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 818 entries in the WW2 Timeline. A small sample of his timeline contributions is shown below.

» 18 Sep 1944: Spitfire fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant D. A. J. Draper of 4 Squadron, flying a reconnaissance flight over Zoutkamp, Netherlands sighted what he thought was a Do 217 aircraft at 22,000 feet, as his aircraft was unarmed he went in to do a dummy attack and reported that the aircraft released a V-1 flying bomb before escaping. It was thought that only Heinkel bombers could carry the flying bombs but there was a certain amount of experimenting going on and Draper might well had been correct. Read More
» 25 Feb 1944: A British Catalina aircraft sank German submarine U-601 near Allied convoy JW-57; all 51 aboard were killed. At 2055 hours the British destroyer HMS Mahratta (G 23) (Lieutenant Commander E. A. F. Drought, DSC, RN) was hit by a G7es acoustic torpedo from German submarine U-990 about 280 miles from the North Cape, Norway, while escorting the stern sector of convoy JW-57. The destroyer exploded and sank within minutes. HMS Impulsive (D 11) (Lieutenant Commander P. Bekenn, RN) and HMS Wanderer (D 74) (Lieutenant Commander R. F. Whinney, DSC, RN) were quickly on the scene to pick up survivors, but only 16 survivors could be recovered from the freezing waters. The commander, ten officers and 209 ratings lost their lives.
» 11 Mar 1940: The 163-ton British fishing vessel Aberdeen (LT123), whilst heading to the Cardigan Bay fishing grounds from Milford Haven in Wales, United Kingdom, was attacked by German aircraft. The bombs, all near misses, caused enough damage for the trawler to take on water. Eight of the ten crew lost their lives as the vessel sunk.
» 11 Mar 1945: The 3,059-ton German cargo merchant Cambronne was sunk in the Elbe River with the floating dock where she was undergoing repairs.
» 3 Aug 1944: RAF Hendon north of London, England, United Kingdom was hit by a V-1 flying bomb in the early hours; it demolished a barrack block and 5 accommodation huts where 5 airmen were killed and over 25 wounded. The area around Maidstone in Kent in southern England received V-1 flying bombs throughout the morning, one of them fell after snagging the wires of a barrage balloon; it killed 5 workmen on the railway and another 7 had to be hospitalized. First Lieutenant Jack Robinson USAAF of 416th Fighter-Bomber Group flying a P-47 aircraft shot down a V-1 flying bomb; this episode was watched by civilians on the ground near Ashford, Kent who cheered as the bomb veered away and exploded in woodland. Read More

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