The exceptionally well documented and highly emotive Second World War Submarine Officer’s loss of H.M.S Untamed Firth of Forth 23 May 1943 Casualty group, awarded to Sub Lieutenant P.L. Clayton, Royal Navy Reserve, formerly a Seagoing Apprentice with the Merchant Navy. From Ormskirk and later Ainsdale, near to Southport, Lancashire, he was the great-grandson of a local newspaper proprietor, Sir Albert Frederick Stephenson. In April 1940 he skipped school to join the Merchant Navy, and completed six wartime voyages to and from India. He then received his commission into the Royal Naval Reserve during 1942, and his first two years of the war are most wonderfully details in his letters home to his parents. His military career was however short, and as a recently qualified submariner, he lost his life in a terrible accident on 23 May 1943 when owing to a malfunctioning gauge, the submarine H.M.S. Untamed was lost with all hands whilst conducting an exercise in the Firth of Forth and operating from the Holy Loch. This loss is still very commemorated in Dunoon to this day. All the bodies were recovered on the submarine being lifted from the seabed. In a tragic final episode, one of his letters, written some two and half years before his death was delayed in posting, and only received by his mother a year and a half after his death. His archive of effects is both comprehensive, and highly personal.
Group of 3: 1939-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal. All three housed in an old frame.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Together with the following large quantity of original documentation, ephemera, to include a fine painting done by the recipient.
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty Campaign Medal Award and Condolence Slip, correct hand inscribed details: ‘Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant Peter Lambert Clayton, R.N.R.’ Confirming his entitlement to ‘3’ awards.
Buckingham Palace Memorial Letter, offering ‘heartfelt sympathy in your great sorrow, this with typed details for the recipient’s father: ‘J.L. Clayton, Esq.’ Together with its original envelope addressed to: ‘J.L. Clayton, Esq., 20,. Belvedere Road, Ainsdale, Southport, Lancs.’
Condolence Letter from the Captain, Officers, and Ship’s Company of the Submarine Depot a Fort Blockhouse, offering ‘their deep sympath in your sad bereavement’, and hand inscribed: ‘P. L. Clayton, Sub. Lieutenant. R.N.R.’, with further printed details: ‘gallantly gave his life for his King, his country and his home…’ This personalised with the ship’s details aboard which he lost his life, H.M.S. ‘Untamed’. and dated to ‘1943’. Together with its original envelope addressed to: ‘J.L. Clayton, Esq., 20,. Belvedere Road, Ainsdale, Southport, Lancs.’, post-dated 2 September 1943.
And:
Newspaper cutting from The Southport Visitor of 21 June 1938, containing images of the school children’s sports day at University School Southport, in which Clayton is believed to feature. Also two original photographs of Clayton and also his cricket team, when playing for University School Southport. These two images taken as ‘An Enlargement by’ Kay & Foley, 249 Lord Street, Southport.
A newspaper cutting detailing the ‘Southport Boy Scouts undergoing fire-fighting training at the Fire Station in Tulketh-street’. Clayton would appear to have been one of the Boy Scouts in this image.
Thomas and Jonathan Brocklebank Ltd Steamer Services letter of reference made in the name of Peter Lambert Clayton, who had joined the company as a Seagoing Apprentice on 19 April 1940, and had made six war voyages from and back to the United Kingdom, totalling 17 months and 10 days of sea time. Letter dates from February 1942.
A selection of 11 original letters, bearing postdates from April 1940 through to June 1942, these written by Peter Clayton to his parents on the first occasion, and to his mother for the remainder. All in original envelopes, and addressed to ’20.Belvedere Road, Ainsdale, Southport, Lancs.’ These make for excellent reading and are partly detailed below in the writeup.
Royal Naval Reserve Officer’s cap badge, a fine wire bullion example, most likely purchased from Gieve’s, as referenced concerning his uniform in one of his letters.
A Royal Navy Officer’s tie pin utilising a brass tunic button.
A very fine and possibly unmarked silver anchor pin badge for wear on a lapel. Possibly relating to Clayton’s time with the Merchant Navy.
Royal Navy Officer’s Certificate of Conduct, this in the name of Probationary Temporary Midshipman P.L. Clayton, Royal Naval Reserve, covering his service aboard H.M.S Gambia between 22 March and 13 April 1942, when noted as ‘satisfactory’.
Royal Navy Officer’s Certificate of Conduct, this in the name of Probationary Temporary Midshipman P.L. Clayton, Royal Naval Reserve, covering his service with the shore base H.M.S Pembroke between 6 July and 8 September 1942, when ‘borne for “time only”.
A fine selection of original photographs of Peter Lambert Clayton when a young Midshipman, one being a hand coloured image cut to a locket form, another a fine half length portrait photograph of him in the uniform of a Sub Lieutenant, as taken by the photographer G.P. Murgatroyd of 131 Eastbank Street, Southport, this with the reverse of its protective cover giving the address of his mother. Two face forwards and in uniform as a Midshipman; four contact sheets bearing head and shoulders images of him when a Midshipman and striking various poses; another of him as a Sub Lieutenant, this time believed taken in the garden of the family home at 20 Belvedere Road, shown standing next to both his parents and his younger sister Val. Also an image of Peter Clayton’s father as a younger man, and two of a lady by the name of Nancie, one inscribed on the reverse: ‘Best love Nancie. Sept. 14th. 18’. Nancie appears to be wearing the uniform of a member of Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps. There is not link to this woman to any of Peter Clayton’s parents, and owing to the date of 14 September 1918, she may have been an old flame of Clayton’s father, who went on to marry his mother in July 1921.
A very fine Second World War period unmarked silver pin badge of a submarine, this measuring 53 mm across.
A newspaper cutting, probably just post-war and showing submarines operating from H.M.S Forth in the Holy Loch near to Dunoon. H.M.S. Untamed possibly one of those shown in the image.
Letter from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty notifying his father that ‘the ship in which your son, Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant Peter Lambert Clayton, R.N.R., was serving has been lost whilst carrying out exercises, and that your son must, therefore be presumed to have lost his life on active service on Sunday, 30th May, 1943.’ This addressed to J.L. Clayton, Esq., 20 Belvedere Road, Ainsdale, Southport, Lancashire. Dated 5 June 1943.
Newspaper cuttings, four, all affixed to a card backing, and all detailing Peter Clayton having been killed in action, the lead one which carries an image of him, bears the title: ‘Naval Officer Killed in Action’, and gives some background history to Peter Clayton.
A letter sent by the recipient’s parents containing an expression of thanks card as printed ‘in their sorrow’ during June 1943, this together with a number of newspaper cuttings concerning Clayton’s death in service, ad addressed to a relative, Mrs Stephenson, 14 Morley Road, Southport, post dated 22 June 1943.
Ainsdale Parish Magazine, Vol.XXXVII No.7 for July 1943. This details of the ‘the great loss of Peter Clayton at sea’.
Two examples of the Memorial Service pamphlet for the ‘R.I.P. On Active Service in the Royal Navy, 30th May 1943. Memorial Service held with full Naval Honours, in the Cemetery at Dunoon, Argyllshire, Thursday, July 8th, 1943.’ The list of all those who died aboard the submarine Untamed as printed, along with the order of service to be concluded by the Last Post and Reveille.
A letter sent to recipient’s father from the Chaplain to H.M.S. Forth, and indicating that “by degrees photos are coming” these relating to the burial and memorial services of 7 and 8 July 1943. This letter includes a negative of Clayton’s grave, the name board and some flowers, as taken on or around 8 July 1943. The negative no longer present, however the enlarged photograph is. Letter dated 15 October 1943.
A letter sent to recipient’s father from the Chaplain to H.M.S. Forth apologises for the long delay in sending the photographs of the burial of the crew of H.M.S Untamed in Dunoon Cemetery. There were included. It is also indicated that the late commander’s widow is happy to send more photographs if requested, as she has the original negatives. Dated for January 1944, all six original photographs, each annotated and numbered in order on the reverse, are included. There is also a duplicate set of the same. There detail the burial of the crew on 7 July 1943, and the memorial service with full naval honours held on the following day, 8 July 1943.
A letter to Clayton’s mother from Donaldson’s, Floral Artists and Decorators of Argyll Street, Dunoon, which was sent on 1 June 1944, and enclosed a few snaps of her son’s grave after the placing of some flowers she had requested be placed on his grave for his twenty-first birthday.The original photographs, three in total, together with their original negatives, are contained within an accompanying envelope which is inscribed by his mother: “Peters 21st Birthday Flowers May 23rd: 44.”
A cruel reminder - Clayton’s last to be received letter to his mother, albeit only the last owing to having been lost in the post or else delayed whilst being passed through and opened by the Censor. This letter, which had the sending location details cut out, is nevertheless dated to 16 November 1941, yet only postdated at Glasgow on 16 December 1944. It arrived a little over three years late, and a year and a half after the writer had been been killed.
A card from The Chaplain, H.M.S. “Dolphin,” Gosport, Hampshire, informing the recipient, Clayton’s family, the ‘The Submarine Memorial Chapel can now be visited, but the alterations and improvements will not be finally completed until the end of July, 1945.’ This dating to June 1945. Printed as a post card, post dated for 7 June 1945, it is addressed to the recipients father at 20 Belvedere Road, Ainsdale, Southport, Lancs.
A letter from The Chaplain, H.M.S. “Dolphin,” Gosport, Hampshire to Mrs Clayton, this also circa June 1945, and enclosing two photographs of the brand new Memorial Chapel and Panel, and reminding Clayton’s mother that these still cannot be published anywhere as the war is still ongoing. Both images are included with the group, one with its label still attached to the reverse indicating that the image is for her own personal keeping and not to be given to any form of publication during the war. Also three further images of the Submarine Memorial Chapel at Gosport, dating from the 1940s, these retailed images taken by the photographers, J. Russell & Sons of Southsea. There is one more from the same period, this showing a statue of a submariner and beneath the Submarine Memorial Chapel Book of Remembrance.
Brighthelmston School Birkdale Examination Results for 1943-1945, as printed for a presentation to be held on 1 December 1945. This with reference to Peter Clayton’s younger sister, Val Clayton, who receives mention in a number of his letters home. Val Clayton was to gain a ‘Credit’ in the Oxford Locals School Certificate for 1944. Val, later took the surname of Phillips on marriage, as a surviving letter to her confirms, she was living at Clydevalley Country Kennels, Crossford, Carluke, when she received a letter from a friend in April 1985.
A fine aerial photograph of Ainsdale Beach in 1948.
Two original 1940s photographs of the unveiling of the World War 1939 to 1945 Tablet on the War Memorial at Dunoon, with a special mention on it to the lost crew of the submarine Untamed. Both photographs being taken by W.L. Inglis, Dove Cottage, Dunoon, Argyll. Also a Valentine’s Post Card depicting Dunoon, an Art Colour card titled ‘East Bay, Dunoon’ on which a handwritten arrow points to the location of the Dunoon Cemetery where Clayon lies buried.
University School Southport printed sheet for the Dedication of the War Memorial Tablet in the School Hall on 14 May 1955.
Peter Lambert Clayton was born on 23 May 1923 in Ormskirk, Lancashire, the son of John Lambert Clayton and Louisa Annie Stephenson, through he mothers side he was a great-grandson of Sir Albert and Lady Stepheson. His great-grandfather, Sir Albert Frederick Stephenson, K.B., J.P. (1854-1934), was a Southport newspaper owner.
Clayton was educated at Holmwood and later Southport University School, and lived with his parents in Ainsdale, near to Southport, Lancashire. Ainsdale is a beachside village, which now forms part of Merseyside. Clayton is also believed to have been a member of the Southport Boy Scouts as a surviving newspaper cutting suggests.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, and whilst still at school, he joined the Liverpool based firm of Thomas and Jonathan Brocklebank Ltd Steamer Services, joining as a Seagoing Apprentice on 19 April 1940. He was then only just 17.
Clayton went on to serve with the Merchant Navy on six war voyages to and from the United Kingdom, totalling 17 months of sea time. He first sailed aboard the S.S. “Martand”, a merchant vessel, and the last pre-war vessel built for Brocklebank, when she sailed from London to Calcutta on 3 May 1940, and then returned to the United Kingdom on 15 September 1940, with Clayton having been at sea for 4 months and 13 days. His next two and final merchant navy voyages were aboard the S.S. “Mahsud”, an older general cargo vessel dating from 1917. Aboard the “Mahsud”, he sailed from Liverpool for Calcutta on 17 November 1940, and returned to the United Kingdom on 2 July 1941, after 7 months and 16 days at sea. Then he sailed again from Liverpool for Calcutta on 23 July 1941, and returned to the United Kingdom on 2 January 1942, after a further 5 months and 11 days at sea.
It was whilst he was aboard the S.S. “Martland” that his first letter home to him mum exists. This is post-dated for 27 April 1940. He details the ship and his crew, it being written in London just prior to the start of his voyage. He writes: “I now have a small buttonhole badge of the Merchant Navy as I said and another gas mask & tin hat, both if which are my absolute property. Tell Daddy we have no Lewis guns but an A.A. gun as well as the other gun…”
His next surviving letter is written in Columbo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and is post dated to 25 September 1941. This before his final voyage home on the S.S. “Mahsud”. He references his short leave during the back-to-back voyages he partook in aboard the “Mahsud”. It appears that he had gone aboard her for the second voyage on 23 July 1941 during an air raid on Liverpool as he writes: “During that air raid we were at anchor in the river as we did not sail for a day or two after I last saw you.” He further goes on to state that he wants “Daddy to write to the Admiralty and ask for particulars regarding entrance into the R.N.R. as a midshipman. Please tell him that I definitely want that done.” He goes on to write that: “The heat here is terrific and I am perspiring all the tie, if it get any hotter, well I don’t honestly what I shall do…” He talks about his going to the pictures and some dances, and signs off “don’t let the air raids get you down, V for Victory.” Clayton was at sea and aboard the SS “Mahsud” when he wrote his next letter home on 24 October 1941. “I am now homeward bound again. He details some of his experiences whilst in post in India. “Please give my “salaams” to everybody at home and tell Daddy to behave himself ad to leave alcoholic beverages alone, till I come home?????”
Clayton then opted to join the Royal Navy, for which he received a letter of service from the firm of Thomas and Jonathan Brocklebank Ltd.
A surviving report fills in the next part of his story. As a Probationary Temporary Midshipman with the Royal Naval Reserve, and appointed on 21 March 1942, Clayton saw service aboard the light cruiser H.M.S Gambia between 22 March and 13 April 1942, when his conduct was noted as ‘satisfactory’.
Clayton’s next letter home was written whilst he was a Midshipman with the Royal Naval Reserve and undergoing his training at the R.N. College at Greenwich on 4 May 1942. He writes: “All the officers here dine in the famous “painted hall”, you remember that photo of the W.R.N.S. dining here, well they dine on the centre table and ours is on the right, lovely oak tables with no tablecloths on.” He then further mentions: “There is no doubt about it the W.R.N.S. have a very nice class of girl. The commander in charge of us is very, very good. But oh! has he got his knife in the average British public. He also gave us a lecture on smartness & saluting, he is most particular about the saluting. He said we were to salute all officers senior to us, even Lieut. in the Army, and he blamed the slackness of dress of the Army private on the Army officers of today and on no account were we to salute and officer with a pipe in his mouth. Tell Daddy that in future I will stop an Army private in the street if he is not properly dressed or if he has the neck of his tunic open etc. Most of us Mids. are of the same view regarding this and it is quite right. The discipline here is strict but I really like and would not change this life for the world, the R.N. is a great life.”
Clayton’s next letter was written from Greenwich on 8 May 1942. He acknowledges that he is “glad Daddy agrees about the Army.” He mentions that he is soon to depart for Chatham Naval Barracks, and: “We have been asked to a dance given by Wren officers tonight so we should have a good time. You are quite right the Wrens here are real “top-notchers” and very nicely educated girls. Of course we have been forbidden to hold conversations or indulge in familiarity with Wren ratings. Commander Marston said they are ratings and equivalent to Naval ratings and must be treated accordingly.”
He was still at Greenwich on the ten week course when he wrote home again on 25 May 1942. He talks about his recent birthday celebrations, he was 19. He discusses his old merchant vessel the S.S. “Mahsud”, writing “Uncle Bertie certainly has done well. The “Mahsud has been a very long time on her voyage to Calcutta.” Later that year the “Mahsud” would partake in Operation Torch before having her bottom blown out by an Italian limpet mine delivered by an Italian ‘Midget’ submarine in Gibraltar harbour. It is assumed that “Uncle Bertie” was the ships Captain, which may well explain Clayton’s time with this vessel.
Once again at Greenwich on 19 May 1942 he wrote home. He talks about a dinner dance he had had at Grosvenor House the previous Sunday, when he been seated on a table with a Lady Moss, who was the hostess for the table, “she introduced us to the other young girls at our table. My partner for most dances was a very nice girl the Hon. Jane Miller by name. When we come in to the ballroom we are all personally introduced to the Dowager Lady Townshend, who shook hands with us all.” He once again goes on to discuss his various interactions with the Wrens, and that “there is a Lieut. R.N.V.R. here who is an actor and rather good looking, his name is I think Michael Reading, have you heard of him???”
At Greenwich on 2 June 1942 he wrote to say that he had once again gone to Grosvenor House, and been “entertained by Lady Williamson and young hostesses, one of whom is a very nice girl who is Sir Stafford Cripps private secretary.” On 10 June he wrote from Greenwich to say he is off to Dartmouth tomorrow. He writes that “we had a great party on Monday night, when twelve of us invite about twelve Wrens to play skittles. There was tons of beer about at the end everybody was merry and an excellent evening was had by all. King Peter (King Peter II of Yugoslavia) came yesterday and he was looking very smart. Today there was an Admiral & General being entertained to lunch by the Captain.”
A letter post dated for 15 June 1942 was written by Clayton on Naval Message paper when at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in Devon. “The college is a very fine building and has a marvellous situation overlooking the River Dart.” He was getting in some sailing practice at Darmouth and expected to return to Greenwich soon.
Clayton’s final surviving letter was written 19 June 1942 when back at Greenwich, when he details that “I had quite a good time at Dartmouth except for the food. On Tuesday we went out for a day’s patrol in Motor Torpedo Boats out into the English Channel and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was good to get out to sea again after such a long time. We had one alert on patrol but it turned out to be a British aircraft. We then made a mock attack on a British convoy, but we were soon “sunk” by the destroyer escorting the convoy. It also seems funny to go out to sea on such a small craft after being used to large ships. I felt perfectly fit but about four of our chaps were violently sick although some had been at sea for over two years.” In preparation for his commissioning as a Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant, he mentions he has ordered a new uniform from Gieves, “it will cost me £11:10 but there is no doubt they are excellent uniforms…”
Another surviving Royal Navy Officer’s Certificate of Conduct, confirms that in the aftermath of his time at Greenwich, and on being posted to Chatham Naval Barracks then still a Probationary Temporary Midshipman, Clayton was borne on the books of the shore base H.M.S Pembroke between 6 July and 8 September 1942, when ‘borne for “time only”’.
After his being commissioned as a Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant, Clayton was soon selected for the Submarine Service, and was a Sub Lieutenant aboard the newly launched U-class submarine H.M.Sub Untamed, which was launched on 8 December 1942 and commissioned on 14 April 1943.
Clayton celebrated his twentieth birthday on 23 May 1943.
Commanded by Lieutenant Gordon Maurice Noll, Untamed operated from the depot ship H.M.S. Forth in the Holy Loch off the Firth of Clyde. This was a new vessel, with a mostly new crew, and was being put through its running up exercises in readiness for combat operations. Untamed sailed out from the depot ship Forth in the Holy Loch in the early morning light of Sunday 30th May 1943. She was to undertake a training exercise with the 8th Escort Group, in the Firth of Clyde, acting as a target in the Kilbrannan Sound. In the second exercise that day, Untamed was to be used as a target for anti-submarine mortar practice by the 878 tons Admiralty Armed Surface Vessel HMS Shemara, which also served as an ASDIC Training Ship.
When the submarine did not respond to attempts to contact her, nor surface, assistance was summoned. Shemara located Untamed with sonar and heard the sounds of her engines being run and tanks being blown. The submarine HMS Thrasher arrived but no more was heard from Untamed after 17:45 hours– nearly three hours from the first indication of a problem. Weather prevented divers inspecting the submarine until the 1st June. On 5th of June, the body of Chief Engine Room Artificer, Thomas Challoner, was found lodged in the Escape Chamber, beneath the Escape Hatch.His body was taken ashore and buried in Kilkerran Cemetery, Campbeltown.The submarine was then taken to Dunoon where all the other crewmen's bodieswere recovered and interred in the Dunoon Cemetery.
There was no outward sign of damage and it was not until after Untamed was salvaged on 5 July 1943 thatit was determined that the cause of the sinking was due to a valve which had been incorrectly installed giving a false reading to the crew, and when they opened an inner hatch to gain access to the patent log, the sea poured into the boat with such pressure the crew had to abandon that compartment. The situation was worsened by the failure of the watertight door to seal off the flooding section.From the investigation that followed it appears that carbon dioxide built up rapidly preventing clear thinking by the crew. It is speculated that they spent almost four hours attempting to pump the water out of the boat instead of trying to escape. Even though they were signalled by the surface ships to do so.
When they realised that they would not be able to raise the boat they moved to the engine room and began an attempt to escape by flooding the compartment and using the internal pressure to force open the outer hatch. Sadly, a second valve now malfunctioned, this valve, again having been installed incorrectly, showed to be open when it was closed. Nobody knows how much time it took the crew to determine why the engine room would not flood but, during this period someone opened another valve which, after the engine room began taking on water, allowed much of it to enter the bilge adding to the time it would take to flood the engine room. Because of the added time it took to flood the engine room the men, now overcome by oxygen depravation, could no longer help themselves and they all lapsed into unconsciousness and died. Not one of the 36 man crew made it out alive.
Untamed was salvaged, refitted and renamed HMS Vitality, returning to service in July 1944.
All but the one member of the crew who was recovered first, Chief Engine Room Artificer Thomas Challoner, now lie buried in Dunoon Cemetery, and amongst those casualties is Sub Lieutenant Peter Lambert Clayton, Royal Naval Reserve, he was only just 20 years old, having been killed some seven days after turning twenty.
According to a surviving letter and the accompanying photographs, the burial of the crew occurred on 7 July 1943, and the memorial service with full naval honours was held on the following day, 8 July 1943.
Over the next months his parents would be sent photographs of the burial and memorial service in Dunoon Cemetery, and on the occasion of his twenty-first birthday, 23 May 1944, and only seven days before the first anniversary of his death, his mother would arrange for flowers to be laid on his grave by a local florist. Of which photographs and their accompanying negatives survive.
Then in a cruel reminder - Clayton’s mother received his last letter (albeit only the last received owing to having been delayed from posting whilst also being passed through and opened by the Censor. Nevertheless it arrived!
This letter, which had the original sending location details cut out (presumably by the Censor), is nevertheless dated to 16 November 1941, yet only postdated at Glasgow on 16 December 1944. Presumably this was when the “gentleman from another ship” finally got round to sending it. It arrived a little over three years late, and a year and a half after the writer, Peter Clayton, had been been killed. As per other letters it was written aboard the merchant ship S.S. “Mahsud”, the opening lines are telling.
“My Dear Mummy, Very many thanks for all the letters, which I received yesterday. Glad to know you are all keeping well and happy. This is only a few lines to let you know I am homeward bound, as a rule I do not write from this port when coming home, so you are lucky. I went to a dance last night and had quite a good time. Thanks for the cutting regarding M.N. uniforms etc. Please give my sincere regards to everyone at home. If I am home for New Year’s Eve, Joyce and I are going to have a real night out.”
Then unknowingly Clayton gives an indication as to why the letter may go on to be delayed for some three years! “This letter is being posted by a gentleman who is off another ship and has offered to post it in England for me.”
Clayton finishes off the letter: “I will say cheerio and the next time I will be seeing you all at home, so get plenty of food ready. By the way young Bob Cann has no parents in England, so I have asking him to come and stay with us for 3 days so I hope you don’t mind, your loving son, Peter.”
Little did Peter Clayton know, that this letter would provide the last “Cheerio” that his parents would ever receive from him.
