Arthur E Clayton DSM

Arthur Clayton was born on 14th November 1917. After leaving school he worked in Fisherman' Stores until he joined the Royal Navy on 2nd October 1940. He did his basic training at HMS Raleigh from where he completed a Gunner's Course. His first sea-going appointment was aboard the rescue ship SS Copeland which was one of the special vessels assigned to sail at the rear of a convoy to pick up survivors and, inevitably, to take part in the convoy action together with other ships with guns which were known as Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DEMS). The gunners were therefore known as DEMS Gunners and, usually under the command of a Petty Officer, they operated separately from the merchant seamen on board any ship and were under the direct command of the Captain. After a tour of duty on the SS Copeland, he completed a Gunlayer's Course at Leith and was then assigned to another rescue ship, the SS Zaafaran. He was aboard this ship when she was sunk as part of the PQ17 Convoy. He was rescued but had to spend 2 and a half months in Russia until the Russian convoys restarted with PQ18. On his return to the UK he was posted to the Polish liner Batory now operating as a troopship. He was aboard Batory for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his servive in the DEMS and promoted to Petty Officer. He then served in the Far East on a Dutch tanker ferrying high octane fuel to Burma. His last ship was the City of Hong Kong which brought him back to Hull where he was demobilised in June 1946.

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