Between October 1941 and the end of
March 1942, Warships Weeks were organised in cities, towns and villages
throughout Great Britain. The intention was to raise a sum by
investment or deposit in all types of war savings representing the cost
of building one of His Majesty’s ships ranging from the smallest to the
largest vessels. Once the target had been raised the community adopted
the vessel along with its crew and the bond was strengthened by
presentations in recognition of the money raised. Adoption plaques were
presented by the Admiralty to the community and a plaque presented by
the community to the adopted vessel. Links were maintained by the
writing of letters and the provision of comforts and whenever possible
visits were arranged to the adopting area.
Most of the V&W Class
destroyers in commission with the Royal Navy were adopted during the
Warship Week scheme and in a number of cases local sea cadet units
later took the name of the ship. To
find more about Warship Weeks see Peter Schofield’s article on‘National Savings and Warship Weeks’.
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Morecambe Bay Copyright Amy Ster
Morecambe
is situated 64 miles north of Liverpool, the headquarters for Western
Approaches Command, where the escorts for the Atlantic convoys were
based. Morecambe was a popular seaside resort and Morecambe Bay famous
for it beauty and notorious for fatal accidents to visitors unfamiliar
with the tracks across the
sands and the speed with which the tide advances. Government
departments and their civil servants relocated to the
North to escape the London Blitz, often to resort towns where
accommodation
awas vailable in deserted hotels. The Ministry of Defence moved
to
Morecambe and the town became known as "Whitehall by the Sea". Today a
statue of Morecambe's most famous son, Eric Morecambe, overlooks the
Bay.
The Morecambe and Heysham Warships
Week from 28 November - 6 December 1941, raised £452,639 but,
surprisingly, there
is no reference to Warship Week at Morecambe and Heysham in the
Newspaper Archive. The ship's crest mounted on its wooden shield
presented to the town by the Admiralty to commemorate the
adoption is in the Mayor's Parlour in Morecambe's Town Hall, a building
so large and grand that full meetings of Lancaster Council are held in
it. I hope local historians will find out about the links established
between Morecambe
and Heysham and their adopted warship, reciprical visits
by officers and crew and civic dignitaries or merely the exchange of
letters and the sending of "comforts".
The ship's Crest on a wooden shield presented to Morecambe and Heysham by the Admiralty
The crest depicts a golden trident between two silver Lotus flowers on a field of blue
This fine painting by Les Lawrence who served in HMS Westcott appears on the cover of Water, Water, Every Where! The life story of HMS Westcott by Tom Chapman (1996) It was presented to Morecambe by the "Westcott Club" of veterans
in 1991 and hangs with the ship's crest on its shield in the Mayor's
Parlour of Morecambe's Town Hall
Veterans of HMS Wescott visit Morecambe and revive wartime links
There are believed to be only two men alive today who served in HMS Westcott, RDF Operator (Radar) Ted Cross who is 95 and 98 year old Captain Stuart W M Farquharson-Roberts RN who was a Lt in HMS Westcott in 1944. Clifford
"Stormy" Fairweather, a "bunting tosser" (Signalman),
founded the "Westcott Club" for veterans of HMS Westcott with Les Lawrence and then, as numbers
declined, began the V & W Destroyer Association and served as its
Chairman until
his death in 2017. You can read about Stormy's time in HMS Westcott as an 18 year old seasick sailor by clicking on this link. A year before HMS Westcottwas adopted by Morecambe and Heysham in December 1941 shewas informally adopted by the village of Westcott near Dorking in Surrey. In November 1940 Westcott was based at HMS Eaglet,
Liverpool, escorting Atlantic Convoys. Tom Chapman
describes in Water, Water, Every Where! returning to the ship soon after her arrival at Liverpool:
"It was found
that a large consignment of woollen clothing had been delivered to the
ship consisting of gloves, socks, scarves and balaclavas to be shared
around equally among the upper deck watchkeeping personnel. All had
been knitted by the good ladies of Morecambe - a very kind gesture and
I remember hoping they had been told how much their efforts had been
appreciated.
Our good overcoats issued when we first joined, had mostly
long gone and the few still around were used between us to keep our
legs warm while huddled up on the quarter deck. They were usually
passed from watch to watch. In place of our great coats we had duffel
coats with hoods, fastened by toggles. Our walking-out coat was a
Burberry (a light raincoat) which was a lot more convenient and
presentable."
The Westcott Club
Tom Chapman was exploring Liverpool
when these woollen "comforts" were delivered to the ship and when he wrote his
book fifty years later may have
forgotten her connection to the village of Westcott. When
"Stormy" Fairweather formed the "Westcott Club"
in 1989 a one day inaugural meeting was held at the Victory Services
Club, near Marble Arch in London, and they decided to hold a weekend
meeting at Westcott the following year. The arrangements were made by
Dave Knight in Westcott and 38 veterans attended and stayed as
guests in the homes of villagers or at the village pub. Tragically, Les
Lawrence, the artist who painted HMS Westcott
and created the "Blue Nose Certificates" presented to all crew members
completing an Arctic Convoy died a month before their meeting in
October 1990 but a framed copy of his painting of the ship was
presented to the village and hangs in the village Hall.
The third meeting of the Westcott Club was held at Morecambe in 1991.
The veterans stayed at the Rutland Hotel on the seafront and marched
with a police escort to the church for a service and then to the
Mayor’s Parlour in Morecambe’s grand Town Hall and were received
by the Lady Mayor and served sandwiches and tea. An identical framed
copy of Les Lawrence's painting of HMS Westcott was presented to the town and hangs with the wooden shield bearing the ship's crest in the Mayor's Parlour.
Stormy formed the V & W Destroyer Association
in 1993 to bring together veterans of all the V & W Class
destroyers and it ran in tandem with the Westcott Club and other ship
association for several years until they closed through lack of
members. The V & W Destroyer Association held its last meeting in
2017 and now only exists as this website which is being archived by the
British Library and should be available for decades to come - if
not longer.
If
you want to find out more about the wartime service of a member of your
family who served on HMS Westcott
you should first obtain a copy of their service record To
find out how follow this link:
http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/servicerecords.html
If
you have stories or photographs of HMS Westcott you would like to
contribute to the web site please contact Bill Forster
Return
to the Home Page for HMS Westcott Return to the Home Page of the V & W Destroyer Association Return to the Index Page for the 69
V & W Class Destroyers
Return to the Home Page for Warship Weeks
