Reginald Barks

Reginald Barks was a DEMS gunner aboard Southern Empress a whale factory ship built in 1928 as steam tanker San Jeronimo. Voyaging from New Orleans to Glasgow via New York, she was carrying 11,700 tons of fuel oil with a deck cargo of 21 landing craft. 48 men were lost with 77 surviing an attack by U-221..

At 00.04, 00.12 and 00.13 hours on 14 Oct 1942, U-221 fired torpedoes at ships in convoy SC-104 northeast of St. Johns and claimed the sinking of three ships with 13.000 grt. Trojer observed how the first ship broke in two and sank after 10 minutes, a second ship developed a list and sinking noises were heard from a third. However, only the Susana was hit during these attacks. At 00.32 hours, a fourth attack was made in which the Southern Empress was hit and later sunk by a coup de grâce at 03.21 hours.

The master, 23 crew members, 20 DBS and four gunners from Southern Empress (Master Olaf Hansen) were lost. 44 crew members, 31 DBS and two gunners were picked up by HMS Potentilla (K 214) (LtCdr Monsson), transferred to the Norwegian whale factory ship Suderøy and landed at Liverpool.

Eleven small British landing craft and the following bigger vessels were lost aboard the Southern Empress: HMS LCM-508, HMS LCM-509, HMS LCM-519, HMS LCM-522, HMS LCM-523, HMS LCM-532, HMS LCM-537, HMS LCM-547, HMS LCM-620 (each 52 tons) and HMS LCT-2006 (291 tons). (Courtesy of Uboat.net)

DEMS gunners refers to the gunners who served on Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships during WWII. These gun crews, consisting of Royal Navy personnel, Royal Marines, and men from the Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment, defended merchant vessels against enemy attacks, primarily German U-boats, during the Battle of the Atlantic. They were a crucial part of the convoy system, helping to supply Allied operations and protect vital shipping routes. (Wikipedia)