Loss of a Brother on the Jervis Bay

Arthur was Iris's older brother, 11 years older than she herself. He lost his life on HMS Jervis Bay on 5th November 1940. He was aged 25.

Arthur was a ship's carpenter's mate. It was a reserved occupation, and he did not have to join up but did so voluntarily. He had worked for Shaw, Saville and Albion in the London Docks. While apprenticed there he had formed firm friendships with several workmates including Bill Porter, Charlie Crane and Bill Bruce. When war was declared they were among a group who decided to volunteer together to serve on the same ship.
"I would say 'please don't let Arthur join up'," Iris remembers.

Soon, Iris was evacuated. She found herself with an elderly couple she believed really didn't want her. Later Iris was evacuated to the home of a very kind family in Luckington, Wiltshire, as part of a school evacuation. However, their home was 3 miles from the school, so she was moved again, this time to Alderton.

When she returned home, she found that Arthur was there. As she sat on her brother's lap, she noticed the black shoes and socks he was wearing.
"You've joined up, haven't you?" she asked.
"I had to go," Arthur replied," and I'll be with my friends, we'll all be on the same ship."

Arthur and his friends served for a year on the Jervis Bay, an armed Merchant Navy cruiser, conscripted to escort convoys of merchant shipping at the start of the War. Everything Britain imported, including military equipment and vital cargoes of food, fuel and the raw materials needed to keep the factories at work had to be transported across the oceans. Their work was vital to the country's survival.

During Arthur's service, the Jervis Bay docked at many ports including Sierra Leone, Nova Scotia and Bermuda, where a monument records the ship departing on her final journey. Even in wartime, life had its enjoyable moments. Arthur found it incredible to be rubbing shoulders with people from all parts of the world. Iris describes him as 'always such good company'. One of his skills was playing the piano, sometimes for divine service on board ship. His family were surprised to receive a letter from a lady telling them how much she had enjoyed Arthur's company and piano playing in Bermuda. A young lady in St John, Miss Mildred Carey, also sent condolences to the family.

When the Rawalpindi was sunk in November 1939, Arthur was home on leave. She remembers that he appeared 'quiet and subdued' at this time but commented".....as long as they went down fighting....."

Iris was good at art and sewing, skills which her brother often praised. During his time at home she remembers teaching her brother some embroidery skills - he did 'lazy daisy, French knots, satin stitch and made a sampler'.

Jervis Bay was a liner requisitioned by the Royal Navy in August 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War, and converted into an armed merchant cruiser. Her armaments were seven 6-in (152 mm) guns and two 3-inch (76.2 mm) guns, some of this previously used weaponry dating from the Boer War. These makeshift armaments were clearly unequal to those of better equipped enemy battleships should the vessel be engaged in conflict. The volunteers could have refused to sail this ill-equipped ship, but although they were civilians, they clearly felt a sense of duty to contribute to the war effort as best they could.

Jervis Bay sailed from Halifax on 28th October 1940 escorting convoy HX84, consisting of 38 ships. On the afternoon of November 5th, the Admiral Scheer, an enemy warship, was sighted. Captain Edward Fegen instructed the ships in the convoy to scatter and make for home. The Jervis Bay headed towards the warship, intending to draw its fire away from the convoy and placing itself within its range. Despite being hopelessly outgunned by the warship, Jervis Bay proceeded to fire on the Admiral Scheer to distract it, though the ship's inferior armaments meant it was never within range. Smoke flares were scattered to offer some protection to the departing merchant ships. Against hopeless odds, Jervis Bay engaged the battleship for 24 minutes before sinking, gaining time for the convoy to escape. Jervis Bay's heroic sacrifice saved thirty-two ships with their precious crews and cargoes. The vast majority of the Jervis Bay's crew went down with the ship, including Arthur Desborough and his friends who all lost their lives.

Back in England the Desborough family had been bombed out, two months before the Jervis Bay was lost. They had moved first to a 'two-up, two-down' in Buckhurst Hill, then a rented house in East Ham. There, on 13th November, a next-door neighbour drew their attention to a radio announcement of the ship's loss : 'The Admiralty regret to announce........the next of kin will be informed......'

Desperate to discover Arthur's fate, Iris and her father went to a phone box to enquire whether there were any survivors, while sister, Phyllis, remained at home with mother. So began a period of waiting and hoping for news of survivors. Eventually the family received a formal letter confirming that Arthur was among the missing. Iris says that her parents were heartbroken, but heroic about it all and got on with their lives as so many people had to do in wartime.

Iris herself strongly believes that the contribution of the brave Merchant Navy volunteers to the war effort is undervalued."The Merchant Navy were our defenders and providers," she says. Towards the end of her life, Iris's mother entrusted her with the mementoes of Arthur contained in her 'box of treasures,' including precious pictures of her lost son and his comrades. Iris has never ceased to do all she can to keep the memory of her brother and the heroism of the Jervis Bay crew alive. She and her daughter have researched the story of the ship and her crew, through books, internet websites and personal contacts. In particular, the 70th Anniversary memorial service at Chatham, was a great comfort. In recent months, news of the war in Ukraine has brought back feelings of horror and disbelief.