Crew Notes: D - G
This page is about the crew members I do not yet have enough information to create their own page.
William "Bill" James Dalton
Bill served on HMNZS Gambia as a Leading Signalman He passed away in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 2006.
W. "Willie" Davison NZD 66
Willie Davison was born September 1, 1899 in the United Kingdom. He saw service in the Royal Navy in the First World War. He then came to New Zealand in 1920 as part of the ships company of HMS Chatham and elected to transfer to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy on October 1, 1923 as Yeoman of Signals. As Yeoman of Signals in 1928, with his service term up, he joined the Naval Volunteer Reserve. He was later awarded the Royal Naval Volunteer Decoration in recognition of his long service and good conduct. He re-joined the Navy "until the end of the present emergency" in 1941, initially being posted to the shore installation Philomel. He subsequently served on the cruisers HMNZS Achilles and Gambia and then in HMNZS Cook as Temproary Leading Signalman before he was discharged on April 16, 1946.
For his service he was awaeded the British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1939-1945 Star, Atlantic Star, Pacific Star (Burma Clasp), War Medal, New Zealand War Service Medal, and the Royal Fleet Reserve Long Sevice and Good Conduct Medal.
Graham Dench
Graham Dench served a Royal Marine Bandsman on HMS Gambia for the 1957/58 commission. His service number was RMB/X 3236 and he served from 1954 to 1963. Other ships Graham served on were HMS Ocean (1957 - 1957), HMS Gambia (1957 - 1958), and HMS St. Vincent (1958 - 1962).
James "Jim" Dixon
Jim was born in 1924 and served on HMNZS Gambia during WWII as a stoker.
Charles Edmund Donegan SSX 865677
Charles Donegan was an Able Seaman on HMS Gambia and who died on April 11, 1953. He is buried at Kalkara Naval Cemetery on Malta.
Doug (Harry) Doughty
The obituary page of the June 1997 issue of Navy News lists Doug (Harry) Doughty as being a stoker mechanic who served in the navy from 1944 to 1952. Harry is listed as serving on Gambia, Magnet, Consort (Yangtse Incident), Mendip, Alaunia, and Illustrious. He was a member of the Consort Association.
P. Douglas
The obituary page of the December 2001 issue of Navy News lists P. Douglas as being a Lieutenant Commander who served on Gambia, Wild Goose, Duke of York, Javelin, Holderness, Dulverton, Derwent, Griffin, and Glasgow.
William "Bill" G. Dungate
Lt Cdr William "Bill" G Dungate SD (G) (Gdagger) Gunnery Royal Victorian Medal (RVM). Bill served in the navy from 1943 to 1983. He served on HMS Gambia as a Chief Petty Officer on the 1958 - 1960 commission. He also served on HMS Anson, Sussex, Belfast, Superb, Theseus, Vanguard, Gambia, Llandaff, Rothesay and Yarmouth, also HMS Excellent (Whale Island), Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth (BRNC). He was commanding officer, Fraser Gunnery School, Portsmouth and served as the Director of Surface Weapons Projects at the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE). Bill passed away on January 21, 2017 aged 88.
A. Dunthorn
Mr. Dunthorn served on HMS Gambia's 1952 to 1954 commission as Sick Berth Chief Petty Officer. He passed away on January 3, 2004.
Allan John Erskine
A/POSM Allan Erskine's service number was NZ11711. He saw service in korea with the New Zealand Navy. He passed away on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, peacefully at home aged 90.
Frank E. Farmer
Frank served as signaller on HMS Gambia for her 1955/56 commission. He died on September 16, 2011, aged 76.
Philip K. Farr
Philip was a plumber who served on the 1957/58 commission. Philip passed away in October 2012.
David Fawson
Dave served on HMS Gambia from 1942 to 1945 as a Boy Seaman. He was present at the Japansee surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945. David passed away in January 2013.
Peter Barry Fell
Barry was Leading Cook on HMS Gambia's 1958 to 1960 commission which he describes as "two of the happiest years of my life." Barry emailed me in July 2017:
I was a leading cook (S) actually running the bakery on HMS Gambia C48 on her commission in 1958 to 1960. I first met Gambia at Rosyth where she was in dry dock having a bit of a refit before setting off on her last commission under our Captain Mr W. J. Munn DSO OBE. And Commander F. W. Watson who being of great bulk was nicknamed Slim.
Some of the countries we visited during this time were Vigo, Gibraltar, Copenhagen, all round Scotland and her Islands, off to Malta, Ajaccio, Leghorn, Trieste, Cyprus, though the Suez Canal, Mombasa, Dar-Es-Salaam, Seychelles, Karachi, Colombo, Trincomalee, The Maldives, Mauritius, (cyclone relief work), Singapore, Hong Kong, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Bathhurst in the Gambia, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Liverpool, then Portsmouth into reserve prior to being made into razor blades.
We steamed 71,000 miles, burned 36,000 tons of fuel oil, had a clean sweep winning every event of a Naval Regatta anchored off Palermo, sailing off the following day with a large broom atop our main mast.
Ian Alexander Ferguson RNZN 9880
Ian was born on December 15, 1925. He was married to Heather May, and passed away on June 8, 2012, aged 86, at Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand.
Cyril Fletcher SSX25019
Cyril was born in 1930 and when he was 18 joined the Royal Navy. His first service was on MTBs and training as a gunner. He served on HMS Diomede between 1939 and 1941 (Atlantic and West Indies); he then was stationed to HMS Kahu which I think was a base on Russell Island in the Solomons. He served on the Gambia gtom Februay 14, 1945 to November 1945, as a Petty Officer (gunner) on the 4" guns and was present at the surrender of Japan. He passed away in 2003.
James A. Forsyth JX 712611
James Forsyth was a Leading Seaman on HMS Gambia and who died April 27, 1953. He is buried at Kalkara Naval Cemetery on Malta.
Herbert Forsythe aka Anthony Roberts
Herbert was born on August 31, 1912 in West Derby, Liverpool, UK. He joined the Royal Navy in 1931 as a Stoker (KX84842). In 1937, he changed his name to Anthony Roberts. He joined the RNZN, again as a stoker, on January 30, 1941 and served until February 15, 1946. He served on HMNZS Gambia from February 14, 1945 to October 30, 1945. He passed away on July 24, 2003 at Tauranga, Bay of Plenty. New Zealand.
D. W. B. French
D. W. B. served on HMNZS Gambia from 1943 to 1946. His service number was 1978 and he passed away on March 3, 1998.
Jack Leonard French
Jack was born in Teignmouth in 1926. His family moved to Ashburton in 1940. Jack joined the Royal Navy when he was 17 and remained until 1966. Jack was serving on HMS Amethyst when it was involved in what became known as the Amethyst Incident or Yangtse Incident during the Chinese Civil War in the summer of 1949. For more details of this incident see the Imperial War Museums or Wikipedia websites.
Jack served as Leading Telegraphist on HMS Gambia on her 1952/54 Commission. On August 8, 2000, Jack recorded an oral history for the Imperial War Museums (IWM 20478). Most of the interview is about the HMS Amethyst Incident but in part 4 of the interview, Jack describes some of the incidents on HMS Gambia such as Greek Xante Earthquake in 1954, the Suez Crisis and the evacuation of the Commandos from the Canal Zone. I have extracted this part of the interview...
Alan Garner
Alan Garner served on HMS Gambia during the 1958 to 1960 commission. He previously served on HMS Ganges from May 1954 to June 1955, and HMS Urania from 1955 to 1957.
Lincoln "Lin" Wallace Gaskill
Lin served on Gambia during WWII. He was a gunner in either "X" or "Y" turret. He passed away on March 25, 1995.
Charles "Chas" Gilmore
Chas served on HMNZS Gambia from 1943 to 1946. He passed away in 2008.
James Caldwell Gingles RNZN 4729
Jim was born on January 4, 1922 in Northern Ireland. He was married to Blanche; and the father of Marion, Ruth, Jimmy and Maureen. Jim passed away on October 31, 2010, aged 88 at Whangarei, New Zealand.
Walter William "Bill" Goddard
Bill was born in Gloucester, UK on March 7, 1917. He joined the Navy in 1934 and trained at RM depot in Deal. He served on HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Newcastle and HMS Colombo before joining HMS Achilies on January 27, 1939 until June 2, 1943. He was then in Plymouth and later in Chatham until he joined HMS Gambia on September 23, 1943 and served until September 22, 1944. He then joined HMS Philomel on September 25, 1944 and his discharge on December 18, 1945. He remained in New Zealand until 1952 when he returned to England. He passed away in Barnstaple, North Devon, UK on March 10, 1987.
Kenneth Charles Gordon
I think Ken served on HMS Gambia from 1943 to 1946. At any rate, he was in the Royal New Zealand Navy and his action station was No 2 on the oerlicons. His service number was 9117.
Athol Robert Grieve NZD928
Athol joined the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy on November 8, 1927 as a Stoker 2nd Class having previously been a member of the Royal Naval Reserve. He served mainly in cruisers including HMS' Dunedin, Diomede, Achilles, and HMNZS Gambia, as well as the shore base HMNZS Philomel. He was discharged as a Stoker 1st Class on August 16, 1945. For his service he was awarded the Royal Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal 1937-1948. Athol passed away in 1963.
Hubert Cecil George Griffin
Hubert Griffin was a Commander (E) on HMS Gambia in 1943. The Admiralty Fleet Orders for June 10, 1943 lists him as being Mentioned in Despatches.