William Charles Newman
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 E and Annie E Newman
Home address: 76 Fern Street, Poplar, London
Pre-war occupation: Tailor's Cutter
Date of birth: 30/06/1915
Date of death: 19/09/1943
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated Plymouth Naval Memorial Devon and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 28
Further information:
William was born and raised in Bow in the East End of London. He was one of twins and the son of a Chemical process worker. His twin brother John was a bookbinder and survived the war.
On the day of his death, William was serving aboard the unescorted British Steam Merchant ship ‘Fort Longueuil’ which was on route from Aden in the Yemen to Newcastle, Australia carrying a cargo of 8475 tons of phosphate. The vessel was torpedoed by U-boat U-532 and sank immediately southwest of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. 47 crew members and 10 gunners, including William perished. Two Indian crewmen managed to survive for 134 days on a raft before being picked up by the Japanese. William was one of two Gunner Newmans from the 6th Maritime Regiment killed on the same day aboard Fort Longueuil but the two men were not related. Originally reported as missing, William's record status was not changed to presumed killed in action until February 1946, 2½ years after the sinking.
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/3069.html