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WWII GROUP OF 4 MEDALS & EPHEMERA TO O.C.1 S. JOHNSON, H.M.S. CURACOA (K.I.A. IN COLLISION WITH H.M. QUEEN MARY 1942)

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; WWII War Medal; Royal Naval Long Service & Good Conduct Medal George VI to LX.20344 S. Johnson, O.C.1 H.M.S. Curacoa. Accompanied by WWII Memorial Scroll, Certificate of Service parchment, original photographs and Buckingham Palace Condolence slip, Admiralty Condolence slip and other original material.
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NOW£750.00
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Description

Stanley Johnson was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 25 Aug 1904, the son of Fred and Mary Johnson and husband of Frances Ivy Johnson of Shirley, Birmingham and was serving as a Petty Officer Cook aboard H.M.S. Curacoa from 29 Aug 1940.

On 2 Oct 1942, Curacoa was escorting R.M.S. Queen Mary which was carrying 10,000 U.S. troops into the Clyde. The two ships were zig-zagging in anti-submarine formation, but with the Queen Mary travelling at 28 knots, a misjudgement was made and the Queen Mary collided with Curacoa's stern and struck her broadside on, slicing through and cutting her in half.

The Captain of the Queen Mary was under orders to stop for nothing and sail on, leaving 338 of the Curacoa for dead.

There were barely a hundred survivors.

Stanley Johnson is remembered on the Chatham Memorial.