Frederick Jesse Cox
Memorial: Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial
Regiment: 6th Maritime Regiment
Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945
Rank and number: Gunner
Parents: John Robert and Rachel Cox
Marital status: Married
Home address: Lived: 7 The Crofts, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
Pre-war occupation: Bricklayer and Labourer
Date of birth: 1910
Date of death: 08/06/1942
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 32
Further information:
Frederick was the son of a labourer and the youngest of 5 children with 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters. Frederick married Gertrude M Cox
On the day of his death Frederick was serving aboard the unescorted Norwegian motor tanker the South Africa on route from Curacao to Freetown Sierra Leone, carrying a cargo of 9614 tons of lube oil distillate and 4146 tons of diesel oil. At 14.19 hours on 8 June 1942, the vessel was hit by two torpedoes from U-boat U-128 about 400 miles east of Trinidad. The explosions destroyed the starboard lifeboats, the bridge, the stern gun and gun platform. Five men on watch below and Frederick who was sleeping on deck were killed. The ship sank within 3 minutes and the 42 survivors abandoned ship in 2 lifeboats eventually reaching Port of Spain, Trinidad.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1762.html