William Leslie Smith
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Son of Beatrice Smith, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire.
PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Panel 51, Column 2.
HMS Kelly
HMS Kelly was a K-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, and flotilla leader of her class. She served through the early years of the Second World War; in Home Waters, off Norway and in the Mediterranean. Throughout her service, Kelly was commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten, as commander (Captain (D)) of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla.
In April 1941 she joined HM ships Abdiel, Dido, Jackal, Jersey, Kashmir, Kelvin and Kipling at Gibraltar to form Force S, an escort for reinforcements to the Mediterranean Fleet (Operation Salient). She arrived in Malta on the 28th and was deployed with her flotilla to join Force K for attacks on Axis shipping to North Africa.
On 8 May, following the loss of HMS Jersey to a mine and the subsequent clearance of her wreck, the flotilla left Malta and joined Ajax, Dido, Orion and Perth to escort supply convoys to Egypt and Greece (Operation Tiger). On 10 May she led the destroyers to bombard Benghazi before returning to Malta. On 21 May she was despatched to Crete with Kashmir and Kipling and began patrols north of the island the next day.
On 23 May, during the evacuation of Crete, she was bombed and sunk. 130 men (half her crew) were killed including Ordinary Seaman William Smith, Stokers 1st Class Christopher Kirby from Langold and George Kirk from Mansfield and Signalman Bernard Williamson from West Bridgford. Kelly did succeed in shooting down three of the attacking Stukas, while another was badly damaged and crashed upon returning to base.
The 1942 film In Which We Serve starring Noël Coward and John Mills and telling the story of "HMS Torrin", is based on the career of Kelly. In Hebburn, the town in South Tyneside where HMS Kelly was built there remains a public house by the name of "The Kelly" while the local Tyne & Wear metro station features artwork depicting the ship, demonstrating that the story of HMS Kelly and her crew is not forgotten and is still a source of civic pride in the town. (Wikipedia)
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