Contacting H.M.S. Lapwing Association

The Best way to obtain more information about our ship and crew and perhaps your own relative is to contact Les Edwards by Email: lesedwards@jerseymail.co.uk 
Could Stephen Rose and Lynn do this as I have had trouble in replying to their requests for details.

Our next reunion will be at Saffron Walden, Essex on Saturday 24th March 2012. Members will be staying at the Saffron Hotel from Friday 23rd until Sunday 25th March. Our memorial service will be held on Saturday pm 24th at our memorial in the Close Gardens and our official dinner on the evening of the 24th. Normally a good turnout from the local residents, Royal Navy Assoc. Russian Convoy Veterans,Royal British Legion, Army and Air force cadets and all their Standard bearers. Wonderful support. For more information please do contact me as above.

The above photograph of our crew taken on board Lapwing after a Church parade late May 1944 in Greenoch, prior to preparations for participating in the D-day landings.

+Survivors from the Sinking of Lapwing at our reunion of 2010. 

We do hope that you will contact us if you require and more information.  Thank you for your time in reading our blog.
Yours in Lapwing

Les Edwards

Who are we and what is our association for

H.M.S. Lapwing was a Royal Navy Sloop that was built during the Second World War, laid down at the Scotts yard on the Clyde in 1942 and launched on 19th March 1944. Built as a Uboat hunter and after completeing her sea trials she was armed and stored out to first participate in the D-day landing (operation Overlord) June until September 1944 protecting the outer areas of the British and Canadian landing zones.

From September 1944 until 20th March 1945 she was part of the escort group for 9 convoys to Northern Russia, sadly on her 9th escort passage with JW65, she was torpedoed by U968 just 6 miles from their destination of Murmansk. Hit amidships, she broke in half and sank within 12 minutes with the loss of 158 Officers and men out of a total crew compliment of 219.

Our "Friends of H.M.S. Lapwing Association" was set up in 2005, whilst I was researching a particular crew member and managed to trace several survivors, widows and relatives of lost crew members and in March 2006 we had our first reunion in Saffron Walden, the town that adopted Lapwing during "War Week 1941".

We now have our own ships memorial in a beautiful garden in the centre of Saffron Walden at which we hold a special reunion every two years. The next being March 2012.

During our research we have to date established contacts and friendship with

9 survivors
7 widows
75 relatives of crew members

We have also created a fairly accurate profile of Lapwing and her short life, a complete crew list of those who sailed on that last fatal voyage and to their status after the sinking, individual crew member profiles along with their memories and photographs. Several photographs of Lapwing herself and in particular one of the crew taken on board just after commissioning with many of the lads identified. We have information of all of the individual 9 convoys Lapwing took part in and many photographs of our reunions held - 2006 -2008 -2010 at Saffron Walden.
We do have sadly, many of our crew that we have not been able to trace or their families and this is what we really do need help with. So did your father, grandfather, brother or uncle serve in the Royal Navy during the last world war, do you know anything about him?

Do contact us if you feel you may have a connection with our ship and crew, we would be delighted to hear from you.