World War II Database

ww2dbaseEver since his school days in the United Kingdom, Hugh Martyr had been interested in history, particularly naval history. His interest in history later expanded to cover the American Civil War and the German V-weapons campaign against London. He is also an re-enactor and organizer of major re-enactment events, including the 200th anniversary of Waterloo event where over 8,000 were on the field. He joined the WW2DB team in 2018.

Photographs/Maps Contributions

Timeline Contributions

Hugh Martyr has also contributed 606 entries in the WW2 Timeline. A small sample of his timeline contributions is shown below.

» 7 Mar 1944: The 7,378-ton German cargo ship Vigo, now employed by the German Navy as the Sperrbrecher X, a mine barrage breaker, sailing in front of convoys to trigger off potential mines. She struck a mine for this purpose and sank 24 miles off Norderney on the German coast.
» 1 Oct 1939: The 2,239-ton Belgian merchant steamer Suzon was sailing to Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom loaded with 2,400 tons of pit props for the Welsh mines. The ship had been built in Sunderland, England, United Kingdom by S. P. Austin & Sons, and was owned by a London shipping Company and then named Portwood. In 1930 she was sold to the Belgians and renamed. At 1845 hours German submarine U-35 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Lott) attempted to stop the neutral and unarmed steamer with light signals about 42 miles 330 degrees from the French island of Ushant but the Belgians put on steam and tried to escape. Warning shots were fired which actually hit the ship forcing the Belgian Captain, R. Lejeune, to stop and abandon the ship, knowing that the cargo would be classed as contraband. After the crew were clear the submarine fired a torpedo that struck on the port side of the Suzon abreast the funnel which broke the vessel's back, the two halves sinking almost immediately. The Belgian crew were picked up by HMS Acheron (H 45) commanded by Lieutenant Commander R. F. W. Northcott RN which was escorting the nearby convoy MB-10.
» 1 Aug 1944: On completing an anti-diver patrol against V-1 flying bombs, Flight Lieutenant F. Wiza's Yellow Section of 306 Squadron (Polish) RAF received a warning that they were 10 miles off the English coast and were vectored into a "safe lane" away from anti-aircraft batteries; as the Mustang III fighters crossed the coast they found themselves under intense fire; fortunately no aircraft were hit. 96 Squadron lost a Mosquito aircraft and crew whilst the night fighter was landing in bad weather and visibility; Flight Officer Ray Ball and his navigator Flight Officer Fred Saunders were both killed as was Leading Aircraftman Charlie Allen on the ground.
» 11 Apr 1940: Battleship Warspite and aircraft carrier furious joined the Home Fleet which continued unsuccessfully to find the German force west of Norway. Light cruisers and some destroyers were detached for re-fuelling. A sortie was made by battleships Rodney, Valiant and Warspite, the carrier Furious and the heavy cruisers Berwick, Devonshire and York under command of Admiral Charles Forbes. An unsuccessful attack was undertaken against three German destroyers after the cruiser Hipper set out undetected and heads south with the destroyer Friedrich Eckoldt.
» 22 Jul 1944: Pilot Officer Ken Foskett became a local hero after bringing down a V-1 flying bomb onto the railway lines near Ashford in Kent, England, United Kingdom. Seeing a train approaching the damaged track at speed, Fosket made low passes over the locomotive, lowering his wheels and dipping his wings. The engineers in the engine got the message and stopped the train. Read More

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