James Walker

James Walker was born in Strabane, in Northern Ireland in around 1895, and after serving in World War one he joined the Merchant Navy. Somewhere along the line he met a Cornish girl called Emily, they married and had five children.

In the very first few weeks of Word War 2, he was serving as an Able Seaman on HMS Rawalpindi, an armed merchant cruiser protecting the North Atlantic near the Faroe Islands. The ship ran into 2 of the most heavily armed warships in the German fleet, and rather than surrendering, the captain (who was Ludovic Kennedy's father) decided to stay and fight. The warships sank Rawalpindi, and 238 men died, including James Walker. If you have ever read or seen The Cruel Sea, the story is very similar to that of the Rawalpindi.

The youngest of the 5 children was just 2 years old; her name was Menenza and she is my mother. Nobody knows where the name Menenza came from, according to Google there is nobody else in the world with it as a first name and a few people in Latin America with it as a surname. I wish we had been able to ask James where he got the name from!

So today my Blip is a little tribute to James Walker, who I have only known as a name engraved on a war memorial, so sad how you never saw your children, your 15 grandchildren and your many great-grandchildren grow up.

This photo has just come to light when my Aunt in Florida was clearing out her house. I also found James's medal, which I had always thought was bronze but a bit of silver dip has revealed to be silver! I am going to get the photo and medal framed for my Mum, an idea sparked by my Blip friend Graham.

Finally, please spare a thought today for mr kagsy's long-standing colleague Charlie, who is in his wife Amy's home town of Palo in the Philippines, along with Amy and their 2 very small children. The small fishing town has been utterly devastated and we have stopped reading the news reports now.