Name
William Albert Simmonds
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
19/05/1940
38
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Able Seaman
C/J 89779
Royal Navy
H.M.S. Wakeful
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
NA
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St. John's War Church, Memorial, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin
Biography
In the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission he is shown as ‘Simmons’.
Before the war he had worked for Messrs Geo. W. King the engineers of Hitchin. He was called up with the Royal Naval Reserve on the 31st July 1939 but was able to have several brief periods of leave. He was given the Service Number C/J 89779.
He was missing and presumed drowned when his ship, HMS. ‘Wakeful’, was sunk whilst transporting 640 men of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. The ‘Wakeful’ was a destroyer of 1,100 tons built in 1915 commanded by Commander R. L. Fisher which left Bray-Dunes at 11.00pm on the 28th May 1940 heading for Dover. At 12.45am on the 29th May 1940 it was attacked by the German Schnelboote S.30 (Motor Torpedo Boat) commanded by Lieut W. Zimmermann and was hit by a torpedo and sank in 15 seconds. The troops had embarked at Bray and the ship was sailing by the northerly route Y. She had just cleared the north channel and turned sharply westward when the torpedo tracks were seen. One torpedo was avoided but the other struck amidships. ‘Wakeful’ broke in half and the sections settled on the shallow bottom. Commander Fisher had expected air attacks and had therefore ordered the troops as low in the ship as was possible to increase stability in the event of violent manoeuvring. Most of the troops were asleep below and only a few and the crew on deck floated clear.
He has no known grave, but the sea and is remembered on Panel 36: 1 on the Chatham Memorial to the Missing.
His wife was Alice Blanche Simmonds of 16, Tilehouse St. Hitchin. His parents were William and Emily Simmonds.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, ‘Dictionary of Disasters at Sea’ by C. Hocking,
‘The Miracle of Dunkirk’ by W. Lord, ‘The War in France & Flanders 1939-40’ by L.F. Ellis, Herts & Beds Express dated 8th June 1940
