JOHN BRIAN WILLIAM SANDWELL
John Sandwell was a Pantry boy in the Merchant Navy aboard S.S.Rothermere.
He was the son of Rennie John and Dorothy Phyllis Mary Sandwell of Horndon on the Hill.
He had three siblings – Rennie, Keith and Mary.
John died on Tuesday 20th May 1941, aged 15. Anecdotes in the family say that he lied about his age in order to get to sea.
John worked at the Bata Shoe Company before serving in the Merchant Navy as a Pantry Boy on the S.S. Rothermere, an armed cargo ship carrying steel and paper registered in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The ship was hit in the engine room by one torpedo from U Boat U-98 southeast of Cape Farewell.
Horndon on the Hill War Memorial.
