My uncle, Harold James Lamb, trained at the Prince of Wales Sea Training Hostel at Limehouse, circa 1930. He went on to join the Merchant Navy, and sadly was drowned in 1940 when the vessel he was then serving on, Herland, on its way from Methil (Scotland) for London hit a mine, near the Nore light vessel and sank. Sixteen crew (out of thirty four) and two gunners (out of three) were drowned.

I was born in 1949, so I never met my uncle. However, my dad (a younger brother of Harold) does have memories of him, including a silly little song that the Limehouse lads apparently sang, and which Harold would perform for his family when he was home on leave.

It was sung to the tune of "There is a Happy Land, Far, Far Away", and went as follows:

There is a training school down Limehouse way,
Where we get bread-and-scrape three times a day.
Ham and eggs we never see;
We get brick-dust in our tea,
And we are gradually fading away!

My uncle's name is on the memorial plaque.


David Lamb
Paignton, Devon, UK