Victor Frederick Snowling

A Petty Officer Steward with H.M.S. Fratton., Victor died on 18th of August 1944 at the age of 24. 

Victor was born at Lowestoft on 30 January 1920, a son of Ernest Victor and Rose Lilian Snowling. He was baptised at Saint Margaret's Church on 22 February 1920 and his family lived at 51 Sussex Road. By 1939 they were living at 32 Kent Road, Lowestoft, and Victor worked as a commercial vehicle builder.

Before World War Two the Fratton was a Southern Railways ferry operating between Southampton and Le Havre. The vessel was requisitioned for war service and became H.M.S. Fratton. During the D-Day (Normandy) landings H.M.S. Fratton was used as a Bombardon control ship. The Bombardons were floating steel tanks that acted as a breakwater for the Mulberry Harbour. On 18 August 1944 the ship was at anchor off the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches. An explosion occurred, and it seems that a torpedo struck the aft port side of the ship. The ship sank in minutes. 

See: Dover Ferry Photos - Featuring the Shipping of the UK and Ireland - Past and Present > TS Fratton – Past and Present (doverferryphotosforums.co.uk)