Braganza III, HMS Copra, HMS Calliope, HMS Mauritius during 1938 - 1946. He was recalled for 18 months in April 1952 as PO Telegraphist on HMS Neptune but was released early in November 1953.
|
Marine William Guy HMS Copra William served on HMS Copra from 31 September 1943 to 16 February 1946.
Here are some places where the ship was in 1943:
- 6 June Plymouth
- 17 June Gibraltar
- 22 June Algiers
- 26 June Dejyijelli
- 7 July Malta left 9 July
- 10 July Invasion of Sicily left Sicily 27 September
- 28 July Malta
- 30 August Augusta, Sicily (mail)
- 1 September San Savarni(?), Sicily
- 3 September Invasion of Italy (Reggio)
- 8 September Raid on Pizzo
- 12 September Messina, Sicily
- 23 September Arrived Malta left 24 September
- 27 September Arrived Dejyijelli left 3 October
- 4 October Arrived Algiers left 16 October
- 19 October Arrived Gibraltar left 23 October
- 1 November Barry, Wales
|
AB. Alwyn David Barwell HMS Dinosaur Our father, Al Barwell served on:- HMS Raleigh 30.12.1942 to 15.03.1943;
- HMS Victory X 16.03.1943 to 04.04.1943;
- HMS Dinosaur 05.04.1943 to 31.08.1943;
- HMS Copra 01.09.1943 to 28.10.1943 as an Ordinary Seaman and as an Able Seaman 29.10.1943 to 31.10.1945;
- HMS Victory 01.11 to 14.12.1945;
- HMS Vernon (Vesuvius) 15.12.1945 to April 1946
- HMS Victory 02.05.1946 to 27.06.1946
. He never spoke much about his time in the Royal Navy but did say he was involved in D Day landings. A fellow sailor and friend contacted my father and they were going to meet but my father died shortly before his friend did however very kindly attend our father's funeral. We have 4 of my father's medals.
Al died in August 2005
|
Allan Robert Hardwick Allan Hardwick worked as a joiner and was on HMS Drake from 29th September to 30th December 1943 and again from 8th February to 16th April 1944. Then he served on HMS Boscawen (Turtle) from 16th to 17th April 1944; on HMS Copia from 18th April to 30th September 1944; on HMS Drake again from 16th October to 24th October 1944; on HMS Shrapnel from 5th October to 4th December 1944 to 24th January 1945; then finally on HMS Copra again from 25th January 1945 to 11th June 1946, when he was released Class A.
|
Able Sea. Ernest Ralph Barwick HMS Copra Ernest Barwick joined the Royal Navy 7th of May 1941 aged 20. From his service record, he appears to have spent most of the war between HMS Pembroke, HMS Quebec and HMS Copra, which I understand to be training bases for commandos/special forces. I do have a photo of my father driving a landing craft.
He told me a few stories of his time in the Mediterranean around the Adriatic near Corfu. It seems he suffered some of the worst storms and rough seas he had ever experienced in these waters. There was also a story of being involved in the Sicily landings, particularly Operation Ladbrook. This was evidently one of the worst cases of friendly fire and my father told me of rescuing parachutists from the water thinking they were German only to find it was our own commandos. It appears the American pilots released the gliders too early and ran away when the invasion fleet opened fire on them at night. No one had told the fleet that the planes with gliders were coming so they were thinking they were Germans attacking the fleet. 1200 paratroopers were killed. A more detailed source for this record can be found in a book by Geoffrey Regan, Blue on Blue A history of Friendly Fire dated 1995
|
AB. Samuel Isaiah Parkes HMS Copra Dad, Samuel Isaiah Parkes didn't talk much about the war.
We know he drove the landing crafts, and he had a perforated eardrum as they fired the guns on board ship before he could get his protection on.
He suffered terribly with his ear after the war.
He served from 1942 until 1946 in HMS Ganges, HMS Pembroke, HMS Dinosaur and HMS Copra.
|
LSea. Eric Killelay I just found my dad's papers.
Eric Killelay began his Service at Chatham on 3rd of October 1939, until termination on the 6th December 1945. He is stated to have a Class A character very good through out. He served on H.M.S Delhi 26th of Jan 1940 to 7th of April 1942, H.M.S Quebec 22nd of August 1942 to 30th of June 1943 and
H.M.S Copra from 1st of July 1943 to 7th of May 1944.
He didn't talk much to me about the war but I know he was incharge of rum rations and he was torpedoed and was in the water for several hours. And, that he had been to Boris Karlof's house and got a kiss off Jane Mansfield. He also had a lot of nightmares about his friend who was standing beside him when a shell came over and took his friend's head off. I can remember him waking up sweating and shouting, it must of been a horrible thing to see.
Bless him no longer living hope he's having a good drink with his buddies.
|
PO. Victor Noel White HMS Copra Victor White trained at HMS Royal Arthur as an Ordinary
Telegrapher from 20/07/1943 to 12/08/1943. He then joined HMS
Letchworth and was promoted to Wireman (LC)
on 26/10/43. He joined HMS Copra on the 7th of November 1943 and was lent three times to HMS Dundonald. In June 1944 he was lent to LCT 1000 for the whole of the month and also served on the LCT in March, May, August and September 1945. He was released to shore in Class A on 23rd of April 1946.
|
ERM4. Ernest Victor Love HMS Copra Ernest Love enlisted under the Nation Service (AF) Act of 1939 on 17th of Noevmber 1942, he was married with 2 daughters. He served on HMS Collingwood, HMS Victory and HMS Copra.
According to my father's certificate of service in the Royal Navy, he served on Copra as an acting ERM 5th class from 3rd of April 1944 to 28th of October 1944 and was on the same ship as A/ERM 4th class from 28th of October 1944 to 25th of March 1946.
According to my mother, he worked in the engine room. Beyond that, his time in the Royal Navy was never discussed. He died when I was 18.
His record shows HMS Collingwood 17th of November 1942 to 28th of December 1942. Able seaman
HMS Victory 29th Dec 1942 to 12th Jan 1943. " HMS Shrapnel (Pontefract) 13th Jan 1943 to 11th July 1943, Able seaman (to ERM 29th of June 1943.)
HMS Victory 12th Jul 1943 to 2nd Apr 1944. HMS Copra 3rd Apr 1944 to 25th Mar 1946. According to his release order he was at HMS Rosneath in January 1946
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
