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205926 Svenn Svennson Icelandic Merchant Navy SS Skallagrimur My husband & I have recently returned from a holiday staying with friends in Iceland. Whilst there, our host, Gudmundur, told us that his grandfather Svenn Svennson was the skipper of an Icelandic trawler who had received a British award for gallantry during WW2.(We think that this must have been the British Empire Medal for Gallantry, although the medal has now been lost.) The act of gallantry involved the rescue of over 300 men from a British boat sunk by a U-boat. Gudmundur showed us a silver cigarette case made by Mappin & Webb which is inscribed with the following words: "From the ships company of HMS Forfar to the crew of SS Skallagrimur in recognition of a gallant deed 15.6.40" Since returning to the UK we have researched HMS Forfar & the SS Skallagrimur on the web. Surprisingly, we have found that HMS Forfar was not the boat involved in the rescue by the Skallagrimur. Instead, the boat involved was HMS Andania. This was sunk by U-boat UA in the early hours of 16th June (not 15th as in the inscription on the cigarette case)in the North Atlantic off the Faroe Islands. All members of the crew of HMS Andania (300+) were rescued and taken on board by the Skallagrimur which must have been seriously overloaded as a result. The Skallagrimur was on its way to Hull with its catch of fish. Gudmundur would like to find out more about this act of bravery as his father, who was a boy of 10 at the time of the rescue, is still alive and can remember his father's award. So, can anyone throw any further light on this? Why did the ship's company of HMS Forfar present a cigarette case to the Icelandic skipper and crew? Were some members of the rescued crew of the Andania transferred to service on HMS Forfar? Was it something that the crew of the Forfar heard about (the ships were involved in the same mission in the North Atlantic)and wanted to recognise? Is there another explanation? Any further information would be gratefully received and will be passed on to Gudmundur and his family. Additional Information: Thank you for sharing the above information! My father SubLt. William Eldon Warwick was serving on the "Andania" when it was torpedoed on June 15, 1940 at 23:30 hours, finally sinking at 06:55 hours on June 16. The HMS Forfar was formerly the passenger ship SS Montrose, which was requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser in 1939. She was sunk in December 1940. According to Captain Bains of the Andania, the fishing vessel Shallagrimur "was directed to the Andania by HMS Forfar" Within Capt. Bains testimony at the hearing, please find the following: " ....The boats were in thw water about four hours when the Icelandic trawler Skallagrimur (R.E.145) was sighted heading towards us, apparently instructed by Forfar to the position." and further, "at 07:30 hours a Sunderland Flyingboat was sighted and informed of a safe transfer of all personnel. Intercepted HMS Forester about 19:00 hours. " There appears no record of any of the HMS Forfar taking on any of the survivors or even being in the immediate vicinity of the HMS Andania. The Sunderland aircraft was piloted by Actg. Flt-Lt Sidney Robert Gibbs, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in the war effort which amongst other things included the following write up: "Valuable information concerning shipping in the Tromso area was obtained. This officer has carried out over 600 operational hours flying since commencement of hostilities. His excellent reconnaissance work includes the locating of the survivors of the Andania and guiding a destroyer to the rescue." It would be very much appreciated if we could see a photograph of the cigarette case. If you have photograph of the medal it would also be appreciated. Thank you for your continued interest. David B. Warwick Reply

I can't give any more detail of the rescue but I would like to tell you that my grandfather was one of the sailors rescued from the Andania. John Stewart Baker. My father was born the following year so I owe the crew of the fishing boat a lot. Paul Baker Reply

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