Able Seaman, Mercantile Marine, M.T. Athelcrown
Early life:
John Allan Stephenson Bland was born in the early part of 1920 and his birth was registered in Keighley in the first quarter of that year. His parents were Allan and Jane Alice Bland née Baker and they were living at 6, Oldfield at the time.
His mother Jane died in the early part of 1925 when John was just five years of age. She is buried in Dockroyd Graveyard in Oakworth.
John’s widowed father Allan was remarried on 17th November 1928 to Annie Emmott at Christ Church, Oakworth.
They had a son, Michael Hermann Bland, who was born at Oakworth in 1929.
The family were living at 36, Clough Lane in Oakworth in 1939 although John wasn’t recorded there, possibly because he was already serving in the Merchant Navy.
War service:
According to crew records arriving at New York in 1941, John began his service in 1935, which would mean he was aged 15 or 16 at the time he first went to sea. John was an able seaman serving on the 11,999 ton Motor Tanker Athelcrown, built in 1929 by the Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Haverton Hill on Tees. She was usually carrying molasses.
He had previously done at least three voyages with her. One from Liverpool, arriving on 6th April 1941 in New York and (and a return trip) then later in the same year, from Orkney to New York arriving in 18th November 1941.
Sinking:
The Athelcrown was en-route in ballast from Cardiff to Belfast Lough, then on to Aruba as part of the Convy ON-56. The convoy became dispersed and his ship was sunk by German U-Boat U82 on 22nd January 1942, one of five vessels sunk from that convoy during the week. 32 crew members were saved but five were lost, including John. He was just 22 years old.
According to the Uboat.net website, he died of injures and exposure in the lifeboat in charge of the chief engineer one day after the sinking of Athelcrown and was buried at sea.
Note: There is no reference for this account of his death and we assume it’s from a crew member’s account of the sinking and subsequent rescue.
Remembrance:
The five crew members of the Athelcrown are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial for Merchant Seamen from both wars, which is next to the Tower of London.
A silver ciborium and silver wafer box were presented by Mr. A. Bland to Christ Church, Oakworth in memory of his son John Bland, killed at sea in the 1939 war.
John’s father Allan Bland had served with the Royal Navy during the Great War and is recorded on the Oakworth Great War roll of honour in Oakworth Village Hall.
Source information:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007.
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935.
1901 census.
1911 census.
RootsWeb.
New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
Uboat.net
World War I and World War II Shipping and Seamen Rolls of Honour, 1914-1945.
Merchant Seamen Deaths, 1939 -1953.
National Maritime Museum – Merchant Seamen Deaths, 1939 -1953.
Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services, 1848-1939.
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962.
