The tale of Stanley Gough - Part 2

This blog posts makes up the second part on my story on Stanley Gough, to find out the background as to how this post came about please read my previous blog.

Recently someone posted on Twitter that everyone has an interesting story to tell, this struck a chord with me as I am always curious about people's stories and adventures. Living or not, often the most unassuming person has the most fascinating tales to tell.  In this case an etched headstone and a surviving brother relate the history of a short but heroic life lived to the full.

The following story is mainly told in the words of Winston Gough, the 92 year old surviving brother of Stanley Gough.  I've tried to edit his words as little as possible and only add a few extra details from my own research.

This is a shortened version of his letter to me.  What came across over the carefully handwritten pages is that despite 73 years that have passed, Winston is still very proud of what his brother achieved and his emotion over his loss transcends the decades of time.

'Stanley was always keen to join the Merchant Navy and go to sea.  He left school at the age of 14 which was normal at that time and had to wait another two years before he could enrol in the Gravesend Sea Training School.
In the meantime he worked locally until he reached 16 and had his first posting at sea.  His family did not see him for the following two years and when he returned home the boy that had left had grown into a young man.

Stanley was later to be paid off after a voyage on the cruise liner The Empress of Australia, a time when the Wall Street crash caused a great depression in the 1930s.  This affected many men like Stanley who were involved in sea borne trade and shipbuilding, hit hard by the financial crisis.

Stanley Gough was determined to find work and could teach our generation a thing or two about perseverance to find a job.  He cycled every day to local ports including Cardiff and Barry but the competition with locals who were first to hear of opportunities made it impossible to find anything suitable.
At the time officers were even taking jobs as deckhands just to get a berth.

After 6 months of trying to obtain work at sea he had to enrol on a government training scheme instead and qualified as a carpenter at a training centre in Letchworth, Herts.  Stanley decided to settle in the new town of Letchworth Garden City and succeeded in his new profession.  He became a sub contractor in his own right, married a local girl and went on to have two children.

With the outbreak of war and previous sea going experience Stanley joined the Royal Navy and completed a gunnery course in Bristol and on qualifying took ship on a defensively equipped merchant ship.

In June 1940 while on passage as part of a convoy carrying power station coal from Newcastle to the Thames estuary and the south coast, they were attacked by German torpedo boats and sunk but fortunately he survived.

Stanley was subsequently assigned to MV Fishpool, a brand new ship on it's maiden voyage, sailing alone in ballast for Canada.  After suffering engine failure it was discovered by a German Focke-Wulf Condor maritime recce plane out of Brest and bombed.  Seven out of the eight incendiary bombs struck the ship killing all the crew on deck, including Stanley Gough, and setting the ship on fire.

A life boat with 2 crew members made it to the north west of Ireland, nothing was found of the other lifeboat.

MV Fishpool did not sink and the fire went out and two weeks later it was spotted and towed to Rothesay Bay on the Isle of Bute.  The remains of the crew on board were interred in a double sized grave in Rothesay cemetery and a headstone erected by the Poole fishing company.'

In his letter Winston explains that he was unaware of his older brother's fate until on retirement he had the time to carry out the necessary research.  By this time Winston was the only remaining direct family member and he regrets that his parents and Stanley's widow never discovered the outcome of his research.

I'm so glad I came across the original request for photographs as I feel it is important to remember those that have given their lives so I can now sit and freely type this blog.  I am also glad to find out the story of one of my island neighbours and how they came to be resident on this Scottish west coast Isle.  I will be sure to visit Stanley and his comrades from time to time just to let them know they are not forgotten.

As for Winston Gough, he states in his letter that he would like to visit Rothesay for a holiday and if he ever does I would very much like to meet this remarkable man.  I'm sure after 92 years he has many of his own fascinating stories to tell...

The tale of Stanley Gough, forever resting in Rothesay

This post tells an emotional story that came about by chance, which began with a quest for photographs that connected me with a remarkable 92 year old gentleman in Wales and reveals the history behind a war grave in Rothesay and the bond of brothers that lives on past death.
This blog post is told over 2 parts, firstly because I think it is an important tale to tell and editing it to single blog size would be an injustice and secondly because the story is still ongoing and I would like to finish it with a happy and complete conclusion.

When I first started writing a blog I quickly realised promotion was essential if anyone was to find it among the world of a million bloggers and an overload of cyber information.
Twitter seemed the easiest way to locate an audience that might be interested in my stories and I proceeded to take the social media plunge.  Despite being an initial cynic I have found Twitter has opened my eyes to interesting people and places and every day my mind is expanded and delighted by the informative posts and photographs from those I 'follow'.

Every now and again I have come across tweets that intrigue me and the following simple request from the Scottish Military Research Group did exactly this.  "Rothesay folk please help.  A relative of man listed on this headstone would like to see whole stone and surroundings."

Well, being 'Rothesay folk' and having a curious nature I had to find out more.  The request was accompanied by a partial photograph of a memorial stone dedicated to the crew of MV Fishpool, killed by enemy action on the 14th November 1940.  It was also a post that I couldn't ignore, after all who could deny a request to assist someone view the forever resting place of a relative?  A task that I could easily carry out that might mean alot to this stranger.

So off I went to explore Rothesay High Street cemetery, camera in hand to seek out this important marker among the rows of mottled grey stones and carvings.
Cemeteries fascinate me, to some this might seem ghoulish, however to me headstones read like chapters in a local social history book.  You literally walk through the lives and stories of people from bygone ages, their legacy etched into stone to be discovered and remembered by future generations.

After much searching I came across the grave in question, situated near the bottom of the cemetery looking on to the trees and hills beyond.  I wondered why this stone, erected and dedicated to crewmen from England killed by enemy action during the Second World War stood proudly upright in a graveyard on this west coast Scottish island.  I also wondered which of the 9 names listed had a relative that was seeking them out 73 years later.

I wasn't sure that I would ever find out the reason for the request or the identity of the enquirer but I was still more than happy to help.  I proceeded to take a range of images, hoping that they would turn out well and that the relative would be satisfied with my results.  I e-mailed an assortment of 10 photographs that I was happy with back to the SMRG and nervously hoped that I had fulfilled the task to satisfaction.  They sent me thanks and my quest was complete.

I decided to try and research the fate of the MV Fishpool, however there was very little information that I could find online.  I discovered she was bombed on her maiden voyage in the North Atlantic, the Captain, 10 officers and 16 men were killed.  She was abandoned and eventually towed back to the Clyde, I assumed she was brought to the marine salvage in Bute, hence the connection, however I had no confirmation of this.
I also discovered that having survived this attack, she was bombed a further two times on different voyages, eventually sinking on the third occasion in July 1943.

The following day I was delighted to receive an e-mail from a Mrs Hill saying that she had sent the original request out on behalf of a Mr Winston Gough, who was the younger brother of Stanley Gough, a member of the crew of the MV Fishpool.  It transpires that Mrs Hill is the carer of Winston Gough, now aged 92.  I was very relieved to hear that he was more than happy with the photographs I had sent and they both wanted to thank me.

I could have left things there, after all I'd done my bit and everyone was satisfied but I couldn't help feeling that the most important part of the story was still untold.  The story of young Stanley Gough and the tragedy that robbed Winston Gough of his older brother. The story of a name, on a grave, in a churchyard, on a Scottish island, far from his home.  The story as to why after all these years the resting place of a brother was so important.

It was with much apprehension that I sent a reply to Mrs Hill, asking her if Mr Gough would mind me telling the story of his brother.  Two days later I received an e-mail which I nervously opened, hoping I hadn't offended or upset Mr Gough with my request.  To my surprise the e-mail was actually a series of scanned images of a handwritten letter from Mr Gough himself.  As I read the pages I must admit to shedding a few tears, firstly because I couldn't believe that this gentleman had taken such time and care to write to me personally but secondly because I could tell from his emotional writing that his brother lost to him many years before still meant so much.

This request by no coincidence was made on Remembrance weekend and a few days before the 73rd anniversary of the attack on the MV Fishpool.  'Lest we forget' seems such a fitting phrase for the story of Stanley Gough, killed aged 28, as told by his surviving younger brother Winston which makes up part 2 of this blog...

How wartime conflict has shaped the Bute of today

This weekend the annual Remembrance Day parade took place in Rothesay.  I thought it was a fitting time to turn my thoughts to how recent wars and the armed forces have played a role in shaping the Bute of today.
Whilst researching this post I have come across a wealth of information on the subject and could easily have written a book, however as this is a mere blog it only skims the surface of the war related history of the island.  If this is a subject you are interested in there are books, articles and websites that will provide much more detailed information.
Like most places in the UK and many other parts of the world, war graves and memorials on Bute provide a constant reminder of the losses of recent wars.  These wars past and present have created a landscape, history and population that only exist today because they have happened and are still happening.  For that reason it is important to not just acknowledge the losses but also how our current environment and way of life has developed from these conflicts.

War Memorial, Port Bannatyne

Looking around Bute now many of the remnants of wars fought close to home are either gone completely or are gradually being reclaimed by nature. The dominant autumnal backdrop of Rothesay is made up of two main woods, Skipper and Skeoch,  The trees that currently display a tapestry of colours were mostly planted post WW1, creating relatively young though pretty woodlands.
Walking along the quiet, leaf carpeted paths now it is hard to contemplate that their forgotten timber ancestors were mainly felled for wood during the First World War, making their own contributions to the war effort.  Some used for trenches and some for barrack huts, they offered protection in the way that only wood and trees can.

The beautiful Scalpsie Bay is home to more permanent wartime reminders.  Wooden posts, heading out to sea and lined up like military guards, cast small dark shadows across the sand. Cemented in, allegedly as anti-glider defences, to prevent enemy aircraft landing, they are gradually rotting to their cores as the salty sea washes over them.
More recently the nearby cottage was used as a listening post for enemy submarines patrolling the Firth of Clyde during the Cold War.  Cables were run into the sea and these were attached to listening devices under the water, the noises from which were analysed in the cottage. The purpose was to identify Soviet submarine propeller "signatures" and to try to assign these to particular vessels.

A decoy village that now only exists in history and memory was built on the north of the island during WW2 near Rhubadoch with Navy personnel intermittently switching lights on and off.  It's purpose was to divert the attention of enemy aircraft away from Clydeside towns and shipyards. The wooden framed 'village' never was bombed.

Port Bannatyne had a major submarine training Naval Base until it moved to Faslane in 1957.  All midget submarine and human torpedo training took place here, in fact it is believed at the time 95% of all British submariners trained here. The only remaining legacy is a pretty memorial garden dedicated to the 12th Submarine Flotilla, X Craft Midget Submarines, who between them won 4 Victoria Cross medals and another 65 prestigious medals.

Memorial Garden, Port Bannatyne

The Navy and it's personnel were a major contributor to the island economy and their leaving in 1957 was a considerable blow to a place that was already witnessing a decline in tourism.  In the following three years the population fell from 10,000 to less than 8000 and by 1970 the Navy left the island all together.
Although no longer based on the island, passing battle grey Navy ships are still a common site, either on exercise or heading to the fuel depot in Loch Striven opposite.

War memorials dot the island and graveyard stones with tales of heroism and tragedy are reminders of those lost during conflicts.
War casualties impact heavily in small communities and the numbers of young men who failed to return that made valuable contributions to their area and provided trades and skills meant that more than just lives were lost at war, sometimes a way of life was lost.

Kingarth War Memorial

However war has not just taken people from the island, it has also brought people to Bute.
During WW2 over 2000 children were evacuated here.  Looked after by kindly locals some of those children later returned to the island to set down roots and still reside here to this day.

Workers and armed forces personnel from many nations descended on the Isle of Bute, most notably to the Navy base and marine salvage at Port Bannatyne during WW2, it was inevitable that local girls would form relationships and later marriages to men from different nationalities.  This created a more eclectic and some would say exotic Bute population.

Today there are many ex armed forces personnel living on the island, some that have always called Bute their home and some who have found a new home here. Supported by the local British Royal Legion which provides welfare and support and a valuable drop in centre these ex-servicemen and women span a number of generations and conflicts and many provide important community contributions.

For such a small island Bute has witnessed more than it's fair share of wartime involvement.  From invading Vikings to invading Navy personnel, there is no doubt that the Bute of today has been moulded by the events surrounding these conflicts and the people involved.