Victoria Redfern
I was astonished, when googling my grandfather's name, to find this site. PLEASE get in touch with me if you have any more information, in particular a photograph, as my mother would dearly love to have one.
Charles Henry Whetton was in the Royal Artillery during the war and served in the Maritime Regt, which means that he was a gunner on board merchant ships. His ship, the SS Taber Park, a Canadian ship bringing coal from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to London, was sunk off the coast of Norfolk 52.22N 01.53E on 13th March 1945, a week after his 25th birthday. He left behind his girlfriend Edna Smith and their 2 year old daughter, Rona - my mother. With being away at sea for long periods there hadn't been any opportunity to marry. Fanny Mary Jane, Charles's mother, used to visit, but after my grandmother met someone else and married in the 1950s the visits stopped. This was never talked about and I only found out all of this after my grandmother died. My mum is sure grandma had a photo of Charles and that she saw it once as a child when a neighbour showed it to her, but it wasn't among her things after she died. We'd dearly love a photograph. I have tried searching on genealogy websites and on the British Legion without success for anyone who remembers him or is a relative. PLEASE get in touch if you can help - it would be absolutely wonderful.
Charles Henry Whetton was in the Royal Artillery during the war and served in the Maritime Regt, which means that he was a gunner on board merchant ships. His ship, the SS Taber Park, a Canadian ship bringing coal from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to London, was sunk off the coast of Norfolk 52.22N 01.53E on 13th March 1945, a week after his 25th birthday. He left behind his girlfriend Edna Smith and their 2 year old daughter, Rona - my mother. With being away at sea for long periods there hadn't been any opportunity to marry. Fanny Mary Jane, Charles's mother, used to visit, but after my grandmother met someone else and married in the 1950s the visits stopped. This was never talked about and I only found out all of this after my grandmother died. My mum is sure grandma had a photo of Charles and that she saw it once as a child when a neighbour showed it to her, but it wasn't among her things after she died. We'd dearly love a photograph. I have tried searching on genealogy websites and on the British Legion without success for anyone who remembers him or is a relative. PLEASE get in touch if you can help - it would be absolutely wonderful.
