Oscar Nielson
M, #162, b. circa 1883, d. 16 April 1942
 Oscar Neilson and his wife Susanna Lloyd cieca 1914. |
| Birth* | circa 1883 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Marriage* | circa June 1914 | Principal=Susanna Lloyd |
| (Witness) History | 8 April 1942 | Convoy PQ14 comprised twenty three merchantmen carrying guns, tanks, planes, ammunition and trucks to supply Russia. Ten of these cargo ships were British, nine American, three Russian and one Greek. They sailed from Reykjavik at 1400 on Wednesday 8 April 1942 accompanied by eight small escorts of anti-submarine trawlers and minesweepers, making a rendezvous with Edinburgh, another large destroyer and a corvette on Sunday 12 April. Between Wednesday 8th and Sunday 12th the convoy had encountered a thick field of drifting ice, as the Polar ice barrier was further south than usual given the time of year. This coupled with heavy fog had made it virtually impossible for the cargo vessels to maintain convoy formation and many had been forced to turn back after suffering damage. Edinburgh joined a convoy of only eight merchant ships with an impressive escort of six destroyers, four corvettes, four minesweepers and two trawlers. On Tuesday 14th the convoy was spotted by a German reconnaissance plane, and on Thursday they encountered a number of German submarines. Edinburgh's function was to guard the convoy against surface attack, and there was little she could do to help the destroyers in their job of forming a protective screen around the cargo ships. It was no place for a large cruiser vulnerable to U-boat attack, so Edinburgh took up position 10 miles astern of the convoy. The destroyers dropped pattern after pattern of depth charges chasing the signals from the U-boats. The cargo vessel Empire Howard was lost in this attack along with 2000 tons of military stores and 45 of its 54 crew. The remainder of the convoy arrived at the Kola Inlet at 1100 on Saturday 19 April. Admiral Bonham-Carter sent the following dispatch about convoy PQ14 to the Admiralty in London:- "Under present conditions with no hours of darkness, continually under air observation, submarines concentrating in the bottle necks, torpedo attacks to be expected, our destroyers unable to carry out a proper hunt and search owing to the oil situation, serious losses must be expected in every convoy. The remains of PQ14 were extremely lucky in the weather, in that when the first air attack developed, fog suddenly came down and though enemy bombers remained overhead for some time trying to sight Edinburgh and the convoy, they eventually had to leave. I consider it was due to the fine work of the anti-submarine force that only one ship was lost, when several submarines were in the vicinity of the convoy. Until enemy aerodromes in north Norway are neutralised I consider convoys to north Russia should be suspended during the months of continuous light unless the very high percentage of losses can be accepted or sufficient air protection provided." The difficulties of the Russian convoys did not go unnoticed, and concern was expressed by the Admiralty to the Defence Committee, warning them that the losses could become unacceptable. However the War Cabinet lead by the Minister of Defence Winston Churchill put great pressure on to keep the convoys going to aid Russia. |
| Death* | 16 April 1942 | S.S. Empire Howard, Sunk by U-403 (Heinz-Ehlert Clausen) on PQ-14 |
Family | Susanna Lloyd b. 25 Dec 1891, d. Sep 1967 | |
| Last Edited | 18 Jan 2007 |