Frederick (Fred) Knaggs

 

Brief History

This brief account of Fred’s life was provided by his son-in-law Geoff, and is followed by some of Fred’s own reminiscences of his life, which he committed to paper some time before his health deteriorated, and a table of information about his time at sea compiled by Geoff.

 

Birth and Early Years

Fred Knaggs was born on 12th December 1923 at Hebburn, a small town on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, located about a mile from Jarrow and four miles from Gateshead. Historically, Hebburn was famous for coal mining and shipbuilding; it was at Hebburn that Sir Humphrey Davy tested his famous miner’s safety lamp. Fred later moved with his parents to Grays in Essex, was educated there,

 

Merchant Navy Life

He joined the Merchant Navy at the outbreak of WW2 and was torpedoed twice by U Boats which resulted in injury and loss of memory which lasted for over a year after he was picked up and hospitalised in Newfoundland. He got married to Eileen Spackman but continued to go to sea and served on over 30 ships.

 

Post Merchant Navy

Following the birth of his son Ed and daughter Sue, he found a job as a lorry driver to enable him to live at home, and the family moved to Chadwell St Mary near Tilbury in Essex.

 

After his wife died in 1977, Fred went to live with his mother back in Grays and later had to give up working due to hypertension.

 

After his mother died, Fred met a woman who had family in New Zealand and the pair of them went to live there. After a couple of years, he arrived back in England penniless and on his own; he was given a council flat in Chadwell where he continued not to work.

 

Fred was a happy well-liked person. As he aged he continued to drink and spent most of days in the Cross Keys or the Grays British Legion - more to socialise than to get drunk. He had a variety of women friends but never remarried.

 

Final Years

 

After a spell in hospital with prostrate problems around 1989, Fred was moved to a 1 bedroom bungalow, also in Chadwell, where he lived until early 2008. Sadly, by this time he was struggling to look after himself properly and was eventually transferred to Grays Court suffering from dementia. Fred fell into a coma and died on 23 November 2008.

 

Fred’s Reminiscences

 

Click the link to read Fred’s reminiscences of his time at sea         Fred’s Sea Stories from 1941

 

Click the link to view a table of Fred’s seagoing history                  Fred’s Trips

 

Click the link to view photos of Fred and colleagues                       Photos

 

Click the link to view various forms and other archived                   Archived Material

Material