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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: Rayfo on Wednesday 10 December 08 00:43 GMT (UK)

Title: HMS Hathi
Post by: Rayfo on Wednesday 10 December 08 00:43 GMT (UK)
I wonder if anyone is able to help me with this problem.

My uncle, Cyril Geoffrey Vaughan Neale, after serving with the Shanghai Municipal Police, joined the RNVR in May, 1941 as a Temporary Acting Lieutenant (Special Branch).

In October 1944, I have him based at HMS Lanka, in Ceylon, and in July 1945 at HMS Hathi, before returning to HMS Victory, Portsmouth in 1946.

HMS Lanka, and HMS Victory, I have no problem with – but cannot definitively place HMS Hathi. One site, ‘unithistories.com’ places it in Delhi, India, whilst two passing references on other sites locate it at Kandy, Ceylon.

Family legend has Cyril on Mountbatten’s staff (presumably peripherally), and this would make sense if HMS Hathi were in Kandy, which is where Mountbatten had his HQ in the later years of the war.

If anybody is able to throw any light on the subject of HMS Hathi – or indeed on Cyril Geoffrey Vaughan Neale - I should really be most grateful.
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: liverpool annie on Wednesday 10 December 08 07:15 GMT (UK)


Hi Rayfo !

Just a couple of snippets but I think you have all this already .....  :)

Neale, Cyril Geoffrey Vaughan

02.11.1905
Croydon district, Greater London / Kent / Surrey
-
(12?).1976
Brent district
T/A/Lt. (Sp.Br.)
02.05.1941
T/Lt.
27.03.1946, seniority 02.05.1941
Served until August 1940 with the Shanghai Municipal Police, and spoke several languages, including various dialects of Chinese and Japanese.
(10.1944)

HMS Lanka (RN base, Colombo, Ceylon) *
(07.1945)

HMS Hathi (RN depot, Delhi) *
(04.1946)
 
 HMS Victory (RN base, Portsmouth) *
* indexed, but not listed as such

http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RNVR_officersN.html

Surname Forename                Joined Serving Left Previous Employment Date of Birth Place of Birth
Vaughan-Neale Cyril Geoffrey 1929              1940 junior manager, Sunlight Soap 02 Nov, 1905 England, London

http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~hirab/smptuv.html
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: Rayfo on Wednesday 10 December 08 07:50 GMT (UK)
Thanks very much for replying, Annie.  :)

Yes, the information noted there is mainly info that I have myself contributed to a couple of databases (apart from info about HMS Lanka, and HMS Hathi), but it is extremely kind of you to go to the trouble of researching it – and one never knows when something has been overlooked!

Much obliged for your input – the search for HMS Hathi goes on.  8)
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: jean72 on Saturday 15 August 09 14:41 BST (UK)
I spotted this  and as a relative of c. g. vaughan-Neale, i would be interested to know more.thanks, Jean
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: Rayfo on Saturday 15 August 09 19:42 BST (UK)
I spotted this  and as a relative of c. g. vaughan-Neale, i would be interested to know more.thanks, Jean

Hello Jean,

I have sent you a Personal Message.

Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: jean72 on Monday 17 August 09 12:01 BST (UK)
having difficulty trying to reply to Ray

Jean
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: Rayfo on Monday 17 August 09 20:28 BST (UK)
having difficulty trying to reply to Ray

Jean

Now sorted out.
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: garibaldired on Friday 01 March 13 16:21 GMT (UK)
I know these are old posts but I see from my father's Naval service record that his Conduct record is signed by C G Vaughan Neale on 31 Dec 1945 and 7 Jan 1946, both at HMS Victory (Barracks) at Portsmouth!
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: Rayfo on Friday 01 March 13 18:57 GMT (UK)
Thank you for that Garibaldired. So that places my uncle in Portsmouth in December, 1945 - somewhat earlier than I had thought.

I should just like to take the opportunity of making a tribute to the great usefulness of Rootschat in general, by telling members of an extremely beneficial result that came out of this thread, if you will indulge me.

I knew that my uncle had married a Chinese lady whilst he was serving in the Shanghai Municipal Police, and that they had adopted a little Chinese girl as their daughter. I also knew that he had abandoned them at some stage, but I didn't know where or when - I assumed when he left China upon the Japanese occupation. As part of my genealogical research, which commenced some time after my uncle's death in 1976, I of course tried to trace them, but with no success - Chinese records are closed for the most part.

As a result of my original post on this thread, a poster  replied saying that she was a relative of C. G. Vaughan-Neale, and would like to know more. She had searched for him for many years, and then came across Rootschat and my post.
 

Now, thanks to Rootschat and this thread, she has two families, who all love her.

Moderator Comment: Post has been edited to protect privacy of living persons as per Rootschat policy
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: garibaldired on Friday 01 March 13 20:12 GMT (UK)
What a lovely story, Rayfo.

I presume you have seen these newspaper extracts?

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19401122.2.3.3.aspx

and

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Page/straitstimes19540601-1.1.4.aspx
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: Rayfo on Friday 01 March 13 21:39 GMT (UK)
No, I hadn't seen those, Garibaldired, and how fascinating they are.
 
Odd that the Missing Persons Section didn't detect that they had all been living together in Ceylon throughout the War, and then in Singapore again afterwards, but I suppose records were destroyed and lost, and that - along with my uncle's obfuscations - led to the confusion.

Thanks for those clippings Garibaldired, they all add to the story. Should you wish to find out more about the family of the man who signed your father's Conduct Record, you may wish to visit my family-history site at www.rayfo.co.uk. There is precious little about the man himself, as he was a very secretive chap (with good reason it would appear) but plenty about his background.

Moderator Comment: Post has been edited to protect privacy of living persons as per Rootschat policy
Title: Re: HMS Hathi
Post by: garibaldired on Saturday 02 March 13 10:44 GMT (UK)
It really is a fascinating story. I have looked at your site too which is very impressive.
And to think I only found all this through idly Googling your uncle's name after photocopying  my father's service record so that I can apply for his Arctic Medal!