A BASEGRAM to my father, Norman Lock (Radar operator) on HMS Findhorn, during WW2, from his sister, Olive Lock (Married name is Rea). Olive lived in Birmingham England during WW2.


Philip L

I have found that there was a date on the back of the New York, photo. FEB 28, 1946. And $1. Planetary Photo, 311 West 34th street, New York, N.Y.

Philip L

Photo of my father, Norman Lock, who is on your right as you look at photo. Norman is with an unidentified Royal navy sailor. It is in 1946, close to end of WW2 or end of WW2. The location is Jack Dempsey's Broadway Bar, near Forty-ninth Street, New York, USA. Norman went back to the UK on the Queen Mary. Probably because HMS Findhorn was returned to the USA under a loan agreement with USA government.

Some of the places where Norman travelled to with the Royal Navy in WW2 that he put on the back of his King Neptune Certificate.  A Copy is under the Lock family tree.
1942
Isle of Man, Belfast, Londonderry and Saint John
1943
Londonderry.
Canada. Halifax and Saint John.
Bermuda Isles.
America. Norfolk, Washington and Richmond.
Liverpool and Cardiff.
1944
Port Said (Egypt), Suez Canal. Colombo and Port Louis.
South Africa. Cape town.
1945
Australia. Dawin and Brisbane.
China. Hong Kong and Macau (Portuguese).
1946
America. New York.

Philip L

My father, Norman Lock (February 1924 - November 2021) was in the Portsmouth Division of Royal Navy in WW2 from 1942 to 1946. Official No. JX 359656. There is a long Navy group photo in his collection. It was to long for me to scan as one photo when I put it under the Lock family tree on the ancestry site, I have it as Group photo-A and B. I may get it scanned by a professional photographer shop one day. I can only show a small section here due to the size restrictions on this site. There seems be over 100 Navy personnel, sailors and officers, in the whole photo. Logically the whole photo may have been taken at Portsmouth, England because that was Norman's home port, but I do not know where the photo was taken. Some clues may be in the whole photo with the whole background. Norman has the yellow marker arrow just above his head in this small section of photo.

Thanks
Philip L

Some of my father's WW2 photos in regard to of HMS Findhorn and HMCS Chilliwack.

Thanks
Philip L

I have a photo of my father, Norman Lock and unidentified sailor In Port Said Egypt. Norman is on your left as you look at photo. And a Boxing match pamphlet from March 1944. Have you any Egypt WW2 navy photos.

Thanks
Philip L

 Thank you. Much appreciated. The only ships my late father seemed to talk about were HMS Findhorn and HMCS Chilliwack, so now I understand why. I have his passes for those ships.

Thanks again.

Philip L

ROYAL ARTHUR – reception for new entries/ initial training – Skegness (the Butlins holiday camp)
VALKYRIE – shore base at Douglas, Isle of Man; radar training establishment
CAROLINE –  shore base at Belfast
AVALON – Royal Canadian Navy shore base at St John’s Newfoundland
CANADA – RN shore base at Halifax, Nova Scotia
EAGLET – RN shore base at Liverpool
LANKA – RN shore base at Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
TYNE – depot ship – see: https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/7287.html
GOLDEN HIND – shore base at Sydney, Australia
VICTORY III  and VICTORY – shore base at Portsmouth
COLLINGWOOD – shore base at Fareham

The shore bases and also HMS Tyne, were responsible for administrative duties – pay and paperwork mainly – that the small ships could not do.  Your father would not have actually served there, they were the 'parent' establishment.

His  two ships were Chilliwack and Findhorn

Chilliwack was a Flower class corvette
https://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/810.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/services/history/ships-histories/chilliwack.html

Findhorn was a River class frigate –
htps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_River-class_frigates

Service history of Findhorn -
https://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/114.html

In regard to my father's service record-Ships served on in WW2. My father, Norman Charles Lock served, as Radar operator, on Royal navy ships and a Canadian Royal navy ship, HMCS Chilliwack.

But I found out that some of the names are not ships but are land bases. I think Collingswood is one and I think there was one in the former Ceylon. I would be interested in some more information about the land bases if possible.

Thank you.
Philip L

Hopefully the names that did not fit in last scan are on this one. I turned it the other way round. I had to reduce the size, causing names not to fit on the photo.

Philip L