How school pals survived sharks after battleship sank
Steffan Thomas tells the incredible story of how three Welsh war pals survived 30 hours in shark-infested waters after the Japanese sank HMS Dorsetshire 75 years ago...
WHEN three Welshmen were at school together, they probably never imagined they would one day be fighting for survival in shark-infested waters thousands of miles from home.
But that was the fate of Les Robinson, Frederick Clifford Page, and John Thomas after they all joined the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War.
They signed up with a fourth Swansea friend – Herbert Vincent Thorne – but he tragically died in the initial attack which left the other three in the ocean, fearing they might soon suffer a similar fate.
All were aboard the HMS Dorsetshire which was attacked by the Japanese on Easter Sunday, 1942, 75 years ago this weekend.
The ship was eventually sunk by 48 direct Japanese bombs leaving its crew treading water in shark-infested seas 200 miles south west of Sri Lanka.
While in the water for around 30 hours, the men were forced to shield themselves with the bodies of 60 of their dead shipmates around which they formed a circle to protect themselves from man-eating sharks.
In a letter in 1958 Mr Robinson recalled his experiences.
He said: “I shall never forget the letters my wife kept writing to me informing me that Mr Thorne’s relatives were calling upon her in the hope that he also was safe. “He was never seen. “All three of the surviving Swansea men went to the same school together, joined the Navy together and were never separated through the entire war years.
“Even the Japanese failed to separate us.
“I write only in memory of many brave men who died that tragic day and were hardly ever mentioned in the war years.”
In 1942 the Dorsetshire was sent to complete convoy work in the Indian Ocean which was extremely hazardous at the due Japan’s entry into the war.
Mr Robinson and his Swansea friends on the Dorsetshire had already completed dangerous missions in Singapore and Rangoon, Myanmar, before being deployed to hunt for surface raiders and the enemy fleet. The Dorsetshire was sunk along with fellow British ship HMS Cornwall on April 5, resulting in the deaths of 424 men.
Members of HMS Dorsetshire commemorated the attack with a ceremony in Plymouth on Tuesday. A year previously Mr Robinson and his friends were involved in the legendary sinking of German war ship, the Bismark, hitting her with torpedoes in the Denmark straits.
In the closing stages of the naval battle, Dorsetshire fired three torpedoes to cripple the German war ship, with Mr Robinson involved in picking up German survivors.
Mr Robinson has now passed away, but his daughter Patricia Doyle Robinson still recalls her father’s experience.
“I remember him coming back from the war and me saying, ‘Daddy, where’s my sweets?’, but, of course, all of his possessions had sunk with the HMS Dorsetshire,” she said.
“In the years following the war you knew that his experiences had affected him and he spoke often about the sharks surrounding him in the water.
“He was such a lovely man and he taught us good values in life. I miss him terribly.”
She said that after the war her father was a slater and a tiler and ran his own business called LB Robinson & Sons.
“My dad’s friendship with his navy colleagues, in particular Frederick Clifford Page, was so strong they remained close friends for the rest of their lives.
“Despite his horrific experiences at sea during the war he never wanted to leave the sea, it was in his blood.”