Name
Richard Gwynn Williams
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
18/02/1941
23
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Leading Supply Assistant
C/MX 53460
Royal Navy
H.M.S. Dragon
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
SIMON'S TOWN (DIDO VALLEY) CEMETERY
Naval Allotment Row C. Grave 28.
South Africa
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin
Biography
His Service Number was C/MX 53460 and he was serving on H.M.S. ‘Dragon’ at the time of his death which was due to either an accident or illness and probably occurred in or near Simonstown.
The ship was at Ascension Island on the 1st February 1941 and on the 18th February was between Lagos and Pointe Noir. This seems to indicate that he had been taken off the ship much earlier at Simonstown. The preceding Ship's Log ADM 53/114141 at the Public Record Office in Kew would be worth checking.
He is buried in the beautiful Naval Allotment, Simonstown (Dido Valley) Cemetery, Western Cape, South Africa in Row C, Grave 28 close to the sea. The stone is rough axed and consists of a cross with a substantial block plinth. The words "Pray for the soul of' precede his name”. There is a discrepancy in the date of death in that the stone records 24th February 1941 whereas the Commonwealth War Graves Commission shows the 18th February 1941.
He was the son of Edward Thomas and Margaret Williams of Hitchin.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Ship's Log ADM 53/114142 at the Public Record Office, Kew
