25.
Sept. 1, 2009

THE GLORIOUS STORY OF H.M.S. AMETHYST, The Official Report Produced By The Navy League In Co-operation With The Admiralty. Entry concerning HMS Concord;

'Two and a half hours later she reported " Woosung in sight" and shortly afterwards she made contact with HMS Concord, who was waiting for her just off the mouth of the river. Here she made her last and most famous signal 'Have rejoined fleet no damage or casualties'.

Thus is the insulting and mythical story of the event continued by those believing the lies put out by the government and naval spokesmen of the day. It has now been admitted by the present day authorities that HMS Concord proceeded forty miles up the dangerous waters of the Yangtze river in order to help protect HMS Amethyst from the known guns at Woosung and possibly elsewhere. Action stations continued for a further hour and fifty minutes before it was considered safe to stand down.

The story of the Amethyst is indeed glorious but please also let the full true story be known.

Derek Hodgson

24.
Aug. 28, 2009

I am trying to ascertain if Derek Arthur Cook served on HMS Amethyst. I am led to believe by one of his RN friends that Derek joined HMS Ganges in November 1945 and was in the Drake 201 class. Later, in 1948, he is said to have arrived in Shanghai on HMS Amethyst and was one of the ship's company to reach safety overland.

When I made his acquaintance in the 1970s' he was employed as a radio operator at the Scarborough Admiralty Wireless Station, later known as CSOS Irton Moor. He never talked about HMS Amethyst but certainly had a lot to say about early days as a boy at HMS Ganges! He did present me with a First Day Cover dated 20th April 1989 commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Yangtze Incident (see below).

Your web site carries a Roll of Honour for the crew of HMS Amethyst and they deserve prominence in our thoughts. But I am surprised that I can't find a FULL list of the crew. Surely this must be well documented. Derek A. Cook died here in Scarborough on the 7th March 1999. I attended his funeral. I would be grateful if you could tell me if Derek was on the Amethyst or where I can find a complete list of  the ship's crew members.

Yours sincerely,
Kenneth Carling,
Scarborough, England
 

23.
Aug. 1, 2009

Could anyone kindly advise me whether C/KX 101699 Sto. Mech. T. Main (who received the Yangtze 1949 clasp to his NGS Medal) served on HMS Amethyst?

Many thanks in anticipation,
Steven J. Hopkins
Worcestershire, England

22.
July 16, 2009

I am trying to obtain more information regarding my father Albert Rimmington who I think served on the Amethyst as a gunner during the Yangtze incident. I have various photos of my father during this time and would be glad to share with anyone who is interested. I would love to make contact with any surviving crewmen who served with my father at this time.

Unfortunately Albert Rimmington died of a heart attack whilst playing hockey in 1968, I was 13 yrs old so my knowledge of him is brief and I would like to find out as much as possible about what he was like when he served on the Amethyst. I would be grateful of any contacts who may help.

Kind regards,
Rob Rimmington

21.
July 9, 2009

My Uncle's brother was George Winter (D/SSX 818706) who served on the Amethyst. He sustained wounds and died on the 22nd April. I know my Uncle was distraught when the UK Government dropped its investigation into the 'missing' graves. Although I have learnt that this information is now wrong and the graves are situated within Pan-Yu Park. I have however offered to see if I could find out any information concerning his brother. If anyone knew him and could offer any memories or pictures they can share I would very much appreciate it.

Yours sincerely,
Stephen Bailey

20.
June 7, 2009

My daughter works in a local nursing home where one of the residents she is extremely friendly with is one Ernest Crossman. She has become firm friends with Ernie and he has recently shown her a plaque of the ships crest and a photograph of the ship and crew. She would like to do something for him and we are thinking of printing as many photographs and such information as we can find and would like to know if his name is on the crew list for the period of the Yangtze incident and if so, would you please give us permission to take copies of some of the crew photographs from your website? Also, as he is having speech trouble, she in particular would be grateful for any memories your members would have about him.

Thanking you in anticipation,
Mr S A Shortland (RN Retired)(P/099200)
Wellington, Somerset, England

19.
May 18, 2009

An open letter to the survivors of the of HMS Amethyst during the 'Yangtze Incident'.

Unfortunately, we the remaining crew of HMS Concord during the above period, like yourselves are becoming fewer and fewer and it was made the more obvious by the numbers attending our reunion in Bridlington recently. The recent publicity outlined in an  issue of The Portsmouth News concerning the Concords' participation in assisting in the escape of Amethyst during the night of the 30th/31st July 1949 gave rise to a great deal summarizing and discussion and sorrow, yes sorrow that we do not appear to have the support of some of the crew of Amethyst serving at the time. 

A certain gentleman still insists that the two ships met up with each other at the mouth and not 40 miles up river at Woosung. It surely is now proved by the many official documents that your captain at the time Lt. Cdr. Kerans, right from the beginning, requested that Concord should be placed at Woosung ready to open fire on the Fort should the heavy guns fire at Amethyst. This operation was carried out to the letter and the two ships passed each other above Woosung much to the great relief of all due to the obvious fact the the Concord had not been attacked and the fear that this would be the critical point of the escape was lessened. 

However, Concord was facing the wrong way and had to turn round in order to catch up with Amethyst so as to shelter her when passing the Fort. This was no easy matter as there was, according to the chart, considerable shoaling around the area and both captains and navigators are to be congratulated for there handling of the ships. The Yangtze was notorious for the silting up at it's lower reaches and it is unlikely that there had been any dredging of the shipping lane at that time of civil war.

All was not yet safe and both crews remained at action stations for a further hour and a half until reaching the safety of the estuary. When finally reaching a place of safety the two ships went alongside and the crew of Concord did their very best to cater for the needs of the crew of Amethyst and indeed were proud so to do.  Much later, we thought we would escort Amethyst to Hong Kong but no, along came Cossack who, not only took away our Ship's Log, but told us to go on patrol off northern China, well out of the way!

Fifty years later it was discovered that a veil of secrecy had been placed over the part Concord played in the affair. Firstly, it turned out that the Admiralty had refused Kerans permission to make the attempt but it was too late, Amethyst had already left. Then, after the escape, the British Ambassador in Nanking sent a confidential telegram to all concerned that "No, repeat No publicity should be given to the fact that H.M. Ship Concord entered Chinese territorial waters"

The Admiralty issued a press release that Concord had been waiting at the mouth of the river ready to proceed up river only if Amethyst was fired upon. However, Admiral Brind inadvertently gave a press conference on the 6th August 1949 as follows "The Navy was ready to fight for Amethyst, Concord had trained it's big guns on the Woosung forts guarding the Yangtze and a whole flotilla of destroyers was closing in to join her and if necessary go up river between the sand banks and blast a passage for the sloop which had been bottled up for 101 days".

He later confirmed that the assembled journalists at his press conference had not kept this information off the record as they should have done. We finally have the untrue statement of Bob Ainsworth at the M.O.D to a fellow M.P. that "By the time HMS Amethyst reached HMS Concord's position at the mouth of the Yangtze on the morning of 31 July 1949, she had succeeded in making her escape." We hope, you the remaining crew of Amethyst who know the truth, will at this late stage join us in our attempt to obtain just recognition for the part we played. 

There can be no doubt that we risked our lives that morning in the river. You, together with all concerned such as Admirals Brind and Madden, the staff of the Flag Officer afloat and yes, even the government of the time know full well of the very real danger both ships were in that morning. It could well have been an absolute disaster.  The current attitude of Bob Ainsworth and his like when advocating the lack Risk and Rigour in our case and the suggestion that the risk was potential and not actual should study the meaning of the word 'Risk' i.e. 'chance of loss or injury, degree of probability of loss, factor likely to cause loss or damage' I think our case meets this criteria very well, don't you?

Derek Hodgson
HMS Concord 1948/50

18.
Apr. 17, 2009

My wife and I have been trying to find information regarding my Father, Leslie Harrison, who was an Able Seaman on board HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze incident in 1949. We have been unable to find confirmation that he was on board. Leslie died 13 years ago and since my mother died this year we have been looking further into this piece of history in our family. Leslie's Official No. was JX398554, Port Division, Devonport.  

We have copy papers to show he boarded HMS Amethyst on 19 August 1948 and was on board until 6 July 1949. He told us the story of what happened to him and that he was on board until the end when they flew the remaining crew off. Any information regarding Leslie would be much appreciated.  All the servicemen who died during this incident will be in our thoughts this 60th anniversary year.

Many thanks,
Glynn Harrison
Cheshire, England

17.
Mar. 18, 2009

The 60th Anniversary of the Yangtze Incident

Dear friends, This is a very significant year for the Amethyst Association, and as such there are a number of
things happening through 2009. Firstly on Sunday April 19th at 11:30 a.m. a Commemorative Service will be
held at the National Memorial Arboretum, at Alrewas near Lichfield.

On Thursday April 23rd a small number of Members are being invited to a special reception being held at
Collingwood Centre, at Fareham, near Plymouth.

Our 60th Celebration will be held in Plymouth on Friday 18th September 2009 to Sunday 20th September
2009, at the Novotel.

I have been able to secure a very good price for the weekend with the hotel which will include everything but
your drinks (ha ha). The problem now is I need to know numbers urgently for the above events, please let me
know as soon as possible if any of you are interested in any of the above, so I may plan the days for you all.

Best regards,

Trudy Sampson
Telephone  01827 830334
trudysam@btinternet.com

16.
Mar. 5, 2009

I have just acquired the medals of D/SSX 818663 R. T. Davies Ordinary Seaman RN. His group comprises NGS Medal with Bar Yangtze 1949, Korea Named to R. T. DAVIES and the UN Korea Medal unnamed. The medals are genuine as Seaman Davies is listed in the book "The Glorious Seven HMS Amethysts 1793 - 1956" by George Hickingbottom who I understand was a member of the crew.

I am a collector of Medals (not a dealer) and I am truly honored  that I have this group in my collection. What I am endeavoring to do is put a file together on R. T. Davies and I wonder if there is any where I can find out what his job was on the ship and any other information.

My thanks,
John  Ferguson

15.
Feb. 22, 2009

My Uncle was on the Amethyst. His name is Thomas Aldridge and he was on board during the Yangtze Incident. Until recently he has been in contact with a Jack Bryson but his mail is now being returned and my Uncle doesn't know what has happened to him. 

Is there anyway I can put him in touch with others who served on the Amethyst? Alternatively is there anyway I could contact the person who arranged the reunions to see if I could get any photos that I could forward to him. I look forward to your response.

Regards,
Lynn Hughes

14.
Feb. 22, 2009

I enjoyed reading this site - it recalled the stories my step grandfather used to tell me about the Yangtze incident as a boy. He was Evan Jones (from Tottenham) and was either an Artificer or may have been a Petty Officer. He had a number of apocryphal (?) tales of getting his majesty's vessels back up and running by such means as splicing foil from the crews' cigarette packs to make replace fuses. Whether he was part of the crew or not, following the affair he was rather against sausages on account of the chinese suggesting they were made of rats and dogs during their enforced stay on the river.

M. J. Hornby

12.
Feb. 1, 2009

My father, Ronald George Richards, was a member of the Amethyst association and served on the Amethyst at the time of the Yangtze Incident. Sadly he passed away in July 2006.

I cannot seem to find his name in any Information about the event or on the Navy Site. Yet he was in a photograph in the Navy News Saturday 24th. April 1999 the 50th  Anniversary of the event returning to Devonport on the Amethyst where the injured were leaving the ship.

I am trying to put together a catalogue of pictures and and text showing his name. I would really appreciate if you could find some for me or direct me to where I can get.

Thank you,
David Richard

11.
Jan. 18, 2009

I have just read the true story of HMS Concord by William Leitch RN (HMS Consort) and the true story it played in escorting HMS Amethyst. My father served on HMS Concord at the time of the incident, he was a radar operator. His name was R.C.R CATT JX760425.

What I have just read is the story he told me time and time over again. Although didn't know about the ships
log. When the Yangtze Incident film was on TV he always watched it but got so cross every time at the end, as he always said that's not what happened they have got it wrong. Do you think they may posthumously award a medal to the sailors that were aboard the Concord? If so I would like to accept it on his behalf.

Christine Giles

10.
Nov. 15, 2008

RE: message dated January 31, 2008 by Steven Nicholls. Where it states; "The PM T. Blaire, was given misleading information in the year 2002 and he believed what the Chinese told him that a factory was built on top of the graves." Michael, do yourself a favour and delete that item from your site. The people that brought that story back to Britain, were members of the Amethyst Association, that went out to Shanghai, where they visited the British Embassy, and that's where they got the story that they brought back. I am sending to you two links from my website, acquaint yourself with the material in both links, then if you so wish put your own story together.
       
(The listening Prime Minister)

(Firm evidence to the contrary)

Yours Aye,
Willie Leitch RN

9.
Sept. 18, 2008

Please can anyone help me. As far as I know my father was a member of the crew of the Amethyst during the Yangtze incident but I cannot confirm this, I would appreciate any help or input regarding my fathers service during this incident. His Name was Albert Ernest Stephen Mepstead, known as Bert I believe. My thoughts are with all the crew members who served on the Amethyst during this time. Thank you for any help you can give
me.

Colin Mepstead

8.
Aug. 29, 2008

I am writing on behalf of the Quirindi and District Historical Society. We have been shown the attached piece of work for identification. The woman knows nothing about it except that it has been in her Mothers possession for some time. We have identified the flags as Royal Navy flags and the coat of arms as the Royal Coat of Arms.  She knows of an uncle, her mother's brother, who served on HMS Amethyst and his surname was Tanner, but doesn't know when he served on the ship and we are wondering if he was involved in the Yangtze incident and if this patchwork was made during this time. 

Do you have any lists of crew members? The patchwork has been done rather crudely and the backing is a sheet of paper or parchment full of either Chinese or Japanese writing on it. The red marking on the backing is the stitching. Any help by you or your members would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Anita Appleby

7.
July 16, 2008

Amethyst Reunion Announcement

6.
July 3, 2008

My Father, now in his late 70's, says that he served on the Amethyst as a junior seaman and swam ashore under fire from the Chinese..dads mind is starting to go through a mixture of old age and alcohol. I have in my possession his certificate of qualification for Auxiliary Machinery Course for Stoker Mechanics signed on Jan. 6th 1942 and I cannot make out the signatures. It looks like J S EAST /LAST or even J B. The commanding officers name is B ???L/CMDR. Dads number was D/KX 778123 I also have various other papers including the History Sheet for Stoker Ratings confirming he was on Amethyst on 6/1/49. Again I cannot make out the signature. Are you able to shed any light on this subject as we the family would like to know if he is/was eligible for any award.

Many thanks,
Andrew Hustler