Died
4 March 2013
Born
5 June 1926
Sources
Ancestry
Brian McGrevey (son)
Place
Themes
Herbert Joseph McGrevey
Herbert changed his name from Herbert Ignatius Connelly McGrevey in 1990. The family say that he had always hated his middle names.
This is a cremation memorial, behind some bushes near the main path from the entrance.
Former crewman on HMS Starling
C.W.O.B.A.
HERBERT JOSEPH MCGREVEY
BORN 5-6-26 DIED 4-3-13
Aged 86
A Loved Father, Father-in-law, Grandfather
& Great-Grandfather
Also Remembering Tiger His Cat
Herbert was a crew man (steward) on HMS Starling during the WW2. HMS Starling and its commander Capt Walker are famous for sinking 14 U Boats and the destruction and damaging of several more. Walker’s method (although originally frowned upon by the Admiralty) was soon adopted by British Navy, and it could be argued that he single-handedly changed the outcome of the Battle of the North Atlantic. (Further information can be found on Wikipedia.)
His technique was not so much protecting the allied ships from within the convoys, but standing back several miles astern of the convoy and then hitting the U boats when they were reloading their torpedoes or coming to the surface to recharge their batteries. There were several other factors that contributed to his success: the development of sonar and radar, and the increase of air coverage over North Atlantic being two of them.
Winston Churchill said that the only thing that kept him awake during the war was the U Boat threat.
Ancestry records Herbert I. C. McGrevy’s (sic – Cumbria BMD also has this spelling) birth registered in in Barrow Q3 1926, with mother’s maiden name Rhubottom. He married Dorothy Emms in Q3 1947 at Barrow in Furness.
Herbert joined the Royal Navy in August 1943 (aged just 17), and served throughout the rest of the war and beyond until November 1946. As well as various shore establishments e.g. HMS Drake; HMS Eaglet, between ships, he served on the following, rising from “Boy for Assistant Steward”, to full “Steward”: HMS Starling (9 December 1943 – 20 July 1944), HMS Barfair, HMS Barhill, and others.
Having served north of the Arctic Circle on at least one of his missions, Herbert qualified for the prestigious Arctic Star, only instituted retrospectively in 2012.
After leaving the Royal Navy, Herbert worked in various jobs: on dredgers at the Docks; for Wild’s boiler cleaners; for several years at the Cellophane Factory on Park Road; before entering the Shipyard, becoming a Rigger, retiring as a Chargehand Rigger in 1990.
(Thanks are due to Brian McGrevey, Herbert’s son, for providing biographical details and permission to use Herbert’s photograph).
Electoral Registers 2003 – 2010 give his address as Eamont Close, Walney.
Captain Walker
The C.W.O.B.A. on the gravestone stands for Captain Walker’s Old Boys Association. There is an interesting website about the “laying up” of their standard in 2004.
Captain Walker is commemorated by a grand statute on Liverpool seafront. The plinth reads: Captain F. J. Walker CB DSO’’’ 1896 – 1944
and below
In memory of Captain F. J. Walker CB DSO’’’ Royal Navy, the men of his 36th Escort and 2nd Support Groups and all those who fought in the Battle of the Atlantic 1939-45
(The bars show that he was awarded the DSO – Distinguished Service Order – 3 times)
