Herman Barraclough

Able Seaman

Newspaper clippings from the Bradford Telegraph and Argus in 1941 (supplied by Frank Sugden)

Text of the above news clipping for Herman Barraclough:
Telegrams from the Admiralty reveal that two Bradford friends are among the missing from HMS Prince of Wales.

They are Able Seaman Herman Barraclough, aged 25, only son of Mr and Mrs George Barraclough, 2, Cross George Street, Bradford, and Husband of Mrs Mary Barraclough, of Carrbottom Road, Bankfoot.

Also, Able Seaman John W. Holmes

They joined the Navy together just over 12 months ago and were posted, after training, to HMS Prince of Wales, taking part in the action against Bismark, and witnessing the historic meeting between Mr Churchill and President Roosevelt.

Barraclough was an old boy of Carlton Street Secondary School.

Herman actually survived the sinking of Prince of Wales, but was sadly killed as a crew member of HMS Anking.

HMS Anking – Base and Accommodation Ship
Date of loss – March 4th, 1942
Reason - Sunk by naval gunfire by IJN heavy cruisers and destroyers of Vice-Admiral Kondo Nobutake’s task force. These vessels included the heavy cruisers Maya, Takao and Atago (Sentai 4) along with the destroyers Arashi and Nowaki (part of Destroyer Division 4). Other vessels sunk during this engagement included the RAN sloop Yarra and RFA Oiler Francol.

Please contact Andy (Webmaster) with any information.

Andy Wade (Webmaster)

Information provided by

Ronnie Barraclough & Frank Sugden

There is only my sister and I left of the branch of the family in Morley where I was born and where we live. My parents and sisters left Oakenshaw to live in Morley in 1925 to be near my father's work. I cannot remember meeting either Cousin Herman or Uncle George, although my sister can, I was, however, told all about them. Uncle George and my father, Harry, worked together before he left for Morley. In the Great War my father was in the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment and Uncle George was a "sergeant machine-gunner", I was especially proud of them as a school boy telling my friends about their war service. There must be some relations of Herman still in the Bradford area but, unfortunately I am not in touch with any of them.
I attach the two relevant photographs which were in my mother's collection and which are now in my possession. One is of Herman and the other of his father George, he is the one on the left of the photograph with a moustache.
As I mentioned in my previous message I was most surprised to learn that Herman survived the Prince of Wales and when I passed on the information to my sister she too was astonished as, like me, she had also understood he was lost with the ship. I see that Telegraphist Bill Jones survived and then sailed on the Anking but he obviously left it before it sank in March1942, I wonder if he met Herman. The Telegraph & Argus article confirms Herman's next of kin was informed he was missing, but do you think the news of his survival and eventual loss on the Anking reached them, what an awful scenario, I just do not understand how we did not know, although I was young at the time the news did not reach my sister and Herman's father George was so well respected by my father and they were always in contact. It does seem strange.


Thank you and if I can do anything else to assist please let me know.
Regards,
Ronnie Barraclough.