Petty Officer Gordon S. McAully, HMS Esk
Photographs:
(Top): Petty Officer Gordon Simons McAully, R.N.
(K.I.A. 01.09.1940 while serving on 'HMS Esk')
Bottom: Gordon McAully's 'home port' of Whitehaven
Leading Seaman (Petty Officer) Gordon Simons McAully, R.N. was killed in action on 1 September 1940 while serving on 'HMS Esk'. Having been brought up close to the West Cumbrian coastline, Gordon McAully joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16. At the time of his death in 1940 he was 34 years old.
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posted by ritsonvaljos at 4:45 pm
1 Comments:
Gordon Simons McAully, R.N., Service No P/J 102728, was born at Whitehaven, Cumberland (now Cumbria) in 1906. His parents were James and Annie Edith McAully.
As a boy, Gordon McAully attended Trinity School, Whitehaven where he excelled as an all-round sportsman. He won schoolboy honours at several sports, especially swimming, hurdling and running.
After joining the Royal Navy at the age of 16 in 1922, Gordon continued to be an outstanding sportsman, winning championship prizes in several outdoor sports. Before WW2 broke out he was a petty officer on board the Royal Yacht. In 1929, Gordon McAully married Miss Olive Brown of Bransty, Whitehaven. They subsequently moved to Portsmouth, Hampshire where they raised their two sons.
HMS Esk (H 15) was a Royal Navy E-Class Destroyer built at Wallsend in 1933 / 1934. She was lost after striking a mine about 40 nautical miles NW of Texel off the Dutch coast. Gordon McAully was one of the crew who died when their ship was lost. Gordon McAully's body was recovered and he was laid to rest in Kiel War Cemetery, N.W. Germany (Grave Ref. 5.J.9).
In life and in death the sea was important to Gordon McAully. Fittingly, his final resting place is also near the sea. May he rest in peace.
Dedication:
"Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!"
From:
'Eternal Father, Strong to save", ('The Navy Hymn')
Acknowledgements:
'The Whitehaven News'
Cumbria County Archives & Library Service
(Whitehaven Office)
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