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James H. Paddock He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, and sailed from Newfoundland to England with the 3rd Contingent in late '39 or early '40. His first ship was the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Patroclus, which was torpedoed in November, 1940. His back was badly injured when he fell from the deck to the water during the attack, and he would have drowned if he hadn't been saved by British sailors in a lifeboat. He spent several months in a hospital in Greenock, Scotland recuperating. There he survived a near miss from a bomb in a German air raid. He was released from the hospital in early '41 and joined the crew of the battleship King George V. He was involved in the action against the Bismarck. Sometime in 1942 he left the King George V and was assigned to a minesweeper operating in the area of Gibralter. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find out the name of the ship. In 1943, he received a medical discharge due to his back injury, which was giving him trouble and continued to do so for many years. He died at his home in Western Bay, Newfoundland on May 24th, 1985, aged 68.
Chris Paddock
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