The Dunedin Society once again showed its strength when forty members braved near gale-force winds battering the Royal Naval Memorial on Southsea Common to remember the men of HMS Dunedin lost in November 1941 . The group photo shows us all in a rare moment of stillness and sunshine. We are once more grateful to the Reverend Collin Noyce for conducting the service and to the excellent Royal Marine bugler. The wind was so bad we decided against laying the wreath, but David Allen returned to the Memorial on the 24th to place it near the names of the men of HMS Dunedin engraved on the Memorial.
The members were once again privileged by the presence of our two survivors, the President of the Society, Jim Davies, and Andrew McCall.
Most members returned to the Royal Maritime Club for lunch, followed by a presentation by me, Stuart Gill, and a chance to chat with each other and with Jim and Andrew. My presentation was about the newest information which has emerged in recent months to shed new light on what happened to some of the men who made it to the rafts. I will publish these findings soon on this website.
We also looked ahead to next year, the 75th anniversary of the sinking and the 15th anniversary of the first meeting of the Dunedin Society and kicked around a few ideas for what we might do. We would welcome any thoughts from members too.
Finally, the thanks of the Society once again go to David Allen and Anne Randall for their work in putting together this year’s reunion.
