August Pieter LAMMENS

Royal Navy Section Belge

No. D/SB/JX 9

August Lammens, “Gust” for those close to him, was born in Oostduinkerke,

a small village on the Belgian coast, on New Year’s Day of 1922.

His parents were Alphonse Joseph Lammens, a WWI veteran, and Maria

Louise Tange. Gust would hardly know his father : he died in November

1924.

At some point in time, Gust and his mother moved house to nearby

Nieuwpoort, where they lived at Goedhuysstraat 99 and where, on 28

October 1938, our young man received notification of his being enrolled,

effective from 1 January 1939, in the Belgian armed forces pool for future

military training with the class of 1942.

The German invasion of Belgium on 10 May 1940 intervened, however, and

we find proof of Gust having escaped and ending up in Preston, Lancashire,

where he applies to the Belgian government in exile in London, in January

1941, to join the Royal Navy.

Shortly afterwards, on 10 February 1941, he is at HMS Royal Arthur, a

Royal Navy shore establishment near Skegness, with the rank of Ordinary

Seaman and enrolled with No. D/SB/JX 9.

HMS ROYAL ARTHUR : SKEGNESS (LINCOLNSHIRE)

SHORTLY AFTER THE START OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE ADMIRALTY REQUISITIONED THE BUTLINS HOLIDAY CAMP AT

INGOLDMELLS NEAR SKEGNESS TO BE THE FIRST ROYAL ARTHUR STONE FRIGATE (LAND BASED ESTABLISHMENT). IT WAS

COMMISSIONED AS A TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT ON 22 SEPTEMBER 1939.

IT SERVED THROUGHOUT THE SECOND WORLD WAR AS THE CENTRAL RECEPTION DEPOT FOR NEW NAVAL RECRUITS AFTER HMS

RALEIGH WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE BRITISH ARMY IN FEBRUARY 1944. ROYAL ARTHUR CONTINUED IN SERVICE UNTIL BEING PAID

OFF IN 1946.

THE PETTY OFFICER IN CHARGE MEETS TRAINEE BELGIAN SAILORS AS THEY ARRIVE AT HMS ROYAL ARTHUR, SKEGNESS,

LINCOLNSHIRE.

He would stay there till 19 March and was then posted to HMS Lochinvar, a

shore establishment for minesweeping training in the Firth of Forth,

Scotland and had already been promoted to A.B. (Able Seaman).

Gust would get his first posting on a warship less than a month later as on

16 April 1941, he is part of the crew of HMS Raitea, a patrol boat. On 9

September of the same year, he’s transferred to the Plymouth naval base of

Devonport, known as HMS Drake, until he’s posted to HMS Kernot (formerly

P16 of the Belgian Navy Corps) on 7 January 1942.

Former P16 & HMS Kernot, renamed Commandant Fourcault in the 1950’s

He would remain on board till his return to HMS Drake on 17 October. A

month later, he boards HMS Phrontis, an armed trawler, for another stint at

sea duty.

S.T. Phrontis (FD 142)

Official Number : 132405 Admiralty number : 520 Pennant number : 4.141 Gross tonnage : 288 Length : 130 ft - 39,6 m Engine : 90 hp

Speed : 16 knots Armament : 1 x 12 pdr Built by : Cochrane & Sons Ltd, Selby, 1911 Owner : Mount Steam Fishing Co Ltd History 1911 : To Fleetwood from new September 1914 : Requisitioned as minesweeper 1919 : Returned to owners May 1940 : Served with the Auxiliary Patrol Service 1942 : Manned by a Belgian crew 1943 : Manned by RN crew and converted as M/S 1945 : Returned to owners

1955 : Scrapped

On 7 May 1943, he’s back at HMS Drake but is transferred to HMS Defiance

on 22 May. As this was the Royal Navy’s torpedo school established at

Devonport, Plymouth, it can be assumed he followed a course there. A

document in Gust’s military file mentions him qualifying at the time (14

August 1943) as S.T. (which is believed to stand for “seaman torpedoman”).

Shortly after, on 24 August, he boards his next ship, the small Flower class

corvette HMS Buttercup of which he will remain a crew member until 5 July

1944. It will take him on convoy escort duties to the Azores, the USA

(Liverpool-Halifax convoys) and once in the Mediterranean.

HMS Buttercup

18 August 1943 : HMS Buttercup sails to Tobermory - Scotland for excercising.

3 September 1943 : Back in Liverpool. Taking on supplies.

26 September 1943 : sailing to Greenock - Scotland

29 September 1943 : sailing with B5-Group. Escorting small convoy UA1. Destination Azores islands. Arrival 8 October.

24 October 1943 : mission : reinforcing England-Africa convoy KMS30. This convoy was subjected to attacks by 18 submarines.

5 November 1943 : escorting convoy from the Azores to Liverpool. Arrival : 12 November

26 November 1943 : sailing with B5-Group to St Johns (Newfoundland). Escorting

convoy ON214. Arrival on 15 December. The convoy had been attacked by 16

submarines.

18 December 1943: Escorting convoy SC149 to Liverpool. Arriving on 30 December.

9 January 1944 : Sailing to St Johns. Arrival 29 January after a very difficult crossing

through exceptionally bad weather.

1 February 1944 : Escorting a convoy to Liverpool. Arrival 12 February

20 February 1944 : Escorting a convoy to Argentia (Newfoundland). Arrival : 3 March.

10 March 1944 : Escorting convoy back to Liverpool. Arrival on 22 March.

22 March 1944 : HMS Buttercup has to go into drydockafter an accident with its

rudder, resulting in a collision with a merchant ship while setting course for the

Mersey. The repairs last till 16 May.

His service time with the ship was cut short as his Foreign Service Card

states him being at the Royal Navy Hospital in Seaforth between 23 April and

13 July 1944.

During that time (1 July 1944), he receives his first medal, the Maritime

Medal, for two years of good and loyal service as a volunteer in the RNSB.

Near the end of his hospitalization, on 6 July, August is transferred back to

HMS Drake. After a couple of months, on 5 September 1944, he’s joining

HMS Odyssey. This was a Combined Operations accounting base located in

the Collingwood Hotel, Ilfracombe, Devon. During the next 14 months he

appears to have been in “naval parties” in Operation Cockfosters (N.P. 1730)

and N.P. 0501 – most likely a misnomer for N.P. 1501, and briefly in N.P.

1763 (HMS Royal Edmund).

Cockfosters (N.P. 1730) was the party for the port of Hamburg between Oct.

1944 and March 1945 and seems to have landed up in Ostend in April 1945.

N.P. 1501 was a large port party for Antwerp initially but later on some of

the personnel was sent off on smaller parties for Ghent, Zeebrugge and

Ostend

HMS Royal Edmund (N.P. 1763) was the port party for Ostend, formerly

belonging to N.P. 1501.

HMS ODYSSEY

ODYSSEY was the name given to the Collingwood Hotel at Ilfracombe (North Devonshire) when it was taken over by the Royal Navy in WW2. It was actually only an "accounting base" - i.e. it was the pay and administration centre for personnel on detached duties; in this case it was for those assigned to Naval Parties.

A Naval Party (NP) is a group of officers and ratings formed to fulfil a specific task in a location or during an operation, and may well be mobile; they are given a number (i.e. "NP.1730").

ODYSSEY opened in November 1943 and closed in May 1946.

In 1944 - 46 there were a large number of NP's formed to take over and run the various ports and harbours in continental Europe after the D-day landings. They often recruited local labour to clear up war damage.

1730 was HMS Royal Albert (London and Berlin) The NP was trained to take over the port of Hamburg once it had fallen to the allies. They landed in Northern France and travelled behind the Canadian Army front line which swept along the north of Europe through France, Belgium and Holland into Germany. Hamburg actually fell on May 3rd 1945, so the NP "lived rough" for about 6 months. They recruited local

labour to clear up the massive war damage.

August’s various service papers are a bit vague, often confusing and even at

times erroneous on this period but it is probable he started in the

Cockfosters party on 5 September 1944 and transferring into N.P. 1501 at

Ostend in April 1945 and continuing there with N.P. 1763 (HMS Royal

Edmund) from 10 to 14 December 1945 and 22 to 31 January 1946. The

period in between those last two assignments his service records mention

him to be at the M.S. Base. This quite likely stands for Minesweeping base.

On 1 February 1946 August’s RNSB involvement ended as he was

transferred to the newly formed Belgian Navy (Force Navale). At the end of

March he is then sent on indeterminate leave and a document dated 13 June

of that same year shows him living in Nieuwpoort.

He also got married in this period : sometime between end February and

early October, Elizabeth, Hilda Baird, originally from 77 Mauritius Road,

Greenwich, SE 10, became his wife.

He was transferred into the Naval Reserve on 1 April 1947.

In March 1949 he appears to be temporarily living in London as a RN letter

is addressed to him at 2 Milton Road, Hern Hill, London SE24. However,

further paperwork will place him back in Nieuwpoort in 1952 and he

appears to have joined the Compagnie Maritime Belge in October of that year

on board the “Mar del Plata”, a 7 ton freighter plying the Antwerp-Congo

route.

End of 1954, Gust is sent on definitive leave by the Belgian Navy.

A document of 8 December 1959 shows him having moved house but still

living in Nieuwpoort. We can also assume he kept on working for the CMB as

on 13 July 1962, he is awarded the Labour Decoration, 2nd class.

On 9 March 1977, when he receives notification of his war pension having

been approved, he is living in Zoersel, near Antwerp. It is in this village that

he will learn of his being awarded his last medal, the Laureate of Labour

Decoration in Bronze.

August Pieter Lammens died in Zoersel on 3 January 2003, aged 81.

He was entitled to the following medals :

The Maritime Medal 1940-1945 (certificate 1 June 1944) The Volunteer Medal 1940-1945 (certificate 16 April 1947)

The Commemorative Medal of the War 1940-1945 with crossed anchors and bronze crown (certificate 1 August 1946, crown device document 16 April 1947) The Labour Decoration, 2nd class (handwritten note 13 July 1962, later confirmed by

letter received) The Laureate of Labour Decoration in Bronze (letter 4 October 1977)

The 1939-45 Star (autoport document 11 August 1954) The Atlantic Star with France and Germany clasp (autoport document 11 August

1954) The Africa Star (autoport document 11 August 1954)

The War Medal 1939-45 (document refusing the wearing of it, dated11 August 1954)

It is doubtful he ever wore these medals as they were found mounted in a self-made frame, the Commemorative Medal missing ribbon devices, the Atlantic Star without its France and Germany clasp and the Laureate of

Labour Decoration missing altogether. Also the War Medal was misnamed within the frame. The lapel ribbon devices were in pristine condition and

appeared unused as well.

Annex 1 : Original medal frame made by August Pieter Lammens

Annex 2 : Maritime Medal 1940-1945 certificate

Annex 3 : Volunteer Medal certificate as found with a miniature medal

attached

Annex 4 : Commemorative Medal of the War 1940-1945 with crossed

anchors certificate

Annex 5 : Permission to wear a bronze crown device on the Commemorative

Medal’s ribbon

Annex 6 : Original British medals award slip

Annex 7 : autoport document for British medals

Annex 8 : War Combattant’s Card

Annex 9 : lapel ribbons as found

Annex 10 : Current display of the completed medal group

Sources :

Documents from the estate of August Lammens

Service Records of August Lammens at the National Military Archives in

Evere, Belgium

NAVAL PARTIES of the ROYAL NAVY, 1942-1991 Compiled by Lt Cdr Ben

Warlow, RN (Rtd), October 1995 (http://www.naval-history.net/xBW-

RNNavalParties.htm)

Wikipedia