15th June 1941
On this day came three citizens of
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The first of their countrymen to become Sea-Officers of
THE ROYAL NAVY
Who were these three?
Where are they and their compatriots who demonstrated a high level of moral determination in an action that threatened their freedoms as citizens and hazarded their lives?
Americans who served as pilots during the Battle of Britain, joining England's struggle long before their own country suffered the attack on Pearl Harbor, are enshrined on a roll of honor in the recently opened Airand Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
That others of their countrymen departed along similar, clandestine paths to become officers of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, popularly called the "wavy Navy" to distinguish their rank insignia from the straight stripes of a regular British naval-officer, is not generally known.
English authorities were sufficiently impressed by this gesture of Atlantic communality to commemorate the arrival of the first three of these Americans with a few eloquent words carved in a simple stone tablet set into the floor of Painted Hall, Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
The fact that there were more than three has been obscured over the years. With the generous assistance of Lieutenant Commander George Cooper, RN, the records of a dozen have been uncovered and are published here for what may be the first time. Of the 12 names that have been traced and authenticated by a search in the British Navy Records Office; two men, George Hogue and Morrison, although known to have served in the Royal Navy, could not be found. The correct spelling of Hogue's surname may be incorrect. He is thought to have transferred to the U.S. Navy and commanded one of the Mulberries on Omaha Beach. Morrison's first name is not available and, like Hogue, the spelling of his surname is uncertain. The others are as follows:
Cherry, Alex H. Served in HM ships Asbury, Braithwaite, Rion, and Wren. Promoted commander, RNVR, and subsequently appointed to the staff of Flag Officer, Western Germany. He later gave an account of his experiences in a book, Yankee RN.
Ferris, Edward M. Served as executive officer on board HMS Sennel and commanding officer of HMS Byard. Promoted commander, RNVR, and served onboard San Francisco-based HMS Saker as public affairs officer.
Gibson, David Served in HM ships Burnham, Tyler, Badger, and Gardiner. As Lieutenant, RNVR, appointed commanding officer HMS Willowherb. Released from active service in 1946.
Homans, William P. Lieutenant, RNVR. Served with HM ships Duncton and Tamarine and appointed toHMS Ironbound as executive officer. Released in 1943 to join U. S. Navy.
Kittredge, Edmund W. Lieutenant, HM ships Diomede, Drake, and Quebec, and on commando duties. Released from active service 1946.
Leggat, Jobn M: Lieutenant, RNVR. Served on HM ships King Alfred, Drake, and Richmond. Released from Royal Navy to join U. S. Armed Forces 1944.
Parker, John S. Lieutenant, RNVR. Served with Pembroke and HMS Broadwater. Killed in 1941. A tablet with a commemorative plaque presented to the Royal Naval College by his and stands to this day in the entrance hall of the College at Greenwich.
Porter, Charles B. Lieutenant, RNVR. Served on the staff of CinC NORE. Released in 1943 to join U.S. Navy.
Ripley, Henry F. Lieutenant, RNVR. Served in HMS Pembroke and HMS Nasturtium, Released from active duty in 1942.
Russell, Edwin F. Lieutenant, RNVR. Served on board armed merchant cruiser Moloja and HM ships Pembroke and Norfolk, the latter on Pacific Station. After his release in 1943 to join the U.S. Navy, he served, variously, on Admiral Stark’s staff at ComNavEur, with forces for the planning of the Normandy invasion, on Dime Beach and the Sicilian invasion, as beach master on Omaha Beach on D-Day, and finally with the Third and Fifth Fleets as gunnery officer in the USS Oklahoma City. Russell is both the source of most of the names listed here and the inspiration for bringing them to public attention.
Which of these men are the original three referred to in the plaque remains the mystery they probably wished it to be. But the story goes, according to Lieutenant Commander Cooper, that they made their independent way from the United States to Halifax, Nova Scotia. At the time, the Royal Navy station there was commanded by Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Sir Stuart Bonham-Carter, RN, who saw to it that these volunteers and others like them were embarked (smuggled might be another description) in different ships across the Atlantic to Liverpool. After arriving together in London one of the men, more enterprising or better financed than the other two, caught the only cab in sight, leaving his companions to travel on to Greenwich by train. Professor Geoffrey Lloyd who was at the college at the time, and who designed the tablet had this to say:
“To appreciate the position fully you must realize the political and diplomatic background obtaining at t hat particular moment. We still fighting alone, the United States gradually drawing close to us but still very much uncommitted. We being tactful yet quite ready to give the States a gentle prod forwards; the U.S. anxious, and a trifle afraid of that prod! Here undoubtedly were three perfectly genuine citizens of the USA who were ready and anxious to throw in their lot with Britain. I remember we were most anxious to commemorate what seemed to be a unique occasion—as I still think it was. But it was the Occasion, and nothing else, that we wanted to commemorate. The last thing that we wanted to do was to name the people concerned who were, I believe, doing something which was strictly ‘against Protocol’ if not actually against American law.”
A man who came along before the others and by a different route is Rear Admiral Draper L. Kaufman, USN (Retired). He may, in fact, be the only U.S. flag officer to have served in the Royal Navy, or at least the only Naval Academy graduate who was first an RNVR product before becoming an American naval officer. His history is worth telling.
The rules were somewhat different in 1933 when Admiral Kaufman completed his tenure at the Naval Academy, for he was refused a commission due to bad eyes. When Europe went to war, he joined the American Volunteer Ambulance Corps of the French Army. Captured by the Germans in June 1940, he was released in August and made his way to Lisbon and there signed on as a second pantryman on board a British merchantman bound for Scotland. Upon his arrival in the United Kingdom he was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in the RNVR and ordered to HMS King Alfred at Hove for training. Shortly after reporting he responded to a call for volunteers for bomb disposal. Promoted to Temporary, Probationary, Acting Lieutenant (cautious people the British) he was assigned to mine disposal where his performance earned him a commendation (reported in the London Gazette, 6 June 1941) for “brave conduct and devotion to duty in connection with an unexploded parachute mine.”
By the autumn of the year Lieutenant Kaufman, RNVR, took leave to return home. He was transferred to the U.S. Navy 7 November 1941 to start the Navy’s Bomb Disposal School.
Of his time served under the Union Jack he writes, “It was a fascinating 13 or 14 months. I saw the British people at their best and that was magnificent. As you can see I did not become literally a ‘sea-officer’ of the Royal Navy so the plaque at Greenwich is still correct.”
So, who were the three who came on 15 June 1941? Perhaps we are not meant to know. It is appropriate simply to pay tribute to these men, and to their compatriots whose names we may never learn.