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Created July 2001 Rewritten: 30 August 2005. Written and researched by Mike Kemble Copyright ©  2001 - 2005

"Let who will speak against Sailors; they are the Glory and Safeguard of the Land.
And what would have become of Old England long ago but for them?"

On July 10th 2004 a ceremony was taking place on the Pier Head Liverpool beneath the statue of Captain Frederick Johnny Walker CBE DSO***. Attending were a few silver haired gentlemen of Captain Walker's Old Boys Association, some Royal Naval Officers, Civic dignitaries of the city of Liverpool headed by the Lord Mayor himself, the grandson of Captain Johnnie Walker, Captain Patrick Walker RN, local cadets and friends and relatives. I too was there to take some photographs and note the passing of an era. The statue of the Captain was being handed over to the city of Liverpool for safekeeping. It had been paid for and erected by the Association. Following on from this ceremony, those in attendance moved on to the church of St Nicholas & Our Lady, the Seamans church which stands on the junction of The Strand and Chapel Street, directing behind the Royal Liver Building. Here was conducted a ceremony of the Laying Up of The standard of Captain Walker's Old Boys Association. The Association had chosen the 60th anniversary of the death of the Captain to conduct its last ceremony, to cease to exist as an entity. The members of the Association were becoming fewer and fewer as the years went along, those remaining, now in their 80s, were becoming too frail to maintain attendance. These sailors, these heroes of the Battle of The Atlantic, are vanishing fast, as are their memories of life under the famous Captain Walker and their relentless pursuit of the enemy, the U Boat of the Kriegsmarine. Following on from this service, the guests were bussed to Bootle Town Hall where the Standard was handed over to Sefton Council for display in the Town Hall. This was only a short distance from Gladstone dock which had been the home of the Second Support Group all those years ago. The men are vanishing, their personal stories, in the main, untold. But we must never forget their hardships and sacrifices that enable us to sit here and write of their heroic endeavours on our behalf.

During this year of 2004, many such ceremonies of commemoration and remembrance were taking place, over the months, all over the country as people gathered to commemorate different aspects of World War 2 and of the different services and men who fought and died, who lived and survived, these tempestuous times. The same can be said for the following year 2005, the 60th anniversary of the ending of the conflict all over the world. But what of the Captain, what of Johnnie Walker? Here then is my story of the Captain and his men and those gallant little ships he was to command.

Captain Johnny Walker RN

The forward from the book Walker RN by Terence Robertson, now out of print, by Admiral Sir Alexander Madden, K.G.B., C.B.E., R.X.

CAPTAIN FREDERIC JOHN WALKER, ROYAL NAVY, was a forthright and practical man—full of faith and action in every thing he undertook, We happened to be serving together at the time when he heard that he had not been selected for promotion to captain. He suffered great disappointment: but he met this problem without visible distress and in the same uncompromising way that lie met—and overcame—all problems in his naval career. I feel sure that his countless naval friends would wish me to record our joy—for it was nothing less than that—when his superlative work was, later, regarded with total acclaim. This book illumines his remarkable character and personality. To those in the Royal Navy who, like myself, were privileged to know him well, there seemed to be nothing missing from his armoury of qualities; he was a high-principled, courageous, modest and kindly naval officer, who looked exactly what he was—an outstanding leader of men. It would be an impertinence for me to try to add to the great tributes paid to him by famous war leaders. But as a contemporary of his, I am indeed happy to have this chance of recalling the deep admiration and affection in which, over many years, I held this unforgettable youth and man. His place in naval history is assured. Plymouth, 1956

Frederick John Walker was born on 3rd June 1896 the son of Captain FM Walker and grandson of Colonel Sir George Walker. and entered the Royal Navy on 15th June 1909. He passed out top of his class at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, received the King's Medal and did well in his examinations in the training cruiser. He went to sea in May 1913 as a cadet and in June 1914, as a midshipman in the battleship HMS Ajax and stayed with the ship until he was promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant on 1st January 1916 and moved to HMS Mermaid based at Dover. In 1917 he moved to HMS Sarpedon, which was part of the Grand Fleet. A young Midshipman recalled standing on HMS Valiant watching the Sarpedon sail past. This officer was D E G Wemyss, who later served with and took over from Captain Walker. At the age of 21, he became involved in the battle against the U-boats that was to dominate his remaining time in the Royal Navy. In 1919, Johnnie Walker married Eileen Stobart and together they had three sons and a daughter. At the end of the First World War, Walker was sent to HMS Valiant as a watch-keeping officer. In 1921 he began to make a determined effort to learn everything he could about a new subject in naval warfare, anti-submarine operations. He was one of the first volunteers to go to the specialist courses at the newly formed anti-submarine school, HMS Osprey at Portland. During this time he was detached to the 3rd Devonport Royal Naval Reserve Battalion. D E G Wemyss was also part of this battalion. He recalls that they were camped on Salisbury Plain, at Perham Down near Tidworth and were to use used in the event of a miners strike turning ugly. Walker duly completed the course and was and then served for the next eleven years on anti submarine duties either at Portland or on the staff of senior officers.

He was the Fleet Anti Submarine Officer of the Atlantic Fleet from 1926 to 1928, and in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1928 to 1931. Anti-submarine warfare was not a fashionable or glamorous branch and the least likely route for promotion to high rank at that time and was considered by many as a backwater. First he went to HMS Revenge, then to Nelson and finally Queen Elizabeth and during these appointments became increasingly disillusioned with peacetime service in the big ships, but finally in 1933 he was promoted, at the last moment, to Commander and given command of HMS Shikari, an S-class destroyer fitted with Asdic. Shikari at one point operated a radio controlled battleship, the Centurion, which acted as target for the Fleets guns. He was then appointed to command the sloop HMS Falmouth, used as the Commander-in-Chief's yacht on the China Station. It was a bad appointment for an officer interested in anti-submarine warfare. Nevertheless he managed to make the best of it and spent three years in this ship, moving about to suit the convenience of the C-in-C. During this time, Eileen was taken seriously ill and had to submit to two major operations when in China, and he was financially broke. Shortly after this he completed his time in the Far East and returned home, preceded by unenthusiastic reports. Walker now returned to the Valiant as Second in Command and by the time he left in early 1937 he had accumulated more bad reports. In 1937 he became Experimental Commander in the Anti-Submarine School in Portland, and was responsible for research and development of anti-submarine materials and methods, an appointment he held until the outbreak of the Second World War. It was one of the happiest periods of his life and the disappointment of missing the opportunity for promotion to Captain was offset by doing a job he liked and would prove to be invaluable within a few years. For the first time, he was also able to take a family house and return to his wife and children in the evening. The German Navy circumvented the Versailles Treaty by building U-boats and training their crews in Holland, Spain and Turkey.

Wartime Merchant Navy Poster  & Walker collects survivors

By 1939 the Royal Navy had an escort fleet of 201, down from the 477 it had in 1918 and there were barely enough destroyers to screen the battle fleets and only 101 escorts to defended the vast fleet of merchant ships needed to supply Britain. At the outbreak of war Walker was appointed Staff Officer Operations to Admiral Ramsay at Dover. The U-boat war opened violently with the sinking of the liner Athenia, without warning, and the carrier, HMS Courageous. Scapa Flow was penetrated and the battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk at her mooring by U-47. In the first three months the U-boats claimed 114 Allied merchant ships of 421,156 tons for the loss of nine U-boats. Walker was appointed Staff Officer Operations to Vice-Admiral B. H. Ramsay, based at Dover and was responsible for the safe passage of the British Expeditionary Force and troops across the channel. The initial threat came from U-boats, but the Channel was blocked and they were barred from using the Straits of Dover as a route to the Atlantic, and only one U-boat got through. The Norwegian campaign cost the Royal Navy 18 escorts as well as the aircraft carrier, Glorious. When the Germans rolled into the low countries, the Allied armies fell back before them to Dunkirk. He received a Mention in Despatches for his part in organising a part of the Dunkirk evacuation.  The evacuation from Dunkirk cost the Royal Navy, a sloop and nine destroyers sunk and nineteen more damaged. As the threat of invasion manifested itself in German occupied harbours, the defence of the convoys was sacrificed to defend England but as the threat disappeared the convoys' protection was returned although the level of ships being sunk had risen to horrifying levels. In June alone, 585,000 tons of shipping, consisting of 140 ships had been sunk. In March 1941 Walker travelled up to London to see an old friend, Capt George Creasy. He was then Director of Anti Submarine Warfare. Creasy was one of the few men who knew just how badly the Battle of the Atlantic was going. He listened to Walker’s arguments for a sea command and promised to do everything in his power to give Walker that which he so earnest desired. Creasy wrote a personal letter to the C in C Western Approaches, Derby house, Liverpool, Admiral Sir Percy Noble, recommending a command for Walker. On receipt of this letter Noble began the process of having Walker transferred to Western Approaches. In September Walker received a signal transferring him to Liverpool and assume command of HMS Stork.

The 36th Escort Group

Typical of the Escort Groups of the time, the 36th consisted of the Sloops Stork and Deptford (commanded by Lt Cdr HR White RN), the corvettes Vetch (Lt Cdr HJ Beverley RNR), Rhododendron (Lt Cdr LA Sayers RNR), Penstemon (Lt Cdr J Byron RNR), Gardenia (Lt J Firth RHR). Convolvulus (Lt RS Connell RNR), Samphire (Lt Cdr FT Renny RNR and Marigold (Lt J Renwick RNR). The sloops had the biggest armament and the best turn of speed. Having been built during peacetime, they were better equipped than the wartime built Flower Class ships. Captain Walker commanded the Group. Training Escort Groups as a team was in its infancy but off the ground gaining experience from information gleaned in action at sea and Walker now had a chance to put his ideas into practise. But, being in command of an escort group meant staying with the convoy - literally escorting it from port to port. Whereas the later Support Groups would roam the high seas, free of convoy restraint, to act as Hunter/Killers against the U Boat. Cooperation between ships was virtually non-existent and many of his teams, the ships commanders, were strangers to each other. The 36th Escort Group was tasked with convoy escort between the UK and Gibraltar. When their convoy had been delivered Walker would take his ships off and began to impress his training methods upon them, usually independent of so called training manuals.

Depth charge loading competitions between vessels. He pointed out certain individual aspects of the job, refining them. This training, and his way of running it, began to weld the individual ships into a single fighting unit. He also began to evolve the attack patterns which later would prove so decisive in the battle against the U boat. It proved to be the forerunner of tactics worked out in Derby House, Liverpool and passed on as drills at sea. It was here that others began to believe in Walkers uncanny skill and sense led them to their prey. A complete record of Walkers trips would show long periods of inactivity but there were very definite highlights, and some low spots, for the 36th.

Convoy HG76 is covered on its own page here

Convoy OG82

April 1942 and convoy OG82, escorted by the 36th Escort Group was 450 miles northwest of Cape Finisterre on the night of the 14th/15th. It was travelling from the UK to Gibraltar. Nothing had happened thus far although Walker had receipt of a signal from the Admiralty warning of a possible U Boat in their area. Walker had only 5 ships in his screen and the corvette Vetch was stationed ahead as a scout. Also the corvette's Penstemon, Convolvulus and Gardenia were in attendance. Walker's Stork was astern of the convoy, his usual position. Stork was now fully repaired and this was her first trip since ramming the U574 on convoy HG76 at the turn of the year. Average speed on the convoy was 8 knots. At 2145 hrs Vetch detected something northeast and closed to investigate. At first Lt Cdr Buckley thought it was the Penstemon off station, he fired star shell to satisfy his mind and illuminated a U boat, a little over a mile away, steering directly towards the convoy. The U Boat immediately fired both stern tubes, both missing, at the same time the Vetch opened fire with her 4 inch armament. The U Boat and its pursuer were now on a course directly away from the convoy. Walker immediately wanted to know what was going on. Vetch had failed to call it in. The first Walker knew was when the star shell illuminated in the distance. Vetch made his report, clarifying the situation and Walker sent ordered all sahips to remain with the convoy whilst he sent Stork off in hot pursuit. Vetch's speed and the U boats were evenly matched, gunfire forced the U boat to edge way to port, enabling the Stork to close by cutting across the course. Stork's slightly higher speed was closing the gap. When Stork was about a mile and a half from the U Boat, the submarine dived, at 2239hrs. The decrease in speed of the diving U boat enabled the Vetch to close, and promptly attacked with depth charges. The first pattern went over 3 minutes after the U Boat had dived. It was the U252, a type 7C, built in Bremen. The position was 47. 00N, 18.14W. Stork gained asdic contact very shortly after, but Walker steadied the ship and took time out to study the situation carefully. The U252 had reduced to dead slow, in an effort to mask both her own "noise" and to attempt an escape. Stork attacked and did severe damage. Walker guessed that the charges had gone off beneath the U boat. Walker withdrew to reload when his asdic experts, Lieutenant Impey and Leading Seaman Kelly, reported sounds of tanks being blown. U252 was having problems with her trim and it had to blow all her tanks in an effort to surface. It was sinking. When nothing happened, Walker again attacked and the Vetch also, finishing off the U boat. The ships searched, and found, large amounts of debris and human remains. They found a lookouts sheepskin coat, with the number of the U Boat on a piece of paper in a pocket. Locker lids, pieces of furniture and a cork like substance used for lagging bulkheads. No complete bodies could be found to enable Walker to give them a decent burial. The two ships set off on the 4 hour trek to regain the convoy.

Walker on the attack. Lt Ayres on the left

This engagement was to be fairly typical of the tactics Walker and his men were able to employ, minimum signals (in this case 8 only, using 25 words) with maximum effort. There was the excellent team work between Vetch and Stork. The skill of his asdic operators and his depth charge teams in locating, keeping track and destroying the enemy once submerged. His gun crews maintained excellent drill practises and, when it was all over and the enemy was no more, Walker’s praise of his team.

Convoy HG84

HG84 consisted of 20 ships and had left Gibraltar, bound for the UK, on 9^th June 1942 in the early evening. Walker’s 36^th Escort Group was again in charge. Lt Renwick had been replaced by Lt Halcrow RNVR commanding the Marigold. Destroyers Wild Swan & Beagle were covering support. Beagle was to be detached after only a few hours to hunt a damaged U Boat, 400 miles away!  Three merchantmen joined the convoy from Lisbon on 12^th June, bringing convoy strength up to 23 merchant vessels. The destroyer Wild Swan left that evening on other duties. The Stork, Convolvulus, Marigold and Gardinia were the sole remaining escorts for HG84. In the convoy was a specially converted rescue ship, the Copeland. She was equipped with everything required for rescued sailors from stricken vessels. The Empire Moon was equipped with a catapult aircraft (Hurricane) but this could only be used once and the pilot had to either ditch nearby or fly, if possible, to a land base. This was HG84’s sole air cover. An FW Condor had spotted the three ships leaving Lisbon and had tailed them, eventually spotting the convoy. Circling the convoy, it made a full report back to base. Walker tried altering the convoy’s course during the night but, the next morning, a Condor returned. Empire Moon was ordered to launch her Hurricane, got the Condor with a couple of bursts, but cloud prevented any confirmation of a kill, the Hurricane eventually ditched alongside Stork, who picked up the pilot safely. Not long afterwards U Boat radio traffic could be heard giving directions towards the convoy.

Presumed Sunk

With only 4 escorts Walker’s options were limited. Walker could either defend the convoy or take the offensive. He chose the latter. He ordered Gardenia to follow him. On the night of the 14^th/15^th June a surfaced U Boat was sighted on the horizon. Stork and the Gardenia went into full speed and turned on an intercept course. The U Boat turned and ran. For over 2 hours the Stork gained on the U Boat whilst the slower Gardenia fell behind. By 0700 hrs the range had fell to a little under 7 miles, occasional gunfire from the Stork caused the U boat to lose his nerve and he dived, thus bringing down the speed of the U Boat and allowing the pursuers to catch up. 40 minutes or so passed by and Stork got her contact via the asdic. 9 attacks were made by the two ships in about 2 hours and the enemy proved elusive, no evidence of a hit was found. However, one of Gardenia’s depth charges had prematurely exploded, damaging her stern and damaging machinery. It was now about 2200 hrs. Walker left the Gardenia to search and returned to the convoy. Gardenia remained until the following afternoon and had forced the U Boat to go really deep, then the contact was lost. It seemed evident that the U boat had in fact gone too deep and had been crushed and it was assumed sunk, although no evidence had been found. Gardenia left the scene and intended heading for home. She was to rejoin the convoy however, to lend her presence, although she was effectively impotent regarding battle.

Whilst Walker (Stork) and Gardenia was chasing their contact, Marigold had a contact on the other side of the convoy and, anticipating Walker’s command to attack, Marigold gave chase. The U Boat was spotted and it dived, three attacks failed to yield any results and contact was lost. Marigold turned to go back to the convoy. Convolvulus received a message of a possible U Boat contact directly ahead of the convoy. She sped off and soon sighted the U boat, gave chase and was soon out of sight of the convoy. At this point she turned and returned to the convoy not wishing to leave the merchants for too long. Just before it went dark, the Convolvulus made another sweep ahead, in case the U boat had returned, but found nothing. By midnight, or at the latest 0100 hrs, the remaining ships would all be back on station.  Walker had been in contact with the Convoy Commodore, on the SS Pelayo, to make a course change after dark. By 0100 hrs the Marigold was still some miles away from the starboard quarter where she was to be needed.

A U boat was, at that moment, slipping towards the convoy, fired at the SS Pelayo, Etrib and Slemdal before diving deep. All three torpedoes hit simultaneously. Walker ordered his “buttercup” tactics but with so few ships it was only a gesture. The rescue ship, Copeland, went to work rescuing all she could. This was to take a while and there was imminent danger that she could, in turn, get hit. Marigold was tasked with remaining to shield the Copeland. Walker and his remaining ships sped off into the night.

As it happens, Walker’s decision to spare Marigold was correct. A U Boat was soon detected. Marigold illuminated the U boat with starshell and gave chase.  After a quick depth charge attack, contact was lost. Though the U Boat got away, so did the Copeland and her survivors.

Walker had a contact of his own and lookouts spotted the characteristic swirl of water following a rapid dive by a U Boat. He gained immediate asdic contact and let loose with a full depth charge attack. Being the expert that he was, he and his crew decided that they must have scored a hit, but he did not have the luxury of time to search for evidence and quickly drew back towards the convoy.

About 3 hours later another attack was directed on the convoy. This claimed another two victims, SS Thurso and City of Oxford. One of the merchants fired tracer which hit another Merchantman. Stork illuminated the area but found nothing. Copeland again was called into service, collecting survivors. The Marigold again providing cover. By this time it was daylight and a Catalina arrived overhead. Marigold was informed that the Catalina had spotted a U Boat about 2 miles away which was searched and produced nothing. 5 merchants had been destroyed with two U Boat’s probably sunk. 172 men had been rescued by the Copeland, however, the convoy Commodore was not amongst those picked up.

The arrival of aircraft was a welcome relief to the 4 escort ships, but they were in insufficient numbers to maintain constant patrols. Marigold again was sent on a chase, delivering her payload with inconclusive results. Steering an evasive course back to the distant convoy, she did not encounter this particular U Boat again. Stork saw off a prowling Condor around about lunchtime with a few rounds from her 4 inch gun. The night did not promise relief. Of the initial 8 U Boats that initially found the convoy, 6 remained, 2 being presumed killed. Thus far, 3 sightings that day had been confirmed, one ahead, one astern and one to starboard. Walker assumed a bias to starboard if any attack at all came in that night.  He repositioned his ships with a corvette off each side of the convoys bow, Stork remained astern and the convoy adopted a zig-zag route. At 0245 hrs Convolvulus sighted a U Boat off the port bow, she headed it off causing the U Boat to dive, and delivered an inaccurate depth charge attack. Contact was lost.

The following morning, 16^th June, weather was fine and the sea was quite calm. Walker took Stork alongside Convolvulus in order to transfer depth charges to the depleted Stork. The process was so slow Walker abandoned the attempt after the transfer of about a dozen as they had fallen well behind the convoy. At around 1030 hrs two Condors were sighted and were greeted by shots from the ships and at noon a Catalina arrived. Reports indicated about 5 U Boats were in the area but, on the other hand, Walker welcomed back the Wild Swan, the frigate Spey and the Polish destroyer Krakowiak. During the course of the evening Walker decided that a straight run for home would be best, as fast as the convoy could travel. Nothing occurred during the night to trouble the convoy.

On the 17^th Stork developed machinery began to moan at the incessant treatment it was expected to endure. A disease known to engineers Condenseritis became apparent, reducing the speed of the ship to 8 knots, that same as the convoy, on one engine. They tackled the problem and the engines were ready again in about 2 days, mainly due to the efforts of the engineering officer, Mr Hadden, and his hard working men.

HMS Wild Swan

At 0930 hrs on the 17^th, the Wild Swan commanded by Lt Cdr Sclater RN, reported nine enemy aircraft about 60 miles from HG84. This information was followed by the additional news that she was sinking! This bland statement of events covered the fact that the ship had engaged in a gallant action in which this WW1 vintage destroyer had taken on this aerial attack force and had downed something like two thirds before succumbing to the inevitable and had sank. Her Captain survived to be awarded a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in recognition of his own and the efforts of his men.

Warnings of aircraft kept reaching HG84 and one of the air patrol reported and sighted a force of 20 within striking distance of the convoy. However, the only plane that actually arrived was the Condor, back yet again, but at the most unusual time of 2230 hrs. He proceeded then to approach the convoy much closer than was his normal practise and Walker ordered a full scale HA shoot, which he had been trying to get, in training, for months. With this demonstration of firepower, the condor beat a hasty retreat and therein the enemy attention faded and died. Convoy HG84 arrived home with no further loses nor encounters. Walker reported his pride in his men and their efforts but expressed disappointment in the results. He suffered a 22% loss which, in fact, could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Two years beyond seniority, Walker was at last promoted to Captain. It was soon after this he left the Stork, and the 36^th Escort Group, to assume a shore post as Commanding Officer Escort Base in Liverpool.

River Mersey (Liverpool Pier Head is centre right)
Gladstone Dock is higher up opposite the Wirral tip

Noble had noted the signs of strain in Walker and decided that he warranted a rest, whether he wanted it or not. The citation of promotion read” for leadership and skill in action against enemy submarines”.

Admiral Sir Percy Noble called his Chief of Staff in and told him “Walkers promotion and seniority now makes it necessary to make some changes. Therefore I suggest we take the opportunity by appointing him Captain (D) for about 6 months. He should go back to sea by the spring of next year (1943). Unaware of the real reasons for his shore based job, Walker told Eileen, “The Admiralty have only themselves to blame if I make a damned awful Captain (D) – which I shall!”

His figure became familiar amongst the crowds in Liverpool as well as the ships and dockyards. He advised, inspected, sorted out complex problems of refitting, of new launched ships and of secret equipment being installed. At HQ he analysed reports of convoy battles, handled personnel problems by the thousands, recommended awards and reprimanded others. If an officer had made a decision which had proved a near disaster, he would advise and help, but woe betides any officer who dithered. Walker was often invited to Wardrooms aboard ship to celebrate something or other and he showed his lighter side on these occasions. One of his party pieces was standing on his head, drinking a pint of beer.

From the book Walker RN;

At Christmas, Walker gave the first of his few wartime lectures. It was on a subject he believed in passionately and which he considered a number of reservist commanding officers should know more about. “Leadership comes very much easier to those of strong personality, commanding presence, but don’t fall into the mistake of thinking these things are essential. They are not. Nelson and Napoleon were both little squirts and Hitler is in my opinion a figure of fun. Yet Napoleon led a whole nation for some years all over Europe to eventual defeat and Hitler is doing the same thing now. There is a distinction between leadership and discipline. An utterly undisciplined rabble was successfully led to storm the Bastille in 1789, leadership without discipline. Conversely, I have watched a magnificently disciplined body of Royal Marines in a big ship expending foot-tons of energy in trivial exercises, discipline without leadership. A well-led ship’s company can be recognised in any emergency by their ready and intelligent anticipation of orders and the absence of confusion and shouting.” Unconsciously, perhaps, he was drawing upon his own experience in command. It was against the wasting of “foot tons of energy” that he had rebelled in big ships before the war. Similarly, he could not really care how a sailor dressed at sea or whether his hair was cut to the required length, so long as he was keen, efficient and trustworthy in his job. On morale, he dealt mainly from his own experiences quoting examples from Stork and current cases he was dealing with at Derby House.

“I have seen a good many leave-breakers, ship jumpers, drunks, etc.,” he said. “I have a standard speech for them. I tell them what stinking skunks they are for helping the German war effort, doing their little best to lose the Battle of the Atlantic, miserably failing their country in her hour of need. Most of them are shaken to the core by it, some even burst into tears. You must get home to your men that there is no excuse for leave-breaking, that it is not merely playing truant from school, but letting their mates down badly. If a wife is ill or having a baby, the man must realise that his duty to his country comes before his duty to his family.  Another cause of low morale is the difference in pay between the sailor and the dockyard and factory workers ashore. Rub in the honour of being picked for the finest fighting team in the world, and that the country would have been in German hands long ago but for that team and his part in it.”

It may sound harsh to those of us alive in these days of the early 21^st Century, but then again, so were the conditions. At this time, before the turning points of the war in 1943, our backs were to the wall and victory was by no means certain. Walker led by example, and by courage. He expected no less from his officers and men.

Walker’s son, Timothy, had asked his father to “pull a few strings” and get him, now a Sub – Lt, a transfer to submarines. This Christmas, 1942, the family were united for the first time with Timothy on leave prior to reporting to Blyth on a Submariners course. Nicholas was also on leave and Gillian, the youngest, had taken a job at a local garage in order to learn to drive, prior to joining the Wrens. One night during this break Eileen awoke on hearing a noise outside the bedroom door. On investigation, she discovered a Road closed sign and a coke burning brazier on the landing outside their bedroom door!  She told a sleepy Captain Walker who said simply “Nicholas, I’ll deal with him in the morning” and went back to sleep. Eileen spent a worried night concerning a burning brazier on her landing. The next morning all he did was say, “put it back”, and the incident was closed after two furtive figures, that dusk, dropped a cold brazier and a road sign into the River Mersey; probably still there to this day?

Admiral Sir Max Horton

Horton, seen here in his office

Walker’s reputation as a fighting Captain was so well known that, when Admiral Sir Max Horton assumed command of HQ Western Approaches, the first person he asked to see was Captain (D). It was to be the first of many meetings, and, by the time Walker returned to sea, Horton set his standards of efficiency on the level of this Captain. The new Commander was sympathetic to Walker’s ideas for more positive action in the Atlantic. Walker recognised a kindred spirit and proceeded to persuade both the Admiral and the Admiralty that nothing would be gained by sitting on convoy escort duty awaiting the inevitable attack.

In a series of memoranda, he stressed the need for special groups, Support groups, to roam the Atlantic, free of the restraint of convoy escort duty, in search of the enemy. Coastal Command were increasing their aircraft numbers and air cooperation was improving dramatically. Now, of all times, was the time for the sloops and destroyers to revert to traditional roles of seek and destroy. Or, as we now know them as - hunter/ killers. The American, Russian and British hunter killer submarines we are so used to seeing today use the same principles that Walker laid down so long ago. Find the enemy before they find us and destroy them. He noted in his memoranda the new ships nearing completion in the dockyards around the country. One such ship, HMS Kite, a Black Swan Class modified Sloop, was at that moment being built directly across the River at Cammell Laird shipyards, Birkenhead, not two miles from his office.

During one such discussion with Sir Max Horton, Horton asked “And where would you suggest these hunting groups would find the enemy?” Walker replied that in his view it would be the Bay of Biscay, and the mid Atlantic, where they are most vulnerable because they felt safe. Horton remarked that this was around the “chop line” where American Naval units assumed command over the region from the Naval Forces of the British Commonwealth. “Without aircraft you might spend days not sighting a damn thing. You would not take a carrier, and I doubt if we could afford them in this type of operation”. Although he agreed with every point of Walker’s plan, he would not agree on the subject of carriers. However, at the Admiralty, this was not such a problem as smaller escort carriers were being built in considerable numbers.

Naval Intelligence compiled numerous reports from many sources into a composite detailed layout of the Battle of the Atlantic, mainly for the reading of the Chiefs of Staff, Board of the Admiralty and the Cabinet, but all supported Walkers ideals of aggressive warfare against the U boat menace. The report for January 1943 said:

“Now that Grand Admiral Doenitz is Supreme Commander of the German Navy,” said the Intelligence Report, “we may expect all units to operate in support of the U-boat war and we shall be on the look-out for any indication of a change of policy. It is certainly going to be a grim fight in 1943 and though we are not as ready as we would like to be, there have been plenty of examples late in 1942 to demonstrate that even with our present inadequate air and surface escorts, with good training and team work it is possible to fight a convoy through a pack of U-boats and give as good as we get.” (Intelligence was referring to Walker’s defence of convoy HG 76) For March and February the Reports were equally cheerless.  “Never before has the enemy displayed such singlemindedness of purpose in utilising his strength against one objective, the interruption of supplies from America to Great Britain. As a result, engagements were embittered and successes against U-boats high. The months ahead are critical and the outcome of the struggle is by no means sure.” It was at this vital period that Walker persuaded Sir Max Horton to let him return to sea.

HMS Starling

Walker was appointed Captain of a brand new Sloop, HMS Starling. And also as Senior Officer of the now famous Atlantic Striking force the 2^nd Support Group. Other vessels within this soon to be “elite” group were Wild Goose; Wren; Kite; Cygnet and Woodpecker. Walker wanted to broadcast a message to all wives and sweethearts of Royal Naval sailors which the BBC thought an excellent idea, but the Admiralty put an end to it by declaring that the enemy may look upon it as a message against desertion and leave breakers. In fact Walker wanted to help the wives and sweethearts by making them realise just how important they were to their men folk. He considered the ladies back home as vital to the war effort and any person working on war production. Part of the message Walker wished to broadcast went:

“We sailors all know that beastly moment when leave is over and how it would be tempting to seize on some trivial excuse to stay a little longer. I am glad to say that most wives see to it that their husbands return to their ships in good time. I have this to say to those who have wavered. Never forget your influence on your man and keep him up to the mark. Send him back from leave itching to get at Hitler’s throat, not unhappy, worried and anxious about his home. Your paramount duty is to help your husband or son or sweetheart to grind the Nazi face back into the dirt from which it sprang.”

Walker, on assuming command of Starling, requested that the crew members of the Stork be reassigned to the Starling. Most of the Storks crew were “in between” ships as Stork was in a dockyard. Telegrams were issued forth from Derby House informing sailors to report to Fairfield’s Shipyard near Glasgow where job number SL 197 was nearing completion. The yard went into overtime to ensure Job 197 was completed at the earliest opportunity. Accompanying the Admiralty requests for speed was a letter from Captain Walker informing them of the dire consequences if HMS Starling was delayed in any way. For the next fortnight, hundreds of workers, welders, riveters, railway good traffic, towering cranes all worked in unison to ensure the safe birth of the Starling. A jumbled confusion of metal began to take on the shape of a ship of the royal Navy. Lt Impey, Walkers asdic expert on Stork; Lt Filleul and Sub Lt Burn kept a watchful critical eye on proceedings. The latter was a newcomer to the Walker fraternity. During the night they lived in a small hotel and by day, in a wooden shed in the yard. Filleul was overjoyed at being reunited with his Captain. Even more so when he learnt that most of Stork’s crew would be joining him.

At long last, March 21^st 1943 dawned. Commission Day. Walker addressed many familiar faces on the quarterdeck that day. He was satisfied that necessary work up trials would be cut to a minimum, he knew and trusted his men.

Bosun piped “Secure for sea. All hands prepare for leaving harbour. Sea Duty men to stations” Engines came alive and HMS Starling, no longer job 197, sailed down the Clyde and into history.

Whilst steaming down the Clyde, Admiral Sir Max Horton sent a signal to all units stating that, irrespective of the “chop line”, all units would remain under command C in C Western Approaches. Walker’s officers now had some idea of what their duties would entail, but Walker had his eagle eye firmly fixed on the Bay of Biscay.

10 days of trials, exercises, exercises and trials followed. From the start Walker made it crystal clear to his men that their job was to sink U Boats. Everything Walker did was to the achievement of this aim. Day and night, night and day “kill the boche before he kills you”. Then one day, Starling sailed from Liverpool confident and keen to get at the enemy. At the end of April 1943 they received their orders. They were to meet the other 5 ships of the 2^nd Support group off Londonderry and from there to proceed to the mid Atlantic. The 2^nd Support Group became a Striking force on April 28^th 1943 when the six sloops left Western Approaches bound for the Atlantic deepfield where U Boats lay in wait for convoys not covered by aircraft. In command on HMS Wild Goose was an old friend of his, Cmdr D E G Wemyss.

HMS Wild Goose

Modified “Black Swan” Class Sloop ordered from Yarrow’s at Scotstoun under 1940 Build Programme on 13^th April 1940. The ship was laid down on 28^th January 1942 and launched on 14^th October 1942 by Mrs Yarrow as the 1^st RN ship to carry the name. Build was completed on 11^th March 1943 and an anti-submarine ahead throwing mortar (hedgehog) was fitted as well as radar equipment for surface warning radar (Type 272) and fire control radar (Type 285). Following a successful ‘Warship Week’ National Savings campaign in February 1942 the ship had been ‘adopted’ by the civil community of Worsley, Lancashire. This Sloop was part of the 2^nd Escort Group commanded by Captain F.J.Walker  RN , the most renowned of all anti-submarine specialists, who died during his service in sister ship HMS Starling as Senior Officer of the Group in July 1944 (See Relentless Pursuit by Captain D.E.G.Wemyss who succeeded him in command of the Group and was in command of H.M.S. Wild  Goose) she was the most successful of all the anti-submarine ships during WW2.

HMS Kite

Modified Black Swan Sloop built at Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead. Launched on 13th October 1942. Commissioned on 1st March 1943.

HMS Wren

HMS Cygnet

HMS Woodpecker