Thomas George Davies – Merchant Navy (Norwegian Service), S.S. Bjørnvik

Mess Room Boy Thomas George Davies – Merchant Navy (Norwegian Service), S.S. Bjørnvik

Early Life

Thomas George Davies was born in 1925 in Swansea, the son of Thomas George Davies and Gwladys Maria Medland Longhurst. He grew up in the Swansea area before entering wartime service at sea.

Service at Sea

Thomas George served as a Mess Room Boy aboard the S.S. Bjørnvik, a Norwegian merchant vessel operating in British waters during the Second World War. Many British seafarers served on Allied and neutral ships, and although they faced the same dangers as British‑registered crews, their deaths were not always recorded in the British Merchant Navy registers.

Sinking of the S.S. Bjørnvik – 29^th January 1942

S.S. Bjørnvik 

The S.S. Bjørnvik met her end off The Lizard, Cornwall, on 29 January 1942, when she was attacked by German aircraft. During a highly accurate bombing run, five bombs struck the vessel in a single pass, causing devastating structural damage. The explosions tore the ship apart, and she sank almost immediately, giving the crew virtually no chance to escape.

The attack was so sudden and destructive that few details survive, and contemporary reports differ slightly on the exact date—Norwegian sources list 28^th January, while British Admiralty records and casualty lists record 29^th January, the date now generally accepted. Among those lost in the sinking was Mess Room Boy Thomas George Davies, one of several British sailors serving aboard the Norwegian vessel.

Commemoration

Thomas George Davies
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Histroical Research Resources.
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Because the Bjørnvik sailed under the Norwegian flag, Thomas George’s death was not initially recorded as that of a British seaman. However, his service and sacrifice have since been formally recognised, and his name appears on the Addenda Panel at the Tower Hill Memorial, London, which honours Merchant Navy personnel who died at sea with no known grave.