Description
Father and son groups – Father Royal West Kent Regiment, Son Killed in Action on H.M.S. Juno off the coast of Crete 1941.
British War Medal, 204335 Pte F.S. Creese. R.W. Kent. R.; India General Service, 1908, clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919, 204335 Pte F.S. Creese R.W. Kent. R.
1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; 1939-45 War medal; Condolence slip, Sidney Francis Creese; Box of issue addressed to F.S. Creese, Tunbridge Wells.
Father – Francis Sidney Creese was born on the 12th November 1879 in Malvern, Worcestershire.
He married Minnie Ford in April 1905 and lived in Tonbridge, Kent. They had a son, Sidney Francis Creese.
His MIC confirms entitlement to just his BWM for WW1 service, and the medal roll for his India General Service medal confirms this clasp, both whilst serving in 1/4th Royal West Kent Regiment.
He died on the 29th March 1956 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Son – Sidney Francis Creese was born on the 12th July 1905.
He enlisted into the Navy on the 21st September 1923. he served on various ships including:
Benbow 22nd August 1924 to 16th March 1925, Blenheim 16th April 1925 to 16th February 1926, Ark Royal to 12th January 1927, Cyclamen from 14th February 1927 to 31st August 1929, Cardiff from 1st April 1931 to 14th July 1943, Orion from 17th January 1934 to 29th August 1935, Tamar 2 (Dutchess) from 15th November 1935 to 2nd April 1938, Caledon (Calcutta) from 30th November 1938 to 11th January 1939, then Pembroke II (Escourt) to 23rd August 1939, then Pembroke II (Juno) to 1st November 1939, then Raven II (Juno) to 1st June 1939, Nile (Juno) to 21st May 1941. When he was discharged dead.
H.M.S. Juno during the second world war:
The initial work-up of the ship and her crew was interrupted by the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, and on 6 September 1939, Juno and sister ships Janus and Jackal escorted the Norwegian steamer SS Batavia, carrying the staff of the British embassy in Berlin across the North Sea from Rotterdam to the Tongue lightship in the Thames estuary. She then resumed training and work up activities based at Devonport for the remainder of September, joining the 7th Destroyer Flotilla based on the Humber and operating off the east coast of Britain, with duties including patrols and escorting convoys. On the night of 6/7 December 1939, Juno and Jersey were on patrol off Cromer when they encountered two German destroyers, Hans Lody and Erich Giese, returning from a minelaying sortie. Juno and Jersey did not spot the two German ships, which launched 7 torpedoes, one of which hit Jersey. Juno in response, searched for a submarine, which was believed to have fired the torpedo, allowing the German destroyers to escape unchallenged. When it was realised that there was no submarine, Juno took Jersey under tow, taking the damaged destroyer to Immingham.
Juno continued in service with the 7th Flotilla until March 1940, with her service interrupted by a refit at Kingston upon Hull from 5 February to 2 March 1940 and by repairs to her feedwater tanks from 9 to 20 March. On 5 April 1940, Juno left Methil together with the destroyers Javelin, Janus and Grenade as escort to the Norway-bound convoy ON.25. The convoy met up with the covering cruisers Manchester and Southampton on 7 April, but later that day, reports of German heavy warships at sea caused the convoy to return to Britain. The reported German ships were, in fact, part of the German fleet taking part in the German invasion of Norway. Juno operated with the Home Fleet through April 1940 in operations to oppose the invasion. On 17 April, Juno, together with Janus, Kipling and Hereward, escorted the cruiser Suffolk as the cruiser shelled the airfield at Sola, Norway. The force came under heavy air attack, and Suffolk was hit by a bomb and badly damaged. On 23 April, Juno left Scapa Flow as part of the escort for the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Glorious as the carriers provided air cover for landings at Åndalsnes and Namsos, the force returning to Scapa on 3 May.
On 18 May, Juno joined the 14th Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet. In June, the flotilla participated in sweeps for Italian convoys, and in escorting Allied evacuation convoys MF1 and MS1 from Malta. In July, it carried out a bombardment of Bardia, Libya and participated in the Battle of Calabria. Juno spent the remainder of 1940 escorting convoys to Malta, bombarding Italian shore positions, and accompanying fleet movements including Operation Collar. In January 1941, Juno participated in Operation Excess, and in March took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
Attacked and sunk.
Juno was attacked and sunk by five Italian CANT Z.1007 aircraft from 210th group, led by Lt. Mario Morassutti, as she steamed with the Mediterranean Fleet against the German sea-borne invasion of Crete and sank 30 nautical miles south-east of Crete on 21 May 1941.
It is believed that 116 crew lost their lives after 3 powerful explosions split Juno in two, sinking her in around 97 seconds
Condition – NEF
