Roy James Emanual Oldman

A Sailor with S.S. Ashcrest (London), Roy died on 9th of December 1940 aged 20. 

Roy was born at East Ham, London, on 21 September 1920, a son of James Robert and Cissie Olive Oldman. In 1921 his family lived at 115 Central Park Road, East Ham and by 1930 their home was at Saint Peter, Beccles Road, Oulton Broad.

Roy attended the Gravesend Sea School. From 6 August 1939 Roy worked on the merchant ship Cressington Court. He joined the S.S. Barn Hill on 11 December 1939 and, on 12 June 1940, the S.S. Ashcrest. 

In December 1940 the Ashcrest was part of convoy SC-13. The ship’s rudder broke and the ship became separated from the convoy and sent a distress signal which alerted a German submarine. Late of 8 December the submarine found, torpedoed, and sank the Ashcrest. All 38 crew, including Roy, were lost.