The Wives Who Watched Their Husbands Die

This is the sad tale of the HMT Campina (GY214, formerly known as Emerald), which was lost on 22 July 1940 when it struck a mine. As the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury revealed on 25th July 1940, the loss of the ship was particularly devastating for two women from Grimsby.YOUNG WIVES SEE THEIR HUSBANDS KILLED

Trawler Strikes Mine Within Sight of Shore

From Our Own Correspondent

GRIMSBY, Wednesday

“The young wives of two Grimsby fishermen had the dreadful experience of seeing the ship in which their husbands were serving blown up by a mine. The ship was H.M. Trawler Campina which the Admiralty announce as lost with 11 lives.

The women are Mrs Violet Good, daughter of the skipper of the Campina and wife of one of her deckhands, Albert Leslie Good, and Mrs Calvert, 17-year old wife of William Calvert, another deckhand.

The wives had been invited by their husbands to take a holiday and visit the port (identified elsewhere as Holyhead) from which the Campina was sailing. When they arrived there the ship was at sea, but in due course they went to the quay to await the vessel’s return.

They were watching her making for the harbour, and Mrs Good could see the figure of her father, Skipper Johnson, on the bridge when suddenly there was an explosion and the ship foundered before the women’s eyes. Only three men of the crew were saved.

Eight of the 11 missing men are Grimsby fishermen. All were married and leave widows. Their names are:

Temporary Skipper Fred Welburn Johnson (58), 150 Rutland Street; his son-in-law, Albert Leslie Good (31), deckhand, 130 Rutland Street; William Calvert (23), deckhand, 25 Lancaster Avenue; John Galvin (49), second engineer, 49 Weelsby Street; third hand William Brown (45), 7 Wilson Street; John Wilson (45), deckhand, 22 Lombard Street; John William Nalder (43), fireman, 16 Freeston Street, Cleethorpes; Albert Webb (37), 49 Tunnard Street.

Mrs Good, who had been married two years, has an eight-month old baby. Calvert’s widow has a month-old baby.

Brown has a son of 20, who undeterred by his father’s fate, is joining the Navy. Webb leaves three boys, the eldest 14 and Nalder has daughters aged 19 and 16.”

The three unnamed missing men, were Herbert Brookes (26), Trimmer, Albert Inch (61), First Engineman and Robert Rowlands (48), Deckhand, none of whom survived.

The eight crew members, whose bodies were never found, are remembered on the naval memorial at Liverpool. Seven are listed together under the Campina on Panel 8, Column 2, whilst Skipper Johnson is listed separately on Panel 3, Column 2. Regrettably, both the naval records relating to his death and the Liverpool memorial have wrongly listed him as Fred Wellburn rather than Fred Wellburn Johnson. Thank you to his grandson Shane Johnson for clarifying that this is the case.

It appears that the bodies of the remaining three were later recovered as William Calvert is buried in Scartho Cemetery, whilst John Wilson and Robert Rowlands are buried at Holyhead Cemetery.