[BITList] Captain Frank Gregory-Smith - Telegraph

[John Feltham]

Friday 22 May 2009 | Naval Obituaries feed | All feeds

Website of the Telegraph Media Group with breaking news, sport,  
business, latest UK and world news. Content from the Daily Telegraph  
and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and video from Telegraph TV. Enhanced  
by Google
Home
News
Sport
Finance
Comment
Travel
Lifestyle
Culture
Fashion
A - Z 				Jobs 				Dating 				Puzzles 				 Offers 				
UKWorldPoliticsCelebritiesObituariesWeirdEarthScienceHealth  
NewsEducationTopicsNews Video
CulturePoliticsMilitaryFinanceSportReligionRoyaltyScienceMedicineTechnologyCelebrityLaw
HOMENEWSOBITUARIESMILITARY OBITUARIES
NAVAL OBITUARIES
Captain Frank Gregory-Smith
Captain Frank Gregory-Smith, who has died aged 99, was recognised for  
his bravery three times while captain of the Hunt-class destroyer  
Eridge during her two years in action.

Last Updated: 6:02PM BST 21 May 2009

He commissioned the newly-built ship at Swan Hunter's yard on the Tyne  
in November 1940, and was to be her only captain. After undertaking  
Atlantic convoy work, Eridge deployed in July 1941 to the  
Mediterranean, where Gregory-Smith was ordered to protect a damaged  
destroyer, Firedrake, as the rest of the convoy in Operation Substance  
proceeded east.
When Firedrake arrived at Gibraltar after being towed for 36 hours  
under constant threat of air attack, he was awarded a DSC for his  
seamanship, courage and determination.

Related Articles
Rear-Admiral John Adams
Rear-Admiral Teddy Gueritz
Britain at War: The escorting vessels must have been the greatest ever  
in size and numbers
Wg Cdr George Melville-Jackson
Captain 'Andy' Palmer
At the second battle of Sirte on March 22/23 1942, Eridge was one of  
five destroyers forming the close escort for four vital Malta-bound  
supply ships, which were relentlessly attacked by high-level, torpedo  
and dive bombers while Rear-Admiral Philip Vian's cruisers laid a  
smoke screen and jousted with a powerful Italian fleet. The attacks  
were so intense that by nightfall Eridge had only 28 rounds of high  
explosive shells left. The Italian fleet had been beaten off and the  
convoy was still intact, though it had been driven southwards.
Vian's covering force, short of fuel and spread out over many miles,  
then turned back for Alexandria, leaving the supply ships and their  
escorts alone. As the convoy dispersed, Gregory-Smith was left with  
the slowest merchantman, Clan Campbell. When the two ships were  
attacked next morning Eridge was reduced to firing blanks, and could  
do nothing to prevent her being sunk a few miles outside Valetta. For  
three hours Gregory-Smith manoeuvred in a minefield under threat of  
air attack to pick up survivors.
The normally taciturn Admiralty described the action as "brilliant",  
and Gregory-Smith received the DSO for outstanding services in the  
successful defence of the convoy. Only a few weeks later he was  
awarded a Bar for his efficiency and determination in conducting a 15- 
hour pursuit of a U-boat until it was forced to surface on May 29.  
With his last five depth charges he dropped a shallow pattern around  
U-568, and watched its crew flinging themselves into the water before  
he sent a boat to collect them.
Nemesis came on the night of August 29, when every nerve in Gregory- 
Smith's body "began to transmit an urgent, compelling warning". As he  
issued orders to manoeuvre against an invisible enemy, Eridge was  
torpedoed amidships by an Italian motor torpedo boat. The explosion  
caused extensive flooding, and his ship was towed with a 20ft hole in  
the keel back to Alexandria, where she was written off.
Gregory-Smith was mentioned in despatches for his coolness and  
courage, but he ensured that the bravery of his ship's company was not  
forgotten; a Distinguished Service Medal went to Leading Cook Bill  
Hardy, who had kept him supplied during the action with tea and  
"doorstops" of bread and corned beef.
Despite her eventual loss Eridge's crew believed that she was a lucky  
ship: they nicknamed their captain "'Ardover" for his frequent use of  
full rudder.
William Frank Niemann Gregory-Smith was born on January 24 1910 at  
Ashton-under-Lyne, the only child of an electrical engineer. After  
being given The Wonder Book of the Navy as a boy, his ambition was to  
join the service, and he entered Dartmouth in 1922.
Before the war he served in the battlecruiser Tiger and spent two  
years in the gunboat Cricket on the Yangtze before becoming a  
destroyer officer. He was first-lieutenant in Foresight during the  
Spanish Civil War and then in the fleet destroyer Jaguar. After seeing  
action in the Norwegian campaign, Jaguar was ordered with three other  
ships to Dunkirk.
One, Gallant, was dive-bombed and damaged en route. Grenade was sunk  
after she had loaded troops, and Jaguar was crippled – many of her  
crew and the troops they embarked from the mole were killed, but she  
was salvaged and towed back to Dover, thanks to Gregory-Smith's brave  
efforts at damage-control.
After Eridge's loss he was appointed senior training officer for Force  
G. He then helped to plan the landings on Gold Beach in Normandy  
before acting as principal beachmaster in the assault phase of D-Day,  
with the task of ensuring that the constant stream of men and  
materials landing did not turn into a vast traffic jam. For his  
gallantry, skill, determination and devotion to duty under fire he was  
awarded a Bar to his DSC.
Afterwards he accompanied Churchill to Yalta as the prime minister's  
amphibious warfare expert, but the Russian generals were not  
interested, and American admirals were unwilling to hasten the arrival  
of British forces in the Far East.
Gregory-Smith remained in the Navy until 1960, but to his  
disappointment he spent most of his postwar career ashore. In the  
1950s he was naval attaché in Ankara, and his last appointment was as  
Chief Staff Officer (Intelligence) to the C-in-C, Mediterranean.
After leaving the Navy he was warden of Wilson House, a hall of  
residence for medical students at St Mary's, Paddington, where he  
continued to promote the founder's aim of turning out doctors who were  
intelligent athletes and played hard rugby.
In retirement he was for many years church warden at St Mary and All  
Saints, Ellingham, in the New Forest. He enjoyed studying local  
history, and owned three generations of small black poodles.
Gregory-Smith was a fine raconteur. He wrote memoirs of his family and  
of the Navy, running to 380,000 words, which are now in the Imperial  
War Museum. Red Tobruk, the story of his wartime years, was edited by  
his grandson and published in 2008.
Frank Gregory-Smith, who died on May 4, married Jean Chalmers Sime;  
they had met in Dundee in 1940 while Jaguar was undergoing repairs.  
She died in 2006, and he is survived by a daughter and a son.
Published May 21 2009

Text Size
Email this article
Print this article
Share this article


Naval Obituaries
News
Military Obituaries
Obituaries



MORE ON
Naval Obituaries Get feed updates
News Get feed updates
Military Obituaries Get feed updates
Obituaries Get feed updates
Ads by Google
UK Army lists on CD
Great source for Medals, Military and family historians.
www.armylists.org.uk
Want A Bigger Salary?
Improve Your Employment Prospects Distance Learning Course Available
www.LondonExternal.ac.uk
International Shipping
Specialist,International Shipping Save,Discounted Shipping Rates
www.FreightCare.com.au
     		 		
MOST-READ OBITUARIES
Albert Hofmann

Research chemist who synthesised LSD and had the world's first 'acid  
trip' on his bicycle
Dennis Heymer

Wine waiter who became Frankie Howerd's manager, his lifetime  
companion and secret gay lover
Captain Humphrey Drummond of Megginch 	

Soldier who won an MC on the Rhine, lived life to the full and  
delighted in practical jokes
Col Richard Pickup

Commander of the SBS who led a daring Afghan raid after 9/11
Anne Scott-James

Author and journalist with a talent for caustic one-liners who edited  
Harper's Bazaar and later became an authority on gardening
MOST VIEWED
TODAY 					
PAST WEEK 					
PAST MONTH 					
MPs` expenses: 20 most bizarre claims
MPs` expenses on Google Earth
MPs` expenses: cover-up of Ian Gibson and his daughter`s cut-price  
flat deal
Best quotes on the Telegraph`s MPs` expenses investigation
MPs` expenses: The saints (Part iii)

    		 		

Inside the crown

The crown of the Statue of Liberty will open to the public again on  
July 4.
Young photographers
An international competition for photographers aged 17 and under.
Quirky Cannes photos
Some of the more unusual pictures from this year's film festival.
SPONSORED FEATURES

50 free music downloads
We've teamed up with eMusic to offer Telegraph readers the latest  
music downloads.

40 free prints with Photobox
New customers registering today will receive 40 prints for free. Order  
now.
MPS' EXPENSES

MPs' expenses in depth
Telegraph investigation lifts the lid on MPs' expense claims.
TRAVEL

The Big Picture
See the best of this week's entries in our travel photography  
competition.
CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW

Best garden deals
More ways to save money on flowers, plants and garden essentials.
MARKET PLACE

Find a bargain
 From clothes to computers, search thousands of local listings today.
Back to top
More Telegraph.co.uk
A to Z Announcements Blogs Comment Crossword Culture Dating Earth  
Education Expat Fantasy Football Fashion Features Finance Food and  
Drink Football Gardening Health Horoscopes Jobs Lifestyle Marketplace  
Mobile Motoring My Telegraph News Obituaries Personal Finance  
Promotions Property Science Sport Style Book Sudoku Technology Travel  
Video Weather Widgets
Archive Contact us Reader prints RSS feeds Subscribe and save  
Syndication Today's news
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009 Terms & Conditions  
of reading Commercial information Privacy and Cookie Policy.



ooroo

Bad typists of the word, untie.




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20090522/f3c0000e/attachment-0001.shtml