Arthur Forwood
My grandfather Arthur Forwood (AB to his mates) was a Stoker on the minesweepers during WWI for Britain and then WWII for Australia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
He was on the ship "Tambar" when it was shot by friendly fire in 1942. He was injured and nursed one of his best mates as he bled to death. This is a link to an article on it, (https://www.ozatwar.com/friendlyfire/tambar.htm) the story was hushed up as it would have been bad for morale.
Born in 1901 in Deptford, England, the youngest boy in a family of 15, he ran away from home to join the navy in WWI and they only discovered when they were far out at sea he was not even 15 years old.
He served on various minesweepers until the end of WWI where he then migrated to Australia. Here he met and married my grandmother, settling in Manilla and they had seven children.
At the outbreak of WWII he re-enlisted in the Australian navy, again in the minesweepers.
In 1942 coming into Moreton on the HMAS Tambar, a mix up on the signals resulted in the ship being fired on.
AB got cuts on the face and had shrapnel in his chin bone until he died.
Do you have an Anzac story to tell?
Fill out your special story in the form below.
