William Booth
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: William T and Ada Booth
Marital status: Married
Home address: Parents: Spring Gardens, Tewkesbury. William and Minnie: lived at 18 Oldbury Road, Tewkesbury
Pre-war occupation: Lorry Driver
Date of birth: 14/06/1913
Date of death: 29/10/1942
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 29
Further information:
He signed up in 1940 to serve on Merchant Ships.
William was serving aboard the Canadian steam ship Bic Island which was part of convoy HX-212 on route from Halifax Canada to Liverpool, carrying a cargo of 4430 tons of foodstuffs and government stores. The ship had become detached from the main convoy after picking up survivors from 2 other sinkings over 2 previous days. On the day of William's death, the Bic Island was torpedoed and sunk by U-boat U-224 at 00.15 hours southwest of Rockall. The master, 35 crew members, eight gunners, including William, and all of the 121 survivors from the previous sinkings, were lost.
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.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2311.html