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The four original crosses were placed back
in the vicinity of the British Cemetery in an arrangement that will
include a plaque with the names and to honor all of the British sailors
that lost their lives on the HMT Bedfordshire with only the sea as their
grave.
Above we have shown a pictural view of how
far the Cemetery has come since 1942 and World War II to this year,
2001.
First I want to thank all of the
organizations, Peter N. Stone, USCG Ret and others who have helped to
maintain the cemetery for over a half century. Also, to thank them for
their continued help to honor these young men who lost their lives
defending our shores and ships during World War II.
A special thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard who
has always been there to assist and to assure these men are not
forgotten and Peter Stone who carried on the care while he was stationed
here in the Coast Guard and even after he retired.
I commend and thank Commander Christopher J.
Olin, United States Coast Guard Group Cape Hatteras, BM1 Michael R.
Perkins, U.S. Coast Guard Station Ocracoke and their men and women along
with Mr. Joseph K. Schwarzer, Executive Director, Graveyard of the
Atlantic Museum and his staff, for a job well done to preserve the
memory of these men forever. Also, thank you to the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission who permitted the crosses to be placed outside of the
cemetery with a plaque to honor all of the men of the HMT Bedfordshire.
The relocation of the original crosses and the cemetery care and upkeep
is certainly outstanding and something all of your people can be proud
of along with all of the people of Ocracoke and our visitors from Canada
and England.
Thank you to the Ocracoke Preservation
Society that in 1983 took on as one of its first projects under
President, David Esham who along with his staff set out to preserve the
original crosses.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was
in the process of replacing all of the grave markers for their people
who were buried on foreign soil so that the markers would all be alike.
They had hired Clifton and Clifton Monument & Sandblasting, Elizabeth
City, NC to set the new grave markers and to destroy the crosses. David
Esham and his staff wrote letters, made trips to Raleigh and contacted
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who were reluctant, but finally
allowed the Ocracoke Preservation Society to keep the original crosses.
Thank you David for the twelve or so years you kept the crosses at your
Pony Island Motel when the Preservation Society did not have a
building. The crosses were stored under the Preservation Society Museum
about the time the new section was added to keep them out of the weather
in the 1990s until this year.
Also, thank you to President Janey Jacoby of
the Ocracoke Preservation Society and her staff who have permitted us to
re-establish the crosses in a location where they can still pay honor to
those British sailors who gave their lives protecting our freedom.
“There are no roses on sailors’ graves,
Nor wreaths upon the storm tossed waves,
No last post from the Royals band,
No heartbroken words carved on stone,
Just shipmates bodies floating there alone.
The only tributes are the seagull’s sweeps,
And the teardrop when a loved one weeps.”
Author unknown
Many thanks to the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, Ottawa, Canada for their continued support.
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The British
Cemetery has been in place since the first burial ceremonies were held
in May 1942 for four sailors that washed ashore from the HMT
Bedfordshire after she was torpedoed by German U-boat U-558 with
Kapitanleutnant Gunter Krech in command on May 11, 1942. Lt. R. B.
Davis R.N.R. was the Commanding Officer of the British Trawler that was
converted to an Armed Trawler and had a 4 inch gun, one machine gun and
depth charges. It was used to protect Allied shipping along the Carolina
coast and around the Diamond Shoals. 
Burial for Sub-Lt. Thomas Cunningham lost
on the HMT Befordshire and washed ashore on Ocracoke, Island. On the
left to back is Arnold Tolson, left foreground is Theodore Mutro and on
the right is Chief BM Thomas Harvey Wahab, all were U.S. Coast Guard.
Aycock Brown, a civilian investigator working for the U.S. Navy was in
charge of the Funeral Services and included the Service for 2nd
Class Telegraphist Stanley Craig.
Two weeks
later the bodies of two additional unknown sailors from the HMT
Bedfordshire washed up on shore and were buried with a Funeral Service
as seen above. Please note these first four wood crosses were there for
a very short period of weeks until permanent crosses were made.
These were the permanent crosses made for
the U.S. Navy in 1942 by the T. A. Loving Construction Company while
they were building the U.S. Navy Section Base. These crosses remained
on the graves until 1983. 
