As a keen history enthusiast it was inevitable that genealogy would become a passion, I mean what's the point of learning the history of your country if you don't know the part your own ancestors played?
I studied my family on both my paternal and maternal sides for five years solid, getting my data ratified and certificated by experts every step of the way so I knew the data I was uncovering was correct.
Of all the people and stories I discovered by far the saddest was that of my great uncle Robert (my mum's uncle, her dad's eldest brother) who was killed at the end of the first world war and his son Fred (my uncle) who was killed early in the second world war.
Their story seems to have died with them as my mum and the rest of the family knew nothing of it, she told me that she had known one of her dad's brothers was killed in the great war but that's all she knew, her dad didn't like to talk about it and he died quite young (in his forties of a brain hemorrhage) after taking part in an illegal boxing match with an American world champion, it seems some things were too painful to talk about and the loss and sacrifice families endured during both wars was not talked about once peace was secured.
Well I think their story should be told, their sacrifice known.....
The Story of Robert and Frederick Leatherby
Part One: Robert’s Story
Chapter One
Born in 1874 in Brompton, London; Robert Ernest Alfred Leatherby – ‘a plumber and journeyman’ - married one Florence Kemp - a lady four years his junior - of Ealing, Middlesex and together they had six sons in a ten year period between the years 1895 and 1905. Robert (Junior) was born in 1895, closely followed by William in 1898, Walter in 1900, John in 1902, Thomas in 1904 and Ernest in 1905. This is the story of Robert (junior); first-born son of Robert & Florence Leatherby.
The Great War begins in 1914. Robert is twenty.
Having married his sweetheart; Kate Mary Pepper in Uxbridge in 1915, at the age of twenty-one; Robert settles in Broad Oak, Brede - a small Sussex village near Hastings (reasons unknown) – with his new wife, and there, a year after his marriage to Mary; becomes the proud father to a son; Fred Ernest Leatherby. It’s 1916.
At some stage between 1915 and 1918, Robert answers the call and leaves the peace of Broad Oak Brede to do his bit for King & country. He becomes a ‘Tommy Gunner’ of the British Army.
Chapter Two
At the outbreak of war in August 1914 the tactical use of machine guns was unappreciated by the British Military. Consequently, the Army went to war with its infantry battalions and cavalry regiments each having a machine gun section of only two guns each. This was added to in November by the forming of the Motor Machine Gun Service, administered by the Royal Artillery, consisting of motor cycle mounted machine gun batteries. A machine gun school was also opened in France. A year of warfare on the Western Front proved that to be fully effective; machine guns needed to be used in larger units and crewed by specially trained men, so to fulfil this need; the formation of the Machine Gun Corps was authorised in October 1915 with infantry, cavalry, motor and in early 1916 a heavy branch. A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire and a base depot at Camiers in France. The Infantry Branch was by far the largest, and initially formed by the battalion machine gun sections transferring to the Machine Gun Corps and grouping into Brigade Machine Gun Companies. New companies were raised at Grantham and in 1917 a fourth company was added to each division. A further change in February and March 1918 saw the four companies of each division form battalions. Robert’s 5th Battalion was one such formation, formed by 13th, 15th, 95th & 205th Machine Gun Companies. The 5th Battalion machine Gun Corps would fight under ‘IV Corps’ of General Sir Julian Byng’s 3rd Army at Canal Du Nord on the Hindenburg Line of the Western Front.
As the war continued through 1917, Canadian troops had moved their positions up from Vimy to take over the positions of the Australian and New Zealander's at Passchendaele. The battle for Passchendaele (a.k.a. the Third Battle of Ypres) had begun on July 31. Before the arrival of the Canadian forces 225,000 British and their allies had been killed or wounded. By November 12, 1917; Passchendaele was taken by the Canadians and after two days of unsuccessful German counter-attacks the Canadians were relieved by the British on November 14. The Canadians had suffered 15,654 killed and wounded. The German spring offensive of 1918 would retake this position from the British.
Chapter Three
The end of 1917 saw the Russian war effort disintegrate due to revolution. In the spring and summer of 1918 - replenished by new divisions transferred hurriedly from the East after the crushing defeat of Russia - the German army launched a bold new campaign on the Western Front - the Ludendorff offensive, named after German supreme commander General Erich Ludendorff (1863-1945). Appearances, however, were deceptive. Imperial Germany - as many army staff officers admitted - was playing its 'last card.' American troops would not be a significant factor at this time as they were not prepared enough to assume fighting duties. Although the U.S. had declared war in April of 1917, they were just not prepared for war, but the Germans had 178 divisions ready to attack by February of 1918. Their new tactics would involve using storm troops – a lesson learned from the Canadians at Vimy Ridge – attacking the weaker sections of the allied lines, while the main body of troops would move in later. On March 21, 2,500 guns opened up on a 50 mile front of the British line. This successfully pushed the British back beyond the Somme River. Germans also attacked and successfully pushed back the French forces located to the south of Arras. The Canadians expected to be next, as the British forces to their left and the French to their right had already been pushed back. The following is taken from Arthur Currie’s speech to his troops in anticipation of this German offensive:
“Today the fate of the British Empire hangs in the balance. I place my trust in the Canadian Corps knowing that where Canadians are engaged, there can be no giving way. You will advance or fall where you stand facing the enemy. To those who will fall, I say, you will not die but step into immortality. Your mothers will not lament your fate but will be proud to have born such sons. Your names will be revered for ever and ever by your grateful country and God will take you unto Himself. I trust you to fight as you have ever fought – with all your strength, with all your determination, with all your tranquil courage. On many a hard fought field of battle you have overcome the enemy. With God’s help you shall achieve victory once more.”
It soon became apparent though, that no attack would come. The Germans had purposely avoided engaging the Canadian Corps. It was believed by the German High Command that any attack on the Canadian line could easily result in a dangerous slowing down of the offensive if not halting it altogether. The Canadians had never been defeated and seemed unlikely to be beaten back within any reasonable time-frame. Haig desired the Canadians to work as a part of the British line in a defensive manner but was swayed by Currie to have the Canadians go on the offensive.
By the spring of 1918 the Americans were finally prepared – primarily – to relieve elements of the French army to the north east of Paris and allow the French to move toward the attacking Germans to the north-west. After Initial successes; the German Ludendorff Offensive of the spring of 1918 ran out of steam. On the 18th of July, having rebuffed the last major German assault, French forces in the Marne area launched a surprise counter-attack. This marked the beginning of the 'Hundred Days', an Allied counter-offensive. It was realized that the Germans knew the Canadians to be the Allied storm troops – their leading of any offensive was expected, so the Canadians employed trickery to convince Germans that they were now to be stationed back in Flanders and this led the Germans to believe Flanders to be the site of the next allied attack. The Canadians were actually moving in total secrecy - even from the rest of their allies - to Amiens. The Battle of Amiens (8-11 August 1918) which combined air, artillery, infantry and tank offensives was prepared in utmost secrecy, with the aim of driving the German forces away from an area with vital railway links. The code word used by the Canadians for security at this battle was "Llandovery Castle" a Canadian hospital ship carrying both Canadian wounded and Canadian Nursing Sisters. The ship had been torpedoed and sunk in June of 1918. Without using preliminary artillery but using tanks (effective early but out of commission later) the Canadians moved forward at 4:20 am on August 8, 1918. By 1:15 pm the Canadians had more than achieved their objectives. The German lines had been breached and the Canadians had pressed 13 kilometres into German held territory. The cost was high, with almost 4000 Canadians killed or wounded but the results were impressive; roughly 27,000 German casualties and approximately 5,000 taken prisoner. The "Flanders deception" had worked flawlessly. A German POW had expressed amazement that the Canadians had been his foe, as he was told by the high command that all the Canadians had been moved to Belgium. During the next 2 days, the Germans had been pushed back an additional 24 kilometres, 4 German divisions were "on the run" and 10,000 more prisoners taken by the Canadian forces. This victory had liberated 25 French towns and villages and put a stop to the German efforts to split the British and French armies. The German Spring Offensive had been stopped and the tide of the war reversed. General Erich Ludendorff (1863-1945) famously described the 8th of August 1918 - the first day of the battle - as 'the black day of the German army'. By the 13th of August, British and French forces had advanced up to 11 miles eastwards on a 47-mile front, killing, wounding or capturing 48,000 enemy troops. Although the offensive - hampered by heavy tank and aircraft losses - slowed down as it reached the old battlefields of the Somme, the psychological damage that it wrought within the German army was immense. Both Ludendorff and Kaiser Wilhelm II now concluded - in private - that Germany could no longer win the war. Throughout the rest of August, in accordance with Douglas Haig's new strategy, the Allied armies advanced across a wide front, forcing German troops under Crown Prince Rupprecht and Max von Boehn into rapid retreat. They captured towns such as Albert (22nd of August) and Péronne (30th – 31st of August) that had been in German hands for much of the war. The area that had witnessed the bloody stalemate of the Battle of the Somme two years earlier now fell within a matter of days.
Chapter Four
By September 26th 1918 (the day before Robert’s death); the advance in the British area of The Western Front had recovered all of the ground lost to the Germans during the March offensive. British troops now faced the Hindenberg Line - a series of German defensive fortifications stretching from Cerny, east of Soissons, on the Aisne to a point near Beaurains and Neuville Vitasse, just south of Arras. The final bloody Allied offensive against Germany on the Western Front was about to begin.
Four major Allied offensives to attack and try to break the Hindenburg Line were planned at the end of September. The next objective for the Canadian Corps would be the Canal du Nord. The Canal, which is today a busy industrial waterway, was being constructed at the outbreak of war. In this area it was a deep excavation, still empty of water and a formidable obstacle to infantry and tanks. The Canal Du Nord was an – as yet - unfinished rain-flooded canal, 30 metres in width with a dry section to the south. Its level bottom and raised sides could prove to be disastrous for any army trying to take the position. Although not all the British General Staff would approve, the Canadian plan called for a daring movement across the dry section and then for the splitting of their forces; attacking behind the German positions to the left and taking Bourlon Wood to the right of the crossing. Aimed at disrupting vital German rail links and supply centres; if successful; an offensive at Canal Du Nord would undermine the whole basis of Germany's position. Two massive converging attacks, as well as a subsidiary operation in Flanders, were planned. The Franco-American element (the Meuse - Argonne offensive) would begin the offensive, while two hundred miles to the west, an even larger force of British troops, supported by the French left, were preparing to attack towards Cambrai and St Quentin. A total of 41 Allied divisions, under Haig's command, were to advance on a comparable number of Germans. The advance on the main British front would later become known as "the battles of the Canals".
On the left, or northern flank of the British thrust, General Horne – an Artillery Man – and the 1st Army, along with General Sir Julian Byng’s 3rd Army - which included the 5th Battalion machine Gun Corps (and Private 156734: Robert Leatherby) - faced the obstacle of the Canal du Nord; whilst on the right Rawlinson's 4th Army faced the St. Quentin Canal; both integral features of the Hindenburg Line, with marshlands on either side of the Arras-Cambrai road and the high German position making it the most difficult sector of the Hindenburg Line to attack, but attack that eighteen-mile section of the Hindenburg line they did. Once again the spearhead of General Horne's operation was to be the Canadian Corps of his 1st Army who were now very tough, resilient, shock troops. The battle to cross and secure the Canal du Nord commenced at dawn on 27th of September 1918 when the two divisions of Canadian Corps (fighting alongside the redoubtable 51st Highland Division) were sent across a narrow strip of dry land.
Fanning out across a wider front once through the narrow strip, with support coming from Horne’s excellent heavy artillery; the daring thrust succeeded in crossing the canal once engineers bridged the canal under fire and the Canadian forces were able to advance. All the while, the German lines were constantly bombarded by Horne’s artillery. The Canadians advanced hugging their artillery cover and rapidly broke through the Canal du Nord line. Meanwhile, Byng’s 3rd Army advanced along a 20km front further north of Canal De Nord in an attempt to take the fortified German-held high ground in a pincer movement. After a few hours they had crossed the Canal du Nord and were within three miles of Cambrai. At some point on this day of the 27th of September 1918 - Private 156734 Leatherby of the 5th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps Infantry - loving husband to Mary, proud father to Frederick (aged two) – lost his life and joined the Great Fallen. As part of the 3rd Army, he died bravely attacking the German line north of Canal De Nord aged just 23.
Chapter Five
On the south of the line, in the St Quentin sector, the British 4th Army (Rawlinson) joined in the action on 29 September, after a massive artillery bombardment. It was supported by a number of American divisions and the French 1st Army (Debeney). Under heavy pressure from Rawlinson, the Germans, under Max von Boehm, were unable to hold the Hindenburg line, which was finally abandoned on 4 October. They then withdrew on a broad front, not just opposite Rawlinson's position but also facing the British 3rd (Byng), 1st (Horne) and 5th (Birdwood) Armies. The Germans stopped at the River Selle, about nine miles from their original positions, but were soon forced to resume their retreat as the Allies moved forward in strength.
By the 30th of September – three days after Robert’s death - The 3rd Army entered the western suburbs of the town of Cambrai, while Canadian forces were threatening to outflank it from the north (although Cambrai itself would not fall until the 9th of October.)
On the 1st of October, the Germans had thrown 6 divisions into the fight to hold Cambrai; they realized that the loss of this position would place the German forces onto open ground and little was left to stop the Canadian and Allied forces. On the 9th of October, the Canadians attacked Cambrai and by the 11th of October; had secured the entire district with their 37 kilometre advance into enemy territory. This action had resulted in the liberation of 54 towns and villages.
Chapter Six
The Selle line was seized during an attack which began on 17 October; 20,000 prisoners were taken in a significant British victory. Byng’s 3rd Army forced a crossing lower down on 20 October. By the end of the month the German armies in the north had been pushed back behind the Scheldt on a 20-mile front. Haig's forces were now joined on their left by 'the Group of Armies of Flanders' - Belgian, French and British troops - under King Albert's command. It had launched its converging Flanders offensive on 28th of September, quickly taking the Ypres ridge and moving along the coast. Progress had slowed in the swampy conditions of Flanders but began to move again at the end of October. On the right, the French 5th and 10th Armies prevented the movement of reserves to the main battle zone. Haig's offensive resumed on the 1st of November, with his forces advancing along 30-mile front. The Germans were now in a critical state with the army suffering severe manpower and equipment shortages. The line of the Scheldt was crossed on the 8th of November, with Ghent and Mons being freed by the time of the Armistice. The French/American offensive further south had ultimately made more dramatic progress, but it was the combined impact of these two thrusts that finally brought the war to an end. A full cessation of hostilities on the 11th of November at 11:00am due to a German-requested armistice would be in effect. The "Peace Treaty" would take place in Paris the following year. The Great War was finally over. Many men would return to a heroes welcome and to their loved ones, but for men such as Robert Leatherby, there would be no happy home-coming, no celebration, nor even a Christian burial.
There is no known grave for Private 156734 Leatherby of the 5th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps Infantry. His name would be engraved - along with many thousands of his brothers-in-arms who died in the battle of Canal De Nord – on a dignified memorial in The pretty Cemetery of VIS-EN-ARTOIS, Pas de Calais, France.
"The peace, when it comes, must last for many many years. We do not want to have to do this thing all over again in another 15 or 20 years. If that is to be the case, German military power must be irretrievably crushed. This is the end we must attain if we have the will and guts to see it through."
- General Arthur Currie, Commander of the Canadian Corps
The Memorial at VIS-EN-ARTOIS
Part Two: Frederick’s Story
Chapter One
On September 1, 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy was placed on active service, with its main duty during the early months of the 2nd World War being to protect and escort convoys across the Atlantic. In 1940 HMCS Restigouche was given orders to go to the West Indies to relieve the HMCS Fraser which had been dispatched for local defence in Bermuda. After she pulled out to sea, she received new orders leading her and her crew to Europe to assist in the defence of the United Kingdom, for the German Blitzkrieg had struck in France on May 23, 1940. The HMC Ships Restigouche, St. Laurant and Skeena were then rerouted towards England, while the HMCS Fraser was dispatched from the West Indies and also routed towards England.
The destroyers carried out anti-invasion patrol along the channel, but then the Restigouche was sent to St. Valery-en-Caux to evacuate the 51st Division of the British Army which was surrounded by the enemy. She was moving closely along the shore in an attempt to rescue the British division when the German onshore battery opened fire on them. German 88 Artillery straddled the Restigouche with the very first shot, she returned fire, but failed to reach the 51st Division.
The HMCS Fraser was then dispatched to St. Jean de Luz near the Spanish border in an attempt to pick up refugees trying to escape France in the face of the swiftly advancing German forces. Orders were then received for the HMCS Fraser and Restigouche as well as the HMS Calcutta to head to Bordeaux up the Gironde River to rescue more refugees. They never made it.
On the dark night of June 25, 1940, the three vessels were proceeding along their course without the use of lighting which might have given away their presence to the enemy - the Fraser’s position was approximately a mile and a half in front of the Calcutta and slightly off to the starboard (right) bow, the Restigouche followed behind and off to the port (left) side of the Calcutta – when the commander of the HMCS Fraser ordered a turn to port with his intention being to bring the ship around passing along the Calcutta’s starboard side and take its station at the stern. Observing the Fraser’s initial turn, the Calcutta assumed the destroyer was intending to cross her bows and pass down the cruiser’s port side and therefore manoeuvred a starboard turn, placing the cruiser on a collision course with the intended path of the HMCS Fraser. The poor visibility allowed only for very limited reaction time to the impending collision. One ordinary Seaman Wigmore was on watch duty aboard the Restigouche on the quarter deck at the depth charge rails on that fateful night, when suddenly out of the blackness of the night came what he described as a loud, rending noise. At 2220 hours the bow of the Calcutta sliced through the Fraser’s forward deck. On board the Restigouche the crew received word that the Fraser had been rammed, cutting its deck in two sections dumping some of the men into the heavy seas. Action was immediate from the Restigouche as the destroyer’s whalers and carley floats were launched to the rescue of her sister ship. Ordinary Seaman Wigmore was one of the six crew on the first whaler which set out in search of the Fraser’s survivors in the swollen seas slicked with oil from the ruptured Fraser. With a Lieutenant Groos in charge of the whaler, they made their way closer to the scene of the disaster, rowers working two on one side and three on the other. Wigmore said there was very little panic during the rescue operation. He said he could hear survivors aboard the still floating part of the Fraser singing ‘Roll Out The Barrel’ as the whalers approached. There were between 40 and 50 men from the Fraser who’d been pitched into the sea when bow had capsized, but the rear section of the Fraser had miraculously stayed afloat. Many of these crew members were able to jump to their rescuers. In the meantime, the first whaler had managed to pluck 25 survivors from the rough seas and returned to the Restigouche with the boat's capacity of 27 overloaded by survivors. However as they approached the Restigouche with the survivors, the whaler was suddenly swamped as the ship’s propeller pulled the whaler into its wake and all in it were again pitched into the inky blackness of the swollen sea. A number of these were drowned including Wigmore’s fellow crewmember, Able Seaman, George “Scotty” Burnfield of Victoria , B.C. who had only moments before been seated next to him. All during the rescue, all of the vessel's lights were kept on, including the search lights and they fully expected to be attacked at any moment by enemy submarines or aircraft, but bravely, not one light was dimmed. The lights not only helped the rescuers ascertain the position of survivors, but gave courage to those who waited in the inky waters to be rescued. Forty seven members of the HMCS Fraser died that terrible night, including Leading Seaman FREDERICK ERNEST LEATHERBY, but another 118 were saved due to the efforts of the crew of the HMCS Restigouche. The remnants of the Fraser were then scuttled after important papers and salvageable equipment were removed. Ordinary Seaman Wigmore was among those honoured for their efforts in the rescue of the survivors of HMCS Fraser.
Chapter Two
THE SHORT LIFE OF HMCS MARGAREE
When HMCS Fraser was lost in June of 1940 arrangements were immediately made by the Canadian government to purchase a replacement from the Royal Navy. HMS Diana had served in the Mediterranean and Home Fleets and was of a very similar class to the other RCN British-built destroyers acquired. When selected for transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy she returned to Albert Docks, London to be refitted. The refit was carried out during some of the worst raids by German aircraft and the ship received some damage from bombs. The majority of the ship's company was made up of survivors from HMCS Fraser. A few of those survivors were sent on courses in England. Thirteen of the wounded had recovered sufficiently to be assigned to the new ship. On completion of the refit, Margaree went to Londonderry. She was to return to Canada and for passage was assigned as the sole escort for a small convoy of five ships, designated OL-8. It was one of a small series of convoys of generally larger and faster ships outbound from the Mersey and Clyde rivers. The convoy sailed on 20 October. The ships were disposed in four columns, with the 8,300-ton MV Port Fairy leading the port column, followed by the SS Jamaica Planter. The other three ships were in single columns to starboard of Port Fairy at 1,200 yard intervals. Speed of the convoy was unusually high at fourteen and a half knots and ships were proceeding on a steady course and without zigzagging. The first day passed without incident. On 21 October Margaree was stationed approximately one to one and a half miles ahead of the convoy during the first watch (2000 to 2359). The 1st lieutenant, just prior to going off watch, had observed that a fine rain was reducing his visibility and had ordered a small reduction in engine revolutions in order to drop back closer to the convoy. At midnight he turned over the watch and advised his relief of the fact that the ship was slowly closing with the convoy by allowing it to catch up with her. Aboard Port Fairy the first indication of trouble was in the early morning of the 22nd at about 0100, when her chief officer observed a vessel fine on his starboard bow and on a converging track with his own ship. He stopped his engines and, when he saw that the warship was moving rapidly to port, ordered full speed astern, put his wheel hard-a-port and sounded three short blasts to warn the destroyer as well as Jamaica Planter astern of him. He could not move to starboard due to the other convoy ships. It was only seconds later that Port Fairy's stem cut through Margaree's bridge area with sufficient force to break away the forward portion of the ship. The whole bow section of Margaree sank immediately, carrying to their deaths most of the off-watch personnel, still in their bunks and hammocks, as well as the officers and men on the bridge. Lieutenant P.F.X. Russell, the 1st lieutenant, was the senior surviving officer in the stern section. With no bow it was not clear how long the forward bulkheads would withstand the sea and wave pressures and the order to abandon ship was given. Another surviving officer was Lieutenant W.M. Landymore who had been aboard Fraser when she was cut in two by HMS Calcutta. He and Russell went forward to see if any men were trapped. As Landymore said to a reporter in Bermuda a few days later "There was no noise at all. No shouts even in the after part. Not even the sound of escaping steam. There was just the slapping of the sea and us wallowing. I guess I barded a few noises out. I don't remember what I shouted." SLt R.W. Timbrell, who also came off watch at midnight was, at the time of the collision, asleep in his cabin beneath the after torpedo tubes. With SurgLt T.B. McLean who had been asleep in the adjoining cabin, and AB V.H. Holman who was the duty watch keeper at the low power switch board, they had to force open a deck hatch jammed shut in the collision. Once on deck Timbrell and Holman, on orders from Lt Russell, went to the four throwers and two rails to reset the depth charges to "safe". Operational procedures at the time were to set five charges to "shallow" and five to "deep", ready for an urgent attack on any U-boat detected. Margaree and Port Fairy were still scraping alongside each other, adding to the clamour and difficulties. McLean went looking for any killed or injured. But, unlike in HMCS Fraser, there were no injuries. Men either died or escaped with some shock but no physical damage. Timbrell then dove into the boiler room to ensure everyone was out. The decks were slippery and thick with oil from the destroyer's ruptured fuel tanks. Meanwhile the freighter was lying alongside the damaged destroyer, crashing up and down against her with the swell. Of the six officers and twenty-eight men who survived aboard the after section, three officers and twenty-five men were able to scramble up ladders and ropes to the safety of the Port Fairy's decks. Two unfortunates lost their grip on the oily ladders, fell and were crushed between the two ships. Russell, Landymore, Timbrell and AB Holman remained on board the destroyer as the freighter then backed clear. They released a Carley float that had been secured on top of the torpedo mounting and with much effort heaved it over the side. But Lt Russell had thrown a rope from it to Bill Landymore, telling him to hang on tight so the float would not drift away when it hit the water. Unfortunately they had not noticed the rope was only four feet long, so when the heavy float at last slid overboard, it pulled Landymore with it. Even these dire straits, the aplomb of those remaining is illustrated in the 1st lieutenant's shout down to Landymore in the sea: "Landymore, did I give you permission to leave the ship?" The others then leapt after him, and after fighting across the seas with paddles for an hour were finally picked up by Port Fairy as well. Although it had seemed that the after section was in imminent danger of sinking it was still afloat. Not only was the hulk a danger to navigation, but the confidential books remained on board. The suggestion of reboarding was rejected by the Master of Port Fairy. That ship was armed with a 4-inch gun and it was decided to try sinking the remains of Margaree by gunfire. By 1000 Port Fairy had expended all her 4-inch ammunition. At one point in daylight hours an attempt was made to put a party back on board under Russell but there was concern over the fires that had been started and the possibility of exploding ammunition, so they returned to the freighter. When last seen Margaree was listing heavily to starboard and sinking by the stern.
Whatever blame that could be assessed was directed at Margaree since it was her responsibility as an escort to keep clear of the convoy. Port Fairy was praised for her efficient rescue of the survivors. HMS Laconia, an armed merchant cruiser, searched the area of the collision twenty-four hours later. The commanding officer of that ship found nothing, and it was assumed that the after section of the ship had sunk.
Port Fairy delivered the survivors to Bermuda. Landymore had married in London just two months earlier and just two months after being a survivor of HMCS Fraser. And eighty-six of the 142 who went down Margaree had also survived Fraser's collision. The loss of the two destroyers by collision in four months was a bitter blow to the Canadian Navy and the large loss of lives was a shock to all at home.
The Canadian survivors were home by 13 November. The Toronto Telegram interviewed some of them and obtained first hand accounts of the last moments on board. As usual, luck or chance played a role. One young gunner had been on watch in B gun just forward of the bridge. When the gun's crew was told to leave only two men at the mounting and let the others find more shelter, he was told by the captain of the gun to go aft to a gun shield that was out of the weather. He survived, but the captain of the gun had remained and went down with the bow section.
Port Fairy survived the war, although damaged by air attack on 12 July 1943 west of Gibraltar. And of the surviving Officers of Margaree, Landymore, Russell, Timbrell and McLean all eventually made commodore or rear admiral.
FREDERICK LEATHERBY
Son of Robert and Kate Mary Leatherby
of Broad Oak, Rye, Sussex.
PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Devon
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Panel 37, Column 1.
The Memorial is situated centrally on The Hoe which looks directly towards Plymouth Sound.
Conclusion
One might consider Robert EA Leatherby terribly unlucky to have survived much of the carnage of the war to end all wars, only to lose his life a mere few weeks from the armistice. His bad luck would continue after his death. Ironically, his only son would lose his life in the war Robert fought so bravely to ensure would never happen
He was aged just 23 when he lost his life.
He has no known grave.
One might also consider Fred Leatherby terribly unlucky to have lost his father so close to the end of the great war, to have been on the ill-fated Fraser, to have been involved in such a terrible accident and to have been the only Englishman to die in the incident, a mere few weeks into the second world war.
He was aged just 24 when he lost his life.
He has no grave other than the sea itself.
I studied my family on both my paternal and maternal sides for five years solid, getting my data ratified and certificated by experts every step of the way so I knew the data I was uncovering was correct.
Of all the people and stories I discovered by far the saddest was that of my great uncle Robert (my mum's uncle, her dad's eldest brother) who was killed at the end of the first world war and his son Fred (my uncle) who was killed early in the second world war.
Their story seems to have died with them as my mum and the rest of the family knew nothing of it, she told me that she had known one of her dad's brothers was killed in the great war but that's all she knew, her dad didn't like to talk about it and he died quite young (in his forties of a brain hemorrhage) after taking part in an illegal boxing match with an American world champion, it seems some things were too painful to talk about and the loss and sacrifice families endured during both wars was not talked about once peace was secured.
Well I think their story should be told, their sacrifice known.....
The Story of Robert and Frederick Leatherby
Part One: Robert’s Story
Chapter One
Born in 1874 in Brompton, London; Robert Ernest Alfred Leatherby – ‘a plumber and journeyman’ - married one Florence Kemp - a lady four years his junior - of Ealing, Middlesex and together they had six sons in a ten year period between the years 1895 and 1905. Robert (Junior) was born in 1895, closely followed by William in 1898, Walter in 1900, John in 1902, Thomas in 1904 and Ernest in 1905. This is the story of Robert (junior); first-born son of Robert & Florence Leatherby.
The Great War begins in 1914. Robert is twenty.
Having married his sweetheart; Kate Mary Pepper in Uxbridge in 1915, at the age of twenty-one; Robert settles in Broad Oak, Brede - a small Sussex village near Hastings (reasons unknown) – with his new wife, and there, a year after his marriage to Mary; becomes the proud father to a son; Fred Ernest Leatherby. It’s 1916.
At some stage between 1915 and 1918, Robert answers the call and leaves the peace of Broad Oak Brede to do his bit for King & country. He becomes a ‘Tommy Gunner’ of the British Army.
Chapter Two
At the outbreak of war in August 1914 the tactical use of machine guns was unappreciated by the British Military. Consequently, the Army went to war with its infantry battalions and cavalry regiments each having a machine gun section of only two guns each. This was added to in November by the forming of the Motor Machine Gun Service, administered by the Royal Artillery, consisting of motor cycle mounted machine gun batteries. A machine gun school was also opened in France. A year of warfare on the Western Front proved that to be fully effective; machine guns needed to be used in larger units and crewed by specially trained men, so to fulfil this need; the formation of the Machine Gun Corps was authorised in October 1915 with infantry, cavalry, motor and in early 1916 a heavy branch. A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire and a base depot at Camiers in France. The Infantry Branch was by far the largest, and initially formed by the battalion machine gun sections transferring to the Machine Gun Corps and grouping into Brigade Machine Gun Companies. New companies were raised at Grantham and in 1917 a fourth company was added to each division. A further change in February and March 1918 saw the four companies of each division form battalions. Robert’s 5th Battalion was one such formation, formed by 13th, 15th, 95th & 205th Machine Gun Companies. The 5th Battalion machine Gun Corps would fight under ‘IV Corps’ of General Sir Julian Byng’s 3rd Army at Canal Du Nord on the Hindenburg Line of the Western Front.
As the war continued through 1917, Canadian troops had moved their positions up from Vimy to take over the positions of the Australian and New Zealander's at Passchendaele. The battle for Passchendaele (a.k.a. the Third Battle of Ypres) had begun on July 31. Before the arrival of the Canadian forces 225,000 British and their allies had been killed or wounded. By November 12, 1917; Passchendaele was taken by the Canadians and after two days of unsuccessful German counter-attacks the Canadians were relieved by the British on November 14. The Canadians had suffered 15,654 killed and wounded. The German spring offensive of 1918 would retake this position from the British.
Chapter Three
The end of 1917 saw the Russian war effort disintegrate due to revolution. In the spring and summer of 1918 - replenished by new divisions transferred hurriedly from the East after the crushing defeat of Russia - the German army launched a bold new campaign on the Western Front - the Ludendorff offensive, named after German supreme commander General Erich Ludendorff (1863-1945). Appearances, however, were deceptive. Imperial Germany - as many army staff officers admitted - was playing its 'last card.' American troops would not be a significant factor at this time as they were not prepared enough to assume fighting duties. Although the U.S. had declared war in April of 1917, they were just not prepared for war, but the Germans had 178 divisions ready to attack by February of 1918. Their new tactics would involve using storm troops – a lesson learned from the Canadians at Vimy Ridge – attacking the weaker sections of the allied lines, while the main body of troops would move in later. On March 21, 2,500 guns opened up on a 50 mile front of the British line. This successfully pushed the British back beyond the Somme River. Germans also attacked and successfully pushed back the French forces located to the south of Arras. The Canadians expected to be next, as the British forces to their left and the French to their right had already been pushed back. The following is taken from Arthur Currie’s speech to his troops in anticipation of this German offensive:
“Today the fate of the British Empire hangs in the balance. I place my trust in the Canadian Corps knowing that where Canadians are engaged, there can be no giving way. You will advance or fall where you stand facing the enemy. To those who will fall, I say, you will not die but step into immortality. Your mothers will not lament your fate but will be proud to have born such sons. Your names will be revered for ever and ever by your grateful country and God will take you unto Himself. I trust you to fight as you have ever fought – with all your strength, with all your determination, with all your tranquil courage. On many a hard fought field of battle you have overcome the enemy. With God’s help you shall achieve victory once more.”
It soon became apparent though, that no attack would come. The Germans had purposely avoided engaging the Canadian Corps. It was believed by the German High Command that any attack on the Canadian line could easily result in a dangerous slowing down of the offensive if not halting it altogether. The Canadians had never been defeated and seemed unlikely to be beaten back within any reasonable time-frame. Haig desired the Canadians to work as a part of the British line in a defensive manner but was swayed by Currie to have the Canadians go on the offensive.
By the spring of 1918 the Americans were finally prepared – primarily – to relieve elements of the French army to the north east of Paris and allow the French to move toward the attacking Germans to the north-west. After Initial successes; the German Ludendorff Offensive of the spring of 1918 ran out of steam. On the 18th of July, having rebuffed the last major German assault, French forces in the Marne area launched a surprise counter-attack. This marked the beginning of the 'Hundred Days', an Allied counter-offensive. It was realized that the Germans knew the Canadians to be the Allied storm troops – their leading of any offensive was expected, so the Canadians employed trickery to convince Germans that they were now to be stationed back in Flanders and this led the Germans to believe Flanders to be the site of the next allied attack. The Canadians were actually moving in total secrecy - even from the rest of their allies - to Amiens. The Battle of Amiens (8-11 August 1918) which combined air, artillery, infantry and tank offensives was prepared in utmost secrecy, with the aim of driving the German forces away from an area with vital railway links. The code word used by the Canadians for security at this battle was "Llandovery Castle" a Canadian hospital ship carrying both Canadian wounded and Canadian Nursing Sisters. The ship had been torpedoed and sunk in June of 1918. Without using preliminary artillery but using tanks (effective early but out of commission later) the Canadians moved forward at 4:20 am on August 8, 1918. By 1:15 pm the Canadians had more than achieved their objectives. The German lines had been breached and the Canadians had pressed 13 kilometres into German held territory. The cost was high, with almost 4000 Canadians killed or wounded but the results were impressive; roughly 27,000 German casualties and approximately 5,000 taken prisoner. The "Flanders deception" had worked flawlessly. A German POW had expressed amazement that the Canadians had been his foe, as he was told by the high command that all the Canadians had been moved to Belgium. During the next 2 days, the Germans had been pushed back an additional 24 kilometres, 4 German divisions were "on the run" and 10,000 more prisoners taken by the Canadian forces. This victory had liberated 25 French towns and villages and put a stop to the German efforts to split the British and French armies. The German Spring Offensive had been stopped and the tide of the war reversed. General Erich Ludendorff (1863-1945) famously described the 8th of August 1918 - the first day of the battle - as 'the black day of the German army'. By the 13th of August, British and French forces had advanced up to 11 miles eastwards on a 47-mile front, killing, wounding or capturing 48,000 enemy troops. Although the offensive - hampered by heavy tank and aircraft losses - slowed down as it reached the old battlefields of the Somme, the psychological damage that it wrought within the German army was immense. Both Ludendorff and Kaiser Wilhelm II now concluded - in private - that Germany could no longer win the war. Throughout the rest of August, in accordance with Douglas Haig's new strategy, the Allied armies advanced across a wide front, forcing German troops under Crown Prince Rupprecht and Max von Boehn into rapid retreat. They captured towns such as Albert (22nd of August) and Péronne (30th – 31st of August) that had been in German hands for much of the war. The area that had witnessed the bloody stalemate of the Battle of the Somme two years earlier now fell within a matter of days.
Chapter Four
By September 26th 1918 (the day before Robert’s death); the advance in the British area of The Western Front had recovered all of the ground lost to the Germans during the March offensive. British troops now faced the Hindenberg Line - a series of German defensive fortifications stretching from Cerny, east of Soissons, on the Aisne to a point near Beaurains and Neuville Vitasse, just south of Arras. The final bloody Allied offensive against Germany on the Western Front was about to begin.
Four major Allied offensives to attack and try to break the Hindenburg Line were planned at the end of September. The next objective for the Canadian Corps would be the Canal du Nord. The Canal, which is today a busy industrial waterway, was being constructed at the outbreak of war. In this area it was a deep excavation, still empty of water and a formidable obstacle to infantry and tanks. The Canal Du Nord was an – as yet - unfinished rain-flooded canal, 30 metres in width with a dry section to the south. Its level bottom and raised sides could prove to be disastrous for any army trying to take the position. Although not all the British General Staff would approve, the Canadian plan called for a daring movement across the dry section and then for the splitting of their forces; attacking behind the German positions to the left and taking Bourlon Wood to the right of the crossing. Aimed at disrupting vital German rail links and supply centres; if successful; an offensive at Canal Du Nord would undermine the whole basis of Germany's position. Two massive converging attacks, as well as a subsidiary operation in Flanders, were planned. The Franco-American element (the Meuse - Argonne offensive) would begin the offensive, while two hundred miles to the west, an even larger force of British troops, supported by the French left, were preparing to attack towards Cambrai and St Quentin. A total of 41 Allied divisions, under Haig's command, were to advance on a comparable number of Germans. The advance on the main British front would later become known as "the battles of the Canals".
On the left, or northern flank of the British thrust, General Horne – an Artillery Man – and the 1st Army, along with General Sir Julian Byng’s 3rd Army - which included the 5th Battalion machine Gun Corps (and Private 156734: Robert Leatherby) - faced the obstacle of the Canal du Nord; whilst on the right Rawlinson's 4th Army faced the St. Quentin Canal; both integral features of the Hindenburg Line, with marshlands on either side of the Arras-Cambrai road and the high German position making it the most difficult sector of the Hindenburg Line to attack, but attack that eighteen-mile section of the Hindenburg line they did. Once again the spearhead of General Horne's operation was to be the Canadian Corps of his 1st Army who were now very tough, resilient, shock troops. The battle to cross and secure the Canal du Nord commenced at dawn on 27th of September 1918 when the two divisions of Canadian Corps (fighting alongside the redoubtable 51st Highland Division) were sent across a narrow strip of dry land.
Fanning out across a wider front once through the narrow strip, with support coming from Horne’s excellent heavy artillery; the daring thrust succeeded in crossing the canal once engineers bridged the canal under fire and the Canadian forces were able to advance. All the while, the German lines were constantly bombarded by Horne’s artillery. The Canadians advanced hugging their artillery cover and rapidly broke through the Canal du Nord line. Meanwhile, Byng’s 3rd Army advanced along a 20km front further north of Canal De Nord in an attempt to take the fortified German-held high ground in a pincer movement. After a few hours they had crossed the Canal du Nord and were within three miles of Cambrai. At some point on this day of the 27th of September 1918 - Private 156734 Leatherby of the 5th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps Infantry - loving husband to Mary, proud father to Frederick (aged two) – lost his life and joined the Great Fallen. As part of the 3rd Army, he died bravely attacking the German line north of Canal De Nord aged just 23.
Chapter Five
On the south of the line, in the St Quentin sector, the British 4th Army (Rawlinson) joined in the action on 29 September, after a massive artillery bombardment. It was supported by a number of American divisions and the French 1st Army (Debeney). Under heavy pressure from Rawlinson, the Germans, under Max von Boehm, were unable to hold the Hindenburg line, which was finally abandoned on 4 October. They then withdrew on a broad front, not just opposite Rawlinson's position but also facing the British 3rd (Byng), 1st (Horne) and 5th (Birdwood) Armies. The Germans stopped at the River Selle, about nine miles from their original positions, but were soon forced to resume their retreat as the Allies moved forward in strength.
By the 30th of September – three days after Robert’s death - The 3rd Army entered the western suburbs of the town of Cambrai, while Canadian forces were threatening to outflank it from the north (although Cambrai itself would not fall until the 9th of October.)
On the 1st of October, the Germans had thrown 6 divisions into the fight to hold Cambrai; they realized that the loss of this position would place the German forces onto open ground and little was left to stop the Canadian and Allied forces. On the 9th of October, the Canadians attacked Cambrai and by the 11th of October; had secured the entire district with their 37 kilometre advance into enemy territory. This action had resulted in the liberation of 54 towns and villages.
Chapter Six
The Selle line was seized during an attack which began on 17 October; 20,000 prisoners were taken in a significant British victory. Byng’s 3rd Army forced a crossing lower down on 20 October. By the end of the month the German armies in the north had been pushed back behind the Scheldt on a 20-mile front. Haig's forces were now joined on their left by 'the Group of Armies of Flanders' - Belgian, French and British troops - under King Albert's command. It had launched its converging Flanders offensive on 28th of September, quickly taking the Ypres ridge and moving along the coast. Progress had slowed in the swampy conditions of Flanders but began to move again at the end of October. On the right, the French 5th and 10th Armies prevented the movement of reserves to the main battle zone. Haig's offensive resumed on the 1st of November, with his forces advancing along 30-mile front. The Germans were now in a critical state with the army suffering severe manpower and equipment shortages. The line of the Scheldt was crossed on the 8th of November, with Ghent and Mons being freed by the time of the Armistice. The French/American offensive further south had ultimately made more dramatic progress, but it was the combined impact of these two thrusts that finally brought the war to an end. A full cessation of hostilities on the 11th of November at 11:00am due to a German-requested armistice would be in effect. The "Peace Treaty" would take place in Paris the following year. The Great War was finally over. Many men would return to a heroes welcome and to their loved ones, but for men such as Robert Leatherby, there would be no happy home-coming, no celebration, nor even a Christian burial.
There is no known grave for Private 156734 Leatherby of the 5th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps Infantry. His name would be engraved - along with many thousands of his brothers-in-arms who died in the battle of Canal De Nord – on a dignified memorial in The pretty Cemetery of VIS-EN-ARTOIS, Pas de Calais, France.
"The peace, when it comes, must last for many many years. We do not want to have to do this thing all over again in another 15 or 20 years. If that is to be the case, German military power must be irretrievably crushed. This is the end we must attain if we have the will and guts to see it through."
- General Arthur Currie, Commander of the Canadian Corps
The Memorial at VIS-EN-ARTOIS
Part Two: Frederick’s Story
Chapter One
On September 1, 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy was placed on active service, with its main duty during the early months of the 2nd World War being to protect and escort convoys across the Atlantic. In 1940 HMCS Restigouche was given orders to go to the West Indies to relieve the HMCS Fraser which had been dispatched for local defence in Bermuda. After she pulled out to sea, she received new orders leading her and her crew to Europe to assist in the defence of the United Kingdom, for the German Blitzkrieg had struck in France on May 23, 1940. The HMC Ships Restigouche, St. Laurant and Skeena were then rerouted towards England, while the HMCS Fraser was dispatched from the West Indies and also routed towards England.
The destroyers carried out anti-invasion patrol along the channel, but then the Restigouche was sent to St. Valery-en-Caux to evacuate the 51st Division of the British Army which was surrounded by the enemy. She was moving closely along the shore in an attempt to rescue the British division when the German onshore battery opened fire on them. German 88 Artillery straddled the Restigouche with the very first shot, she returned fire, but failed to reach the 51st Division.
The HMCS Fraser was then dispatched to St. Jean de Luz near the Spanish border in an attempt to pick up refugees trying to escape France in the face of the swiftly advancing German forces. Orders were then received for the HMCS Fraser and Restigouche as well as the HMS Calcutta to head to Bordeaux up the Gironde River to rescue more refugees. They never made it.
On the dark night of June 25, 1940, the three vessels were proceeding along their course without the use of lighting which might have given away their presence to the enemy - the Fraser’s position was approximately a mile and a half in front of the Calcutta and slightly off to the starboard (right) bow, the Restigouche followed behind and off to the port (left) side of the Calcutta – when the commander of the HMCS Fraser ordered a turn to port with his intention being to bring the ship around passing along the Calcutta’s starboard side and take its station at the stern. Observing the Fraser’s initial turn, the Calcutta assumed the destroyer was intending to cross her bows and pass down the cruiser’s port side and therefore manoeuvred a starboard turn, placing the cruiser on a collision course with the intended path of the HMCS Fraser. The poor visibility allowed only for very limited reaction time to the impending collision. One ordinary Seaman Wigmore was on watch duty aboard the Restigouche on the quarter deck at the depth charge rails on that fateful night, when suddenly out of the blackness of the night came what he described as a loud, rending noise. At 2220 hours the bow of the Calcutta sliced through the Fraser’s forward deck. On board the Restigouche the crew received word that the Fraser had been rammed, cutting its deck in two sections dumping some of the men into the heavy seas. Action was immediate from the Restigouche as the destroyer’s whalers and carley floats were launched to the rescue of her sister ship. Ordinary Seaman Wigmore was one of the six crew on the first whaler which set out in search of the Fraser’s survivors in the swollen seas slicked with oil from the ruptured Fraser. With a Lieutenant Groos in charge of the whaler, they made their way closer to the scene of the disaster, rowers working two on one side and three on the other. Wigmore said there was very little panic during the rescue operation. He said he could hear survivors aboard the still floating part of the Fraser singing ‘Roll Out The Barrel’ as the whalers approached. There were between 40 and 50 men from the Fraser who’d been pitched into the sea when bow had capsized, but the rear section of the Fraser had miraculously stayed afloat. Many of these crew members were able to jump to their rescuers. In the meantime, the first whaler had managed to pluck 25 survivors from the rough seas and returned to the Restigouche with the boat's capacity of 27 overloaded by survivors. However as they approached the Restigouche with the survivors, the whaler was suddenly swamped as the ship’s propeller pulled the whaler into its wake and all in it were again pitched into the inky blackness of the swollen sea. A number of these were drowned including Wigmore’s fellow crewmember, Able Seaman, George “Scotty” Burnfield of Victoria , B.C. who had only moments before been seated next to him. All during the rescue, all of the vessel's lights were kept on, including the search lights and they fully expected to be attacked at any moment by enemy submarines or aircraft, but bravely, not one light was dimmed. The lights not only helped the rescuers ascertain the position of survivors, but gave courage to those who waited in the inky waters to be rescued. Forty seven members of the HMCS Fraser died that terrible night, including Leading Seaman FREDERICK ERNEST LEATHERBY, but another 118 were saved due to the efforts of the crew of the HMCS Restigouche. The remnants of the Fraser were then scuttled after important papers and salvageable equipment were removed. Ordinary Seaman Wigmore was among those honoured for their efforts in the rescue of the survivors of HMCS Fraser.
Chapter Two
THE SHORT LIFE OF HMCS MARGAREE
When HMCS Fraser was lost in June of 1940 arrangements were immediately made by the Canadian government to purchase a replacement from the Royal Navy. HMS Diana had served in the Mediterranean and Home Fleets and was of a very similar class to the other RCN British-built destroyers acquired. When selected for transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy she returned to Albert Docks, London to be refitted. The refit was carried out during some of the worst raids by German aircraft and the ship received some damage from bombs. The majority of the ship's company was made up of survivors from HMCS Fraser. A few of those survivors were sent on courses in England. Thirteen of the wounded had recovered sufficiently to be assigned to the new ship. On completion of the refit, Margaree went to Londonderry. She was to return to Canada and for passage was assigned as the sole escort for a small convoy of five ships, designated OL-8. It was one of a small series of convoys of generally larger and faster ships outbound from the Mersey and Clyde rivers. The convoy sailed on 20 October. The ships were disposed in four columns, with the 8,300-ton MV Port Fairy leading the port column, followed by the SS Jamaica Planter. The other three ships were in single columns to starboard of Port Fairy at 1,200 yard intervals. Speed of the convoy was unusually high at fourteen and a half knots and ships were proceeding on a steady course and without zigzagging. The first day passed without incident. On 21 October Margaree was stationed approximately one to one and a half miles ahead of the convoy during the first watch (2000 to 2359). The 1st lieutenant, just prior to going off watch, had observed that a fine rain was reducing his visibility and had ordered a small reduction in engine revolutions in order to drop back closer to the convoy. At midnight he turned over the watch and advised his relief of the fact that the ship was slowly closing with the convoy by allowing it to catch up with her. Aboard Port Fairy the first indication of trouble was in the early morning of the 22nd at about 0100, when her chief officer observed a vessel fine on his starboard bow and on a converging track with his own ship. He stopped his engines and, when he saw that the warship was moving rapidly to port, ordered full speed astern, put his wheel hard-a-port and sounded three short blasts to warn the destroyer as well as Jamaica Planter astern of him. He could not move to starboard due to the other convoy ships. It was only seconds later that Port Fairy's stem cut through Margaree's bridge area with sufficient force to break away the forward portion of the ship. The whole bow section of Margaree sank immediately, carrying to their deaths most of the off-watch personnel, still in their bunks and hammocks, as well as the officers and men on the bridge. Lieutenant P.F.X. Russell, the 1st lieutenant, was the senior surviving officer in the stern section. With no bow it was not clear how long the forward bulkheads would withstand the sea and wave pressures and the order to abandon ship was given. Another surviving officer was Lieutenant W.M. Landymore who had been aboard Fraser when she was cut in two by HMS Calcutta. He and Russell went forward to see if any men were trapped. As Landymore said to a reporter in Bermuda a few days later "There was no noise at all. No shouts even in the after part. Not even the sound of escaping steam. There was just the slapping of the sea and us wallowing. I guess I barded a few noises out. I don't remember what I shouted." SLt R.W. Timbrell, who also came off watch at midnight was, at the time of the collision, asleep in his cabin beneath the after torpedo tubes. With SurgLt T.B. McLean who had been asleep in the adjoining cabin, and AB V.H. Holman who was the duty watch keeper at the low power switch board, they had to force open a deck hatch jammed shut in the collision. Once on deck Timbrell and Holman, on orders from Lt Russell, went to the four throwers and two rails to reset the depth charges to "safe". Operational procedures at the time were to set five charges to "shallow" and five to "deep", ready for an urgent attack on any U-boat detected. Margaree and Port Fairy were still scraping alongside each other, adding to the clamour and difficulties. McLean went looking for any killed or injured. But, unlike in HMCS Fraser, there were no injuries. Men either died or escaped with some shock but no physical damage. Timbrell then dove into the boiler room to ensure everyone was out. The decks were slippery and thick with oil from the destroyer's ruptured fuel tanks. Meanwhile the freighter was lying alongside the damaged destroyer, crashing up and down against her with the swell. Of the six officers and twenty-eight men who survived aboard the after section, three officers and twenty-five men were able to scramble up ladders and ropes to the safety of the Port Fairy's decks. Two unfortunates lost their grip on the oily ladders, fell and were crushed between the two ships. Russell, Landymore, Timbrell and AB Holman remained on board the destroyer as the freighter then backed clear. They released a Carley float that had been secured on top of the torpedo mounting and with much effort heaved it over the side. But Lt Russell had thrown a rope from it to Bill Landymore, telling him to hang on tight so the float would not drift away when it hit the water. Unfortunately they had not noticed the rope was only four feet long, so when the heavy float at last slid overboard, it pulled Landymore with it. Even these dire straits, the aplomb of those remaining is illustrated in the 1st lieutenant's shout down to Landymore in the sea: "Landymore, did I give you permission to leave the ship?" The others then leapt after him, and after fighting across the seas with paddles for an hour were finally picked up by Port Fairy as well. Although it had seemed that the after section was in imminent danger of sinking it was still afloat. Not only was the hulk a danger to navigation, but the confidential books remained on board. The suggestion of reboarding was rejected by the Master of Port Fairy. That ship was armed with a 4-inch gun and it was decided to try sinking the remains of Margaree by gunfire. By 1000 Port Fairy had expended all her 4-inch ammunition. At one point in daylight hours an attempt was made to put a party back on board under Russell but there was concern over the fires that had been started and the possibility of exploding ammunition, so they returned to the freighter. When last seen Margaree was listing heavily to starboard and sinking by the stern.
Whatever blame that could be assessed was directed at Margaree since it was her responsibility as an escort to keep clear of the convoy. Port Fairy was praised for her efficient rescue of the survivors. HMS Laconia, an armed merchant cruiser, searched the area of the collision twenty-four hours later. The commanding officer of that ship found nothing, and it was assumed that the after section of the ship had sunk.
Port Fairy delivered the survivors to Bermuda. Landymore had married in London just two months earlier and just two months after being a survivor of HMCS Fraser. And eighty-six of the 142 who went down Margaree had also survived Fraser's collision. The loss of the two destroyers by collision in four months was a bitter blow to the Canadian Navy and the large loss of lives was a shock to all at home.
The Canadian survivors were home by 13 November. The Toronto Telegram interviewed some of them and obtained first hand accounts of the last moments on board. As usual, luck or chance played a role. One young gunner had been on watch in B gun just forward of the bridge. When the gun's crew was told to leave only two men at the mounting and let the others find more shelter, he was told by the captain of the gun to go aft to a gun shield that was out of the weather. He survived, but the captain of the gun had remained and went down with the bow section.
Port Fairy survived the war, although damaged by air attack on 12 July 1943 west of Gibraltar. And of the surviving Officers of Margaree, Landymore, Russell, Timbrell and McLean all eventually made commodore or rear admiral.
FREDERICK LEATHERBY
Son of Robert and Kate Mary Leatherby
of Broad Oak, Rye, Sussex.
PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Devon
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Panel 37, Column 1.
The Memorial is situated centrally on The Hoe which looks directly towards Plymouth Sound.
Conclusion
One might consider Robert EA Leatherby terribly unlucky to have survived much of the carnage of the war to end all wars, only to lose his life a mere few weeks from the armistice. His bad luck would continue after his death. Ironically, his only son would lose his life in the war Robert fought so bravely to ensure would never happen
He was aged just 23 when he lost his life.
He has no known grave.
One might also consider Fred Leatherby terribly unlucky to have lost his father so close to the end of the great war, to have been on the ill-fated Fraser, to have been involved in such a terrible accident and to have been the only Englishman to die in the incident, a mere few weeks into the second world war.
He was aged just 24 when he lost his life.
He has no grave other than the sea itself.
