1942 HMT Bedfordshire and Ocracoke Island - Speech at the cemetery made in 2004

Captain J H J Gower Royal Navy OCRACOKE 7 May 2004 -
( many thanks to Captain Gower for permission to include this speech)

RADM Brice-O’Hara, Lt Abeyta (acting Hatteras Group CO), Petty Officer Sinclair (Ocracoke OC), honoured guests, gentlemen of the US Coastguard, ladies and gentlemen. 

Thank you all for being here today; for me, it is a very great privilege to stand before you once again at this very special place in this beautiful village. It is also a privilege to meet so many friends, some old and some new. And I am honored to be speaking on behalf of the British and Canadian Navies at this important and meaningful event. 
First and foremost, we are here to remember the 37 British and Canadian men who died just before midnight (local) on the 11th of May, 1942, when their armed trawler, HMS BEDFORDSHIRE was torpedoed a few miles off shore; the first of seven ships to be sunk during a very successful war patrol by the well-led German submarine U-558. 4 of those men rest here. 

The Bedfordshire story has however, some even more enduring messages than the horror of war, which we should rightly and proudly remember. It represents the inseparable links between our 3 nations. It also signifies a great courage both militarily and politically. We should not underestimate the political courage in Canada to enter the war alongside Britain, or of President Roosevelt in instantly providing succor and vital support. BEDFORDSHIRE and 23 sister vessels came to America to work for the USN in countering the submarine threat along these coasts. 

The feeling and emotion toward the events leading to her sinking are, I believe, perfectly summed up in Mr. L Vanloan Naisawalds’ book “World War II on the outer banks” as he says: 
“The story of the BEDFORDSHIRE highlights the deep affection felt by a group of Americans for the crew of an obscure little ship that scarcely rated being called a war vessel, though technically she was one. Only a few people had ever heard of H.M.S. BEDFORDSHIRE, either in her homeports of Great Britain or in her temporary home in the United States. 

Her name would not find its way to the pages of World War II history books beside the names of such illustrious British men-of-war as H.M.S.'s HOOD, PRINCE OF WALES, EXETER, and a score of others whose sheer size and flaming heavy guns earned them a place on a printed page. But she earned a different kind of memory-a most warm and personal one in the hearts of the people of North Carolina's Outer Banks-and her memorial is this small four-grave cemetery on Ocracoke Island, wherein one of her officers and three of her crew rest peacefully in the shade of overhanging live oak, juniper, and yaupon. The site is a spot beautiful in its simplicity, and the story of how it came into being is one of sorrow, of compassion, of kin ship, of the appreciation one group of people felt for another they had never met. But the common bonds of the sea and of ancestry between the British seamen and the islanders of Ocracoke probably ensure that there will always be this warm feeling for the cemetery.” 

Before arriving off the E Coast, BEDFORDSHIRE left behind a bleak and badly bombed Britain. Of course, her people left behind family and friends as well, but on her arrival her ships company found, in the US and Canada, immense warmth and friendship. The same sentiments that we visitors to your country find today and which keeps the bond between our countries as strong as ever. In BEDFORDSHIRE’s case, we are reminded of that strong bond, typified by the friendship of Telegraphist Craig, here buried, with the Rycroft family of New Jersey, a brief but close relationship, perhaps typical of the war years. 

And of S/Lt Cunningham, who also lies here and his close friendships with Mr Aycock Brown, Mr Howard and Mr Austin, all from this area. Then there were the people who struggled to make sure that the right thing was done for these foreign mariners, sailors who had lost their lives while trying to protect those of others off this very coast. People, without whose tireless efforts and outright compassion, we might not have been standing here today; people such as the Williams, the Fulchers, the Howards, the Tolsons, the Willises’ and all the islanders of Ocracoke. 

Thanks to the good people of Ocracoke, both Craig and Cunningham, along with their shipmates have a permanent home, far from home, but among friends. And the links with the ceremony yesterday: as it was for the burial of the dead of the SAN DELFINO that SLt Cunningham landed the British flags, he added a couple of extra flags, little knowing they would be used on his burial almost exactly a month later. 

I would also like to remember the 3 dead from a sister Armed Trawler, HMS Kingston Ceylonite (sunk by a mine laid by U701) whose graves are in Virginia Beach; close by another Bedfordshire crew member lies
(please click 1942 HMS Kingston Ceylonite (FY 214) ASW Trawler)

And so we come down to the present day. Our 3 Nations still stand together militarily and politically as strong now as in those bleak days. As we look back, and remember the events of May 1942, let us also hope that the courage and determination and unity of purpose symbolized here, may endure long into the future. 
For “they shall grow not old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning we shall remember them” – the well known words of Binyon ring through the years, yet they explain exactly why ceremonies like today are so vitally important for the generations that have not experienced the intense horrors of war.

I believe this was the true goal of the officers and men in BEDFORDSHIRE – it was their fervent desire that their families would never have to face war again. Therefore, I would like to offer our sincere thanks to the United States Coast Guard and the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum for the careful upkeep of this cemetery. Its pristine appearance truly honours those that gave their lives for King and country, while simultaneously causing visitors to pause and reflect of the sacrifice of these brave souls. But for the majority of the ship’s company in BEDFORDSHIRE, there is no visible resting place, no field of blowing poppies to mark their place, save the remembrance by their fellows and those, like us, who pause to honour their memory. Thus this cemetery holds even more special meaning. 

Finally, from both the Royal Navy and the Canadian Navy, I would like to express our genuine thanks to the Commander of the USCG Group Cape Hatteras for work done on behalf of the War Graves Commission, Ensign Carrie Schaffer, the project officer and the caring citizens of Ocracoke and the wider Outer Banks Community, particularly Joseph and Melanie Schwarzer of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, for their continued and unstinted efforts to keep the memory of those who perished alive. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

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And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age