Last Day of Gunner Ronald Taylor

• Main Author: Their Finest Hour Project Team
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: British history; European history (excl. British; classical Greek and Roman); International history; Their Finest Hour; World War Two; Armed Forces; Atlantic; Battle; Battle of the Atlantic; Britain; British; Europe; European; German; Germany; Letter; Letters; Military; Naval; Naval Warfare; Navy; Portrait; RN; Royal; Royal Navy; Sea; Sea Battle; Ship; Ships; UK; United Kingdom; Wales; Welsh; Gunner; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.25923157.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/online_resource/Last_Day_of_Gunner_Ronald_Taylor/25923157

Ronald Taylor was born in a small Welsh village, Talywain, in 1922. He was the first born of six boys to Dorothy and Wilfred Taylor. Ronald had just turned 20 years old when he joined the Royal Navy in March 1942. He was trained as a Gunner. Before he went to sea he returned home to his family for a short visit. My father, who was 10 years old at the time, recalled walking with Ronald back to the village train station carrying his cloth rucksack and on saying goodbye Ronald gave him a piece of his lapel string to keep safe till he returned. On returning to Portsmouth Ronald served on the ship Glendower, the Wellesley and finally he boarded the Otina in December 1942. This ship was part of a convoy of 43 ships, which was part of the British escort group B7 consisting of the Destroyers Firedrake and Ripley and the corvettes Sunflower, Loosestrife, Alsima and Pink. They were travelling through the North Atlantic, from Belfast to New York. A quarter of the way through their journey they were stalked by a German "Wolf Pack" ( a group of German submarines). On the night of the 21st December at 21.00 hours his ship was torpedoed twice and within 45 minutes the ship sank killing all 60 crew members. Ronald was one of seven Royal Navy Gunners on board.