Alford, Charles Gordon (Stoker Petty Officer, b.1903 - d.1942)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of 14299 Stoker Petty Officer Charles Gordon Alford, HMAS Perth, Royal Australian Navy, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Australia, 1939-1946.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Contains three folders of material relating to the service of Stoker Petty Officer Charles Gordon Alford.

Folder 1 of 3 consists of one diary of Stoker Petty Officer Alford, containing entries dated between 26 August 1939 and 31 March 1940. This diary covers the period of Stoker Petty Officer Alford’s early service on HMAS Perth. In this diary, Stoker Petty Officer Alford writes about embarking for war duties, hearing news of the war in Europe, preparing the ship’s weapons, patrol and escort duties in the Western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, exchanging information with other ships nearby, weather conditions, ship repairs and maintenance, having on-shore leave, encountering enemy ships, and travelling to Sydney on the Pacific Ocean.

Folder 2 of 3 consists of one diary of Stoker Petty Officer Alford, containing entries dated between 27 November 1940 and 10 August 1941. This diary covers the period of Stoker Petty Officer Alford’s later service on HMAS Perth. In this diary, Stoker Petty Officer Alford writes about escorting convoys in the Indian Ocean, travelling for service in the Mediterranean, sweeps near the Libyan coast, being fired at by enemy aircraft, escorting large convoys, large enemy air raids, rescuing crews of sunken ships, destroying mines, transporting troops, weather conditions, the movements of other Allied ships, the Battle of Cape Matapan, the explosion of an ammunition ship, evacuating troops from Greece and Crete, being damaged by an enemy bombs, sightseeing in Palestine, patrolling the coast of Syria, and returning to Australia.

Folder 3 of 3 consists of correspondence relating to Stoker Petty Officer Alford’s service and death. This folder contains:
1x Letter from the Navy Office to the family of Stoker Petty Officer Alford, Melbourne, Victoria, 10 October 1939. This letter informs the family that HMAS Perth would not be arriving in Sydney on the date originally planned due to the outbreak of war.
1x Telegram from the Department of the Navy to Stoker Petty Officer Alford’s wife, Mrs Margueritte Alford, Melbourne, Victoria, 13 March 1942. This telegram informs Mrs Alford that Stoker Petty Officer Alford was missing due to enemy action.
1x Letter from the Department of the Navy to Mrs Margueritte Alford, Melbourne, Victoria, 22 August 1946. This letter informs Mrs Alford that, after an investigation, there was no information found regarding additional survivors of HMAS Perth.

Stoker Petty Officer Charles Gordon Alford enlisted to the Royal Australian Navy on 7 April 1924. He served on a variety of ships and bases, including HMAS Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Cerberus, and Adelaide. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, he was posted to HMAS Perth. With this ship, Stoker Petty Officer Alford served in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. On 1 March 1942, Stoker Petty Officer Alford was killed in action when HMAS Perth was sunk by Japanese destroyers in the Sunda Strait, Netherlands East Indies. He is commemorated at the Plymouth Naval Memorial, England.