Leading Seaman Vincent Barry RN, son of James and
Agnes Barry, of Burnley, Lancashire. Died 11-Oct-1945, aged 26 (Service No: D/SSX
19894). His ship, HMS CAESAR was deployed with other ships to cover the passage
of a military convoy taking the 5th Indian Division to Soerabaya between August
and November 1945 but there isn't a reference to a specific action that led to his
death and it could have been related to the attempt to recover Allied POWs.
Surabaya (formerly Soerabaya) is a Seaport city
north-eastern coast of Java, Indonesia. It is Indonesia's second-largest city and
has been eastern Java's chief trading centre since the 14th century. The Dutch gained
control in the 18th century and built their main East Indies naval base there. Occupied
by the Japanese in World War II when it suffered heavy damage.
The area around the east Javanese town of Surabaya became the scene of some of the heaviest fighting, and the Battle of Surabaya, which cost the lives of many thousands of Indonesians, became a symbol of resistance to the re-imposition of Dutch colonial rule.
Late October 1945, some 6,000 British troops of
the 49th Brigade of the 23rd Indian Division under Brigadier Mallaby, entered Surabaya
with orders to organize the recovery of Allied POW. However, the British also sought
to establish complete control of Surabaya, but had underestimated the extent of
Indonesian resistance and the numbers they faced. They found themselves up against
a force of 20,000 troops of the newly-formed and Japanese trained People's Security
Army Tentara Keamanan Rakyat, and over 100,000 irregular fighters, all dedicated
to the cause of Indonesian independence. Fierce fighting broke out on 28 October,
and soon the Indonesians had surrounded the British command posts scattered throughout
the city. A truce was reached on 30 October, but as evacuations to the harbour area
was arranged, in the excitement and confusion, more fighting erupted during which
Brigadier Mallaby was killed. The British then decided to take Surabaya by force,
and secretly landed 24,000 troops of the battle-hardened 5th Indian Division, with Sherman medium
tanks, backed by naval and air support.
On 9 November, the British gave the Indonesians an
ultimatum, ordering their leaders to surrender. When they refused, Surabaya was
bombarded on 10 November, beginning a battle that was to last three weeks, at the
end of which 200,000 of the town's population had fled, mainly the elderly, women
and children. Over 16,000 Indonesian troops were killed and 2,000 British soldiers
lost their lives.
1944 December-1944 1945 Commanding Officers: Post War: Sources:
HMS
Caesar (R07): CA Class Fleet Destroyer of the 11th Emergency Flotilla built by John
Brown of Clydebank and to be fitted for use as a Flotilla Leader with additional
accommodation for the Staff Officers. The ship was laid down on 3rd April 1943 and
was intended to carry the name RANGER) but before her launching on 14th February
1944 this was changed to CAESAR to conform with the new naming policy . She was
the sixth Royal Navy warship to carry the name, first introduced in 1642 and previously
been carried by a battleship sold in 1921. After completion en 5th October 1944
she joined the Home Fleet to work-up for operational service.
September - Builders trials and commissioning.
October - Passage to Clyde for full power trials,
carried out work-up at Scapa Flow with ships of Home Fleet.
November - Joined 7th Destroyer Flotilla Home Fleet
after work-up at Scapa Flow. 14th Part of escort for HM Escort Aircraft Carrier
PURSUER and HMS Cruiser EURYALUS with HM Destroyers NUBIAN, VENUS and ZEPHYR during
air attacks on shipping off Tromso (Note : German Patrol craft V6413 was sunk during
this operation. 29th Part of escort for HM Cruiser BELLONA, HM Escort Carriers CAMPANIA
and NAIRANA with ships of the 7th Flotilla and HM Destroyers ONSLOW, OBEDIENT, OFFA,
ORIBI, ONSLAUGHT and ORWELL.
1st Joined escort of JW62. Convoy under threat from
STOCK Group of U-Boats which failed to make contact.
2nd Diversion of convoy avoided attacks from GRUBE
U- Boat Group.
7th Detached on arrival of JW62 at Kola Inlet without
loss.
10th Part of escort for returning Convoy RA52 with
same ships.
11th Sister destroyer HMS CASSANDRA hit by torpedo
from U365 and badly damaged.
12th HM Norwegian Corvette TUNSBERG CASTLE sunk by
mine with heavy loss of life.
13th U365 sunk by aircraft from HMS NAIRANA.
19th Detached after arrival of convoy at Loch Ewe
without loss of any mercantiles.
January - Deployed with 7th Flotilla in tone Fleet
and later transferred to Atlantic for convoy to defence in Western Approaches.
April - Nominated for foreign service
May - Refit and preparation for service with Eastern
Fleet to July
August - Passage to Trincomalee with Flotilla
Lt. Dudley Leslie Davenport, RN - 16 May 1944 - 14 October 1944
Capt. Godfrey Noel Brewer, DSO, RN - 14 October 1944
– still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List
HMS CAESAR was deployed with HM Cruiser
SUSSEX with HM Destroyers CARRON and CAVALIER to cover the passage of a military
convoy taking 5th Indian Division to Soerabaya Nov-1945. The ship returned to UK
to reduce to Reserve in 1946. In January 1951 it was decided that ships of the CAESAR
Class in Reserve should be modernised and work was slowly progressed. This ship
completed modernisation at Rosyth in 1960 and was commissioned for operational service
in the 8th Destroyer Squadron. Her service, mainly in the Far East, ended in June
1965 when she Paid-off and was placed on the Disposal List. After being de-equipped
at Chatham the ship was sold to BISCO in 1966 for demolition by Hughes Bolcow and
arrived in tow at the Breaker’s yard in Blyth on 6th January 1967.
War Graves Commission
http://www.moddb.com/mods/cc5-battle-of-surabaya-1945
http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4539.html
http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-66Ca-Caesar.htm
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