Raymond Clyde Baker
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: Owen Robert and Louisa Catherine Maud Baker
Home address: Tollgate House, Elham, Kent
Date of birth: 1921
Date of death: 24/01/1942
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 20
Further information:
Raymond’s parents were married in Elham in Kent in 1916 and Raymond was born 6 years later in Port Williams Canada. In 1939 Raymond’s mother, who was a school caretaker, was living with her mother (Raymond’s grandmother) in Tollgate House, Elham, Kent, but there is no record of Raymond’s father or any brothers or sisters.
On the day of his death, Raymond was serving aboard the unescorted British Motor Tanker Empire Gem which was sailing from Port Arthur Texas to Halifax Canada carrying a cargo of 10.692 tons of motor spirit and 920 tons of machinery. At 02.40 hours the Empire Gem was hit by two torpedoes from U-boat U-66 15 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The tanker immediately caught fire and later broke in two and sank. 43 crew members and six gunners, including Raymond, were lost and only the master and the radio operator survived. They were picked up by a US Coast Guard vessel and landed at Hatteras Inlet.
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/1289.html