Owen Parkin Morgan – Royal Navy, H.M.S. Gloucester

 Leading Seaman Owen Parkin Morgan – Royal Navy, H.M.S. Gloucester

Birth and Family Background

Owen Parkin Morgan was born in 1921 at Swansea. He was the son of Owen Morgan and Nora Parkin, who were married in 1918 at Swansea.

1921 Census

At the time of the 1921 Census, Owen was recorded as a visitor at 8 Auksley Terrace, Armley and Bramley, Yorkshire. The head of the household was Percy Llewellyn Lee (33), employed as a temporary clerical civil servant with the Ministry of Pensions, and his wife Annie Jane Lee (37), who undertook household duties. Also present as visitors were Nora Morgan (31), who also undertook household duties, and her son Owen Parkin Morgan, aged six months.

1939 Register

There is no record of Owen Parkin Morgan in the 1939 Register.

Naval Service and Loss

H.M.S. Gloucester

Owen Parkin Morgan served with the Royal Navy, attaining the rank of Leading Seaman. He was serving aboard H.M.S. Gloucester, a Town-class light cruiser, during the Second World War.

On 22^nd May 1941, during the Battle of Crete, H.M.S. Gloucester was operating south of the island as part of Royal Navy efforts to intercept German seaborne movements and support Allied naval forces. Earlier in the day, the ship had expended much of her anti-aircraft ammunition but was nevertheless ordered back into an area dominated by enemy air power.

During the afternoon, Gloucester was subjected to repeated attacks by German dive-bombers and level bombers of the Luftwaffe. With limited anti-aircraft ammunition remaining and no effective fighter cover, the ship sustained multiple bomb hits, lost power, and was eventually sunk south of Crete.

British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Of the ship’s company of more than 800 officers and men, only a small number survived. Ongoing enemy air attacks prevented Allied vessels from stopping to rescue survivors, and many men were left in the water. Leading Seaman Owen Parkin Morgan was reported missing on 22^nd May 1941, as recorded in the British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, and is presumed to have been lost in the sinking.

Commemoration

Owen Parkin Morgan
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon
credit - findagrave

Owen has no known grave, and his name is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon, which honours members of the Royal Navy who died during the Second World War and whose burial places are unknown.