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HMS WALKER

Official Royal Navy Photograph (Courtesy Philip Dodd)

Click on the links within this brief outline for first hand accounts by the men who served on HMS Walker

HMS Walker (D27) was named after Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, 1st Baronet (1802 – 1876), the Surveyor of the Navy from 1848 to 1861 who was responsible for the introduction of the Ironclad warship and the decision to build HMS Warrior but a silver "challenge cup" was presented to HMS Walker in the 1920s by the 4th Baronet Walker of Sand Hutton near York who mistakenly believed the ship was named after his father, Rear Admiral Charles Francis Walker (1836 - 1925).

HMS Walker was built at Dumbarton on the north bank of the Clyde by William Denny and Brothers, launched on 29 November 1917 and completed and commissioned on the same day, the 12th February 1918. Walker took part in the British campaign against Bolshevik forces in the Baltic in 1919 and was shelled by the battleship Petropavlovsk during an attempted breakout of the Bolshevik fleet from Kronstadt. In 1920 HMS Walker entered the Manchester Ship Canal at Eastham Locks and paid a courtesy visit to Manchester.

Throughout the 1920s she was part of the Atlantic Fleet, first with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla and from 1926 with the 5th DF but during this time took part in Summer Cruises in the Mediterranean. HMS Walker was presented with a splendid silver cup by Major Sir Robert Walker, in memory of his father Rear Admiral Charles E Walker RN who died in 1925. Stan Ewles describes his time training as an Artificer at Portsmouth and Chatham before joining HMS Walker, his first ship, in August 1930 on peacetimes cruises in the Baltic and Mediterranean for eighteen months. In 1932 HMS Walker was placed in Reserve st Rosyth at the Firth of Forth. In August 1939, she was recommissioned with a reserve crew to participate in the Royal Review of the Reserve Fleet by King George VI.

At the outbreak of war HMS Walker was based at Plymouth with the 11DF. On 11 September 1939  while returning from escorting a convoy Walker and Vanquisher collided 200 miles southwest of Ireland, killing 14 men, with both ships seriously damaged. The First Lieutenant was compelled to shoot some of the injured trapped in the wreckage. Her repairs took until mid-November while Vanquisher was not fully repaired until early January 1940. Sub Lt J.H. Adams (later Rear Admiral Adams) had only just joined Walker and described the dreadful consquences of the collision in his Diary and on the website of HMS Vanquisher.

Walker resumed escorting convoys in the South Western Approaches until April 1940 when she transferred to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow to support operations during the Norwegian Campaign. She was attacked from the air while evacuating troops from Andalsnes and Molde on the 30 April and 1 May and was the last Allied ship to leave the Narvik area when she escorted the final Allied evacuation convoy from Norway on 8 June.

On 2 July she made an unsuccessful attack on U-47 after the sinking of the Blue Star passenger liner Arandora Star carrying German and Italian internees from Liverpool to Canada (800 died out of the 1,647 aboard). U-47 was sunk on 7 March by HMS Wolverine and Verity and her CO Gunther Prien, who sank the Royal Oak, killed. HMS Walker was under repair until October 1940.

On 5 February 1941, HMS Walker became the leader of the 5th Escort Group based at Liverpool with Cdr Donald G.F.W.Macintyre RN in command as described in his autobiography U-Boat Killer (London: Wiedenfield and Nicolson, 1956). In March 1941 while escorting Convoy HX 112 HMS Vanoc assisted by Walker attacked and sunk U-100 (Joachim Schepke) and HMS Walker sank U-99 and captured her commander, U-Boat ace Otto Kretschmer. The defence of HX 112 and the loss of three ace u-boat commanders was a decisive victory for the 5th EG and a turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.

When two out of the three locks to Gladstone Dock were damaged in the Liverpool Blitz of May 1941 HMS Walker and the other escorts were moved to Londonderry. After a refit at Southapton Walker was sent to Havelfjord in Iceland until February 1942 when she went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to join the Western Local Escort Force and Cdr. James M. Rowland RN took over as CO. In March 1942 after a successful Warships Week national savings programme HMS Walker was adopted by Sale, in Cheshire, now part of Greater Manchester. HMS Walker had visited Manchester in 1920 but almost nothing is known about her adoption by Sale in 1942.

HMS Walker was converted into a Long Range Escort (LRE) at the King George VI dock on the Thames between January and May 1943 and in July was assigned to the 4th Escort Group at Londonderry for convoy defence duties in the North Western Approaches. Between February and May 1944, Walker (Lt Cdr Arthur N. Rowell RN) operated with the 8th Escort Group escorting Arctic convoys to the Kola Inlet in North Russia as described by Lt James Glossop RN, ABs Albert Foulser and Bill Perks and illustrated with Albert's photographs on his "box Brownie" camera. They were both 97 when they died but bright and alert though Albert George Foulser was rather deaf. Albert died on 15 December 2021 at his home in Loughton, Essex. Lt Cdr James Glossop RN, the last surviving officer, died at his retirement home in Bathurst, Australia, on Sunday 13 February 2022 and his funeral was on 22 February, five days before his 98th birthday.

Commanding Officers

Officers

Officers who served n HMS Walker between the wars with entries on the unithistories.com web site.

Former full members of the V & W Destroyer Association who served in HMS Walker
The V & W Association included more men who had served in HMS Walker than any other V & W

J. Bardgett (Morecombe, Lancs), William Douglas Aldrige "Jock" Begg (Ormskirk, Lancashire), J Clark (Braintree, Essex), G. Cook (Wells, Somerset), Albert Foulser (Loughton, Essex), K. Harnett (Stockport, Cheshire), C.H. Hill (Braintree), J Hope (Blackburn, Lancs), J. Howard (East Preston, West Sussex), M. Jay (Gloucester), H. Kidd (Didcot, Oxon), F. Lees (Rochford, Essex), David Napper (Woodbridge, Suffolk), C. Parker (Freemantle, West Australia), Bill Perks (Leamington Spa),  J. Perry (Southall, MIddx), J. Prior (West Moseley, Surrey), R.L. Sayer (York), J. Strickland (Port aux Basques (Newfoundland, Canada),  S. Taylor (Burgess Hill, Sussex), L. Wadsworth (Menstrie, Clackmanshire), J. Whitmill (Liskeard, Cornwall).

Please get in touch if you knew one of these men or had a family member who served in HMS Walker

Cdr Donald G.F.W. Macintyre RN

Donald George Frederick Wyville Macintyre was born at Dehra Dun, the son of a major general in the Indian Army, on the 26 January 1904. He attended a preparatory school in Cheltenham and the Royal Navy College Osborne before joining the Royal Navy as a fourteen year old cadet at Dartmouth in 1917. His career before the war was somewhat unusual in that he spent five years with the Fleet Air Arm from 1928-33 during which he learned to fly and was a pilot on aircraft carriers.

HMS Walker was Macintyre's second V & W destroyer. At the outset of war in 1939 he was appointed CO of my father's wartime destroyer, HMS Venomous, the subject of a "ship biography", A Hard Fought Ship, I published in 2017. Macintyre had established his reputation as a "U-Boat Killer" while commanding HMS Hesperus but was well aware of the stengths and weaknesses of these elderly veterans of World War 1, their high speed and "short legs" (low range),  and described them in The Battle of the Atlantic (Batsford, 1961):

"Their ancient machinery was a constant anxiety to their engineers who often worked miracles in keeping them running with only brief rests between spells of sea-going. Their plates burst rivets as their hulls whipped and shuddered in the huge Atlantic seas. As solid, green water swept destructiivelky along theeir decks, much of it found its way down into the living spaces where it sloshed to and fro across the mess decks and cabin flats, There is an atmospphere of thick, damp "fugg", the crews passed the comfortless off-duty hours. Their clothes perpetually soasked, in an aroma compunded of bilge water, sweat and the last meal, they sat at the bare scrubbed  mess tables or lay on the padded locker-lids. By night there were hammocks for some; but there were rarely slinging billets for the whole wartime complement of of a warship. The remainder staked out claims on the lockers or mess tables.

On their tiny bridges only canvas dodgers and primitive wind-baffles gave protection to the look-outs, signalmen and watch officers from the wind, the stinging spray and the penetrating cold. On dark nights of storm, with perhas 50 ships somewhere close by, hidden in the murk, attentions were inevitably concentrated on the avoidance of collision to the exclusion of other considerations. From this restricted platform and the little chartroom below it, almost  filled by the chart table and the drawers of chart folios under it, the escort commander was expected to navigate his own ship, to control his wide-spread command in keeping the convoy together, in passing orders from the Command to the Commodore and, when they came, in beating off the attacks of the enemy."

Donald Macintyre, known to his fellow officers as "D. Mac", was one of the most successful wartime COs of convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic credited with sinking at least seven U-boats, including U-99 commanded by Otto Kretschmer, the most successful U-boat commander of them all. Macintyre's autobiography, U-Boat Killer (1956), is perhaps the best account of the war against the U-boats by a serving officer. Otto Kretschmer's story is vividly told by Terence Robertson in The Golden Horseshoe (Evans Brothers Ltd, 1955).

The Officers and Crew of U-99 were identified by the volunteer researchers at the U-Boat Museum in Cuxhaven, Germany, from the key provided by Wilhelm Strauss
Otto Kretschmer, the CO of U-99, is at the front, second from the right (number 27), and Jupp Kassel is number 4 on the list but has not been identified
Click on the link to see the names and please contact Bill Forster if you can identify the other crew members on the list
The photograph was supplied by Brian Begg

U-Boat Killer versus U-Boat Ace
The defence of Convoy HX 112 by
HMS Walker and the 5th Escort Group
17 March 1941

This short uncredited article was first published in Hard Lying, the magazine of the V & W Destroyer Association and republished in 2005 by the Chairman of the Association, Clifford ("Stormy") Fairweather, in the book of the same name which is now out of print. Paul Smith, the grandson of George Smith, the Wireless Operator in HMS Walker, supplied the photograph of uboat ace Otto Kretschmer disembarking from Walker at Liverpool after Macintyre sunk U-99. George Smith kept in touch with his former CO long after the war ended but never wrote an account of his own service as a Telegraphist in HMS Walker.

By early 1941 merchant ship losses had become disastrously high. The U-boat aces were having a very successful time until the V&Ws took a hand in March. On 8 March, HMS Wolverine, commanded by Commander J.M. Rowland (who succeeded Macintyre as CO of HMS Walker in February 1942), attacked and sunk U-70 south of Iceland while escorting convoy OB 293. Wolverine and Verity were jointly credited with sinking U-47 commanded by U-boat ace, Gunther Prien (who sank the Royal Oak at Scapa Flow) in the same action.

Soon afterwards Convoy HX 112 was attacked off the Hebrides and HMS Walker, commanded by Captain Donald Macintyre (on right), sighted the wake of what could only be a U-boat and immediately attacked with depth charges. The explosion of the depth charges was followed by another explosion and an orange flash spread across the surface and we knew that we had made a 'kill'. About half an hour later Walker had another Asdic contact and again attacked with depth charges. Vanoc joined in the attack. While this was going on lights had been spotted in the distance which could only be lifeboats. Walker and Vanoc set forth to investigate. They were the lifeboats from one of the merchant ships that had been sunk. While Vanoc kept vigil the Walker picked up the survivors and they returned to the scene of the attack. Walker noticed that Vanoc, contrary to orders, was going at full speed, and a few moments later signalled to Walker "Have rammed and sunk U-boat". HMS Vanoc had spotted U-100 on her Type 286M radar, the first confirmed British surface ship radar sighting of a U-boat. HMS Vanoc rammed U-100 and her commander Joachim Schepke was crushed against the periscope mast. There were only six survivors.

It was almost unbelievable that so many U-boats should be nearby, but it was not long before, once again an Asdic contact was made and further depth charges were dropped. Soon afterwards Vanoc signalled to Walker,  "U-boat surfaced astern of me". Both ships after illuminating the U-boat opened fire with their 4-inch guns. The U-boat signaled by lamp "We are sinking". The crew of U-99 were were picked up by the British destroyers.  Their Captain was the much decorated U-boat Ace Otto Kretschmer (left). In just three short actions the old V&Ws had disposed of three of Germany's U-boat aces and had made a huge contribution to the winning of the 'Battle of the Atlantic'.

Photographs and previously unpublished descriptions of the sinking of the three uboats by the families of the men who served in HMS Walker.

Jock Begg and Bert Goldings
Family stories passed on from father to son - and down to grandson

William Douglas Aldrige "Jock" Begg during training in 1942 Courtesy of his son, Brian Begg

Jock Begg is second from the right behind the torpedo tubes and the survivors from U-99 on HMS Walker Courtesy of his son, Brian Begg

"My dad told me that as U-99 surfaced it rose up out of the water and the crew ran to fire the gun but it had been hit and was bent and could not be used. Kretschmer called across to Walker "please save my men". MacIntyre said "let the B—die" but they were then told to throw over a scrambling net for the crew to climb aboard Walker. The last one up was Kretschmer. Koenig, one of the survivors helped aboard by my father, jumped in the water to  help his captain climb aboard as he had his full leather clothes on. Until my Dad's death Koenig sent him a card thanking him for saving his life;" Brian Douglas Begg.

This photograph of Otto Kretschmer (centre) with Bert Goidings on the left was taken soon after his capture
Courtesy  of Tim Giddings, grandson of Senior Torpedoman, Bert Giddings

"My grandfather Bert Giddings served on HMS Walker from 1939 - 1942. He was a Senior Torpedo Man and a member of the depth-charge party on the Walker. In the action of 17 March 1941 in defence of Convoy HX 112, he fired the depth charge attack ‘pattern of eight’ which forced U-99 to the surface and surrender. Bert’s action on that night led to a DSM for devotion to duty;" Tim Giddings.

Otto Kretschmer's leather trenchcoat described by Jock Begg is still black from its soaking. Bert brought home from the war two of the depth charge cartridges which he kept ‘in the back of the garage’ for some years but is thought to have given to Lieutenant Otto Kretchmer at one of the post-war reunions - but there is no written record of this in Kretschmer's  papers.

After the war was over

After the war was over the crew of HMS Walker and U-99 met each other at reunions in Britain and Germany up until the 1990s. At a meeting at Bristol in 1986 Jupp Kassel described events leading to the sinking of U-99. The U-Boat Museum provided scans of his talk which can be seen as a PDF. It is, of course, in English which Jupp may have learned while a Prisoner of War in Britain and Canada.

A postwar reunion at the U-Boat base in Kiel of the men who served in HMS Walker and U-99
"Jock" Begg is second left wearing a German Navy badge of a U-Boat in a laurel wreath presented to him at Kiel by Otto Kretschmer who is on his left with hands raised - the others have yet to be identified
Courtesy of Brian Begg

George Stephen Frederick Smith
The  wireless operator in HMS Walker

Paul Smith, the grandson of George Smith, the Wireless Operator in HMS Walker, supplied the photograph of uboat ace Otto Kretschmer disembarking from Walker at Liverpool after Macintyre sunk U-99.

George Smith kept in touch with his former CO long after the war ended but never wrote an account of his own service as a Telegraphist in HMS Walker. Indeed, at present I know nothing more about him other than his name.

I have about a dozen scans of letters and cards sent to George Smith by MacIntyre and his wife Monica and although they may have had very little contact while serving in Walker once the war was over and differences in rank ceased to be relevant they were often in touch and met at MacIntyre's home in Maidenhead.

Paul Smith has also sent me about 50 scans of photographs but without any details of the subjects and where and when they were taken it is very difficult to know how to use them to tell his Grandfather's story or that of the ship in which he served. Paul's father and Grandfather are both dead but I am hoping that his Aunt will  pass on the stories she was told.

Paul Smith's photographs of his father's shipmates on HMS Walker
from the family scrapbook and the web



If you can provide further details of these photographs please contact Bill Forster

The capture of Kretschmer in March 1941 by Captain Donald MacIntyre of HMS Walker is described by him in
 U-Boat Killer (London: Wiedenfield and Nicolson, 1956) and in The Golden Horseshoe: The Wartime Career of Otto Kretschmer, U-Boat Ace by Terence Robertson (Evans Brothers, 1955).
Donald Macintyre was the first wartime CO of HMS Venomous