ss Mohamed Ali El-Kebir

Miss Mollie Simpson of Aberdeen tells of her friend John Brown Johnston (known as Jack). He had felt unwell aboard ship and had gone below deck to his bunk. When the torpedo struck, he was trapped on the leg by a two ton girder. He was released and was with companions on a raft for 8 hours before being picked up and taken to East Kilbride and Hairmyres Hospital. As the sea was stormy, oil was spread on the water with disastrous results for his injury. It was thought the most seriously injured was Mr Alexander McRobbie of Torry, his surveyor, who had a back injury and was stretchered off. Happily this was not the case, and he survived until 1996. To save Jack’s leg, the medical staff decided to retain his foot but ultimately had to amputate. Had penicillin been applied he could have survived. He died of septicaemia on Sunday 25th August 1940, and is buried at Springbank Cemetery, Aberdeen.

Mrs Shirley Dickie of Stuartfield is the granddaughter of John George Wallace from Maud, who was lost. Also on board were his brothers Edward Burnett Wallace who survived and Frederick Wallace who was also lost. Neither of the Wallace brothers has a known grave and they are commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey. Mrs Dickie was puzzled by the absence of a known grave for John Wallace since her grandmother had been sent some of his possessions, and a letter from the Ministry of Defence indicated his body had washed ashore in Ireland. The mystery was solved when a report was found in an Irish newspaper from September 1940 describing the finding of a body at Glencolumbkille, Co. Donegal (see newspaper reports), which was identified from a paybook as that of John George Wallace. The report stated that the body was interred locally. Mrs Dickie wrote to the incumbent of the C of I church at Ardara, who passed on the query to Mr Kenneth King, a retired naval chaplain and marine artist. Mr King was able to speak to Mr Francis Gillespie of Meenasillagh, who had found the body. Mr Gillespie explained that the body had come ashore in a very inaccessible place, and they had had to take a coffin in by boat, but were then unable to get out again. They therefore buried the coffin above high water mark. Sometime later a storm washed it away. Mr Gillespie recalls that it was a terrible time, many bodies were seen floating near the coast, but it was not possible to recover them. Mrs Dickie has been able to meet the man who found her Grandfather’s body. She visited Francis Gillespie of Meenasillagh, Co. Donegal while on holiday in April 1999. She writes ‘So now I have met Francis Gillespie, who was a really nice man, brandy was on the table 5 minutes after we arrived. He was delighted to see me. We went to see Kenneth King first and it was just as well, we don’t know if we would have found Meenasillagh – Francis’s, if we were not so well informed by Kenneth, who is such a character. We finished off the day by driving to Ardara to see Rev. Gordon Freeman (Rev. Freeman put Shirley in touch with Kenneth King who found Francis for her) so it was a very busy day but so fulfilling. I’ll never forget it. Donegal was really lovely, wild, remote and the people so hospitable. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’

Mrs Jean Davidson of Aboyne is the youngest daughter of L/Cpl WAG Rose who was lost and is buried at Ahamplish, Co. Sligo. His widow was able to go to Ireland and see the grave and met the Garda who found the body, and the minister who had performed the burial.

Mr Ronald Murdoch is the brother of Francis George Rennie Murdoch who survived, but is now deceased. He also mentions William Duncan who also survived, but is also now dead. Mr Murdoch recalls his brother telling him that he and William Duncan were on deck when the torpedo struck. Another soldier was standing between Frank and Willie, some metal object, possibly a spanner or such like, struck the soldier, and he was killed outright. His brother’s experience encouraged Mr Murdoch to join the navy in 1942 when he was seventeen and a half to try to avenge what had happened.

Mrs Lorna Glennie of Maud is the daughter of William Thain from Fetterangus who was a survivor, but who died in 1987.

Mr Peter Sim Robertson of Alford is the nephew of Peter Sim who was lost and is buried at Kilcar, Donegal. Mr Robertson visited the grave of his uncle and tells that he met a local man who had attended his Uncle’s funeral, and was able to show him the exact place the body was found. Mr Robertson knows the widow of one of the survivors, Andrew Profeit who died in 1984 aged 84.

Mrs Mary Neilson of Rosehearty is the daughter of John Fraser Garvock, who is commemorated on the Dunkirk Nord Memorial. Her mother was 24 when widowed and Mrs Neilson only 4 and not yet at school.

Mr Bill Alexander now of Watford, lost his father John Graham McLaren Alexander who is buried in Sligo Cemetery. His family have visited the grave. Mr Alexander has been amused by his son who in his younger days talked his way into local Irish clubs by declaring he had a grandfather in Sligo.

Mr George G. Ironside of Bucksburn is a grandson, Mr George Murray of Auchterarder a great nephew and Mrs Lorna Elrick of Cuminestown a granddaughter of George Ironside who was lost and is buried on Achill Island, Co. Mayo. Mr Ironside was a blacksmith and had served in the Royal Engineers in the first war. He could have been exempt from the second war, because of his age. However, he felt a duty and volunteered, again serving in the Engineers. Survivors from the sinking told the family that Mr Ironside managed to get off into the sea and as a fit man and good swimmer he stood a good chance of survival. A witness said he saw him hit by a lifeboat or raft which killed him.

Mr Norman Taylor of Dix Hills, New York is the son of Archibald Taylor, a survivor, from Tullynessle, Alford where he worked in the Mossal Quarry. He recalls his father telling him about his experience. The weather was rough and quite a few men on deck were suffering from seasickness. Mr Taylor must have had quite a good vantage point because Norman remembers him saying that a soldier next to him spotted the torpedo coming through the water just before the hit. He mentioned a soldier being trapped and injured under a collapsed gun mounting and of the problems getting lifeboats into the water. He told that some of the crew who were not assisting were on deck praying to Allah. At the last minute someone with an axe chopped the retainers allowing the boats to fall free into the water below, falling on top of soldiers who were trying to get away from the side of the ship. On deck he was with a soldier who had a back injury and he was eventually able to get him into a lifeboat. This soldier was eventually okay and onboard the destroyer by the time Mr Taylor was picked up. Mr Taylor was in the water in a raft with just a basic frame and suspended netting. He was with one other soldier, and the destroyer went past. A sailor shouted "Hang on Sarge, we’ll be back for you later". Mr Taylor went through the war serving in Gibraltar, North Africa and Italy. He died in 1955.

Mr Martin Hearn’s father was a survivor, and is in a photograph which appeared in War Illustrated (23 August 1940, page 1141). A copy is reproduced below. William Hearn is fourth from the left, wearing a Petty Officer’s cap.

Duncan Warren living in Germany, is the grandson of 2751420 Sapper Peter Warren of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, who was lost from the Mohamed. Sapper Warren is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, which means that he has no known grave. However, in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission register his date of death is given as 12th August 1940, whereas all the others with no known grave are shown as 7th or 8th August. Army Historical Branch have confirmed that Sapper Warren's body was found in the Atlantic by another ship on 12 th August and was buried at sea. This is an interesting aspect, because there may have been others like that, and it could explain some of the discrepancy between the official death toll of 120 and the CWGC records which show about 70.

Mary Dexter emailed to say that her mother-in-law has searched for nearly 60 years to discover some details of the brother she lost in 1940, who was reported ‘missing believed drowned’. He was Gunner William Tyrrell Mobbs, Royal Artillery. Recalling the event she said that by chance a few days before the Mohammed sailed her mother-in-law had met some local stevedores returning from the docks who knew the family and had passed a short note from her brother concerned that his father was dying of cancer. It informed her that he was on the Mohamed Ali el-Kebir but that he had no idea where he was bound and that he had been refused leave to visit their father. This information was all she had been able to glean over the years and she thought that after all this time she would never know what happened to her brother. Through the Mohamed website on the internet, and from all the information she obtained from it, she has been able to set her mind at rest and she says that though some of the information was painful, she would rather know at last.

Brian Edwards also found the Mohamed website and wrote to say that his father was killed when the ship was sunk. As his mother was killed later in the war he never knew what happened apart from a War Office document naming the ship his grandmother had always told him was sunk in the Mediterranean. His father’s name was William Thomas Edwards and was from London, though born in Plymouth, and served with the 706 General Construction Company, Royal Engineers. Brian would be very interested to hear from anyone who knew his father and could give more information on what happened to him.

Mrs Maureen Bending, who lives near Chelmsford, made contact in June 2001about her late uncle Jack Street who was lost from the Mohamed. He had just finished four months training and was in the naval draft going to Gibraltar to join HMS Foxhound. She and her family knew nothing of what happened to him. By coincidence, Stoker Street was mentioned by Mr McKay who survived and whose recollections are given on the Survivors page. While the details of Mr Street’s death are harrowing, Maureen was very grateful for knowing what happened.

In June 2001 Mr John ‘Dick’ Jackson appealed for information about survivors of the Mohamed sinking as he was a survivor and wanted to contact his colleagues. He had been a sapper in the 706 General Construction Company, Royal Engineers. He was one of the English conscripts who went to Aberdeen to help fill the battalion. Mr Jackson plans to visit Aberdeen to meet old comrades.

Mrs Betty Wilson of Huntly Aberdeenshire was the niece of James Davidson Scott, who was lost. Jimmie, as he was known, was a member of the 706 General Construction Company, Royal Engineers and the adopted son of Mrs Gordon of Westlandhill, Longside, near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. Mrs Wilson was 11 in 1940 and can remember how sad her parents were at the news of Jimmie's death. Mrs Gordon pre-deceased Jimmie and he had asked if he could stay with Mrs Wilson's family. They were only too pleased to agree but unfortunately after just two visits the tragedy occurred. A local newspaper, possibly the Huntly Express, reported the death as follows:

Lost at Sea

Spr James D Scott (26) Royal Engineers, who was previously reported missing, was an adopted son of the late Mrs Gordon, Westlandhill, Longside. Formerly employed with Aberdeen County Council, Sapper Scott was a member of a construction company of the Royal Engineers. A priest writing to his sister says that his body was washed ashore. He was buried in a graveside near the spot, and the people of the district placed a wreath on his grave.

Prior to the war James Scott had been a member of the Territorial Army and is shown on the extreme right in the photograph below.

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