Malta’s role during World War II was of great importance in swaying the tide in favour of the Allies. This is recorded in history books for all to see. But the suffering of families and the courage and fortitude of individual Maltese people during the war cannot be found in books but by talking to them, their relatives and friends.

Domenico D’Agostino lost his life trapped in the wreckage of HMS Grafton along with two other Maltese ratings on May 29, 1940.

I experienced this when I met Vince and Mary D’Agostino from Gżira during one of the commemorative services held annually by the HMS Glorious, Ardent and Acasta Association (Glarac) for Maltese ratings who died on HMS Glorious on June 8, 1940. Mary came forward to show me three precious postcards. They were the last ones send to her and her mother before her father Giuseppe Zahra was lost, along with 1,531 other sailors during a battle in Norway. I asked if I could make a copy of the cards for the Glarac association and we arranged to meet later that week, and Vince and I talked about the cards and other matters concerning World War II.

Vince told me that, like Mary, he too was orphaned during the war as his father had also been killed in action. It transpired that their respective fathers had died within 10 days of each other. I was intrigued to learn that his father had died while ferrying Allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France, to England. This is the story behind the death of Domenico D’Agostino.

The D’Agostinos were a navy family from Valletta. Two brothers – Dome­nico and Carmelo – continued the tradition by joining the navy. Their father Spirideone and his two elder brothers, Saviour and Dominic, were in the Royal Navy and Spiridione’s father had also been in the Navy. Spiridione had married Angela Micallef from Valletta and had eight children – five boys and three girls. Of these five boys, four joined the Royal Navy, keeping the family naval tradition going.

Carmelo and Domenico would eventually serve on the same ship later on in their naval career. Carmelo, the elder, joined the navy in 1919 at the tender age of 16. He was stationed at HMS St Angelo as an officer’s steward and was later posted to different Royal Navy ships. Carmelo married Maria Stella and had five children.

Domenico joined the Royal Navy around 1925 as a steward, and was later promoted to a leading steward. He married Irene née Catania from Valletta and had six children – Charles, Joseph, Yvonne, James, Lilian and Vincent. The latter was the youngest and joined the Admiralty Drydocks in the early 1950s. Dome­nico and his brother Carmelo eventually served together on HMS Grafton as it patrolled the Mediterranean during the early days of World War II.

HMS Grafton was a G-Class des­troyer built in the mid-1930s and launched in 1936. It spent most of the time in the Mediterranean, but was called back to the UK on January 10, 1940, where it was transferred to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. Between March and April it was given a brief overhaul and sent to join the home fleet escorting convoys to Norway until May 11.

Vince’s father Domenico and Mary’s father Giuseppe Zahra were performing their duties in the same battle areas. By May 26, HMS Grafton was taking part in Operation Dynamo, ferrying soldiers of the Allied forces caught on the beaches of Dunkirk.

The only option was to shoot the helpless Dominico before the water drowned him

On May 27, HMS Grafton had just returned to England with more than 1,600 men rescued from the beaches of La Panne and Bray, northeast of Dunkirk. The next day, Grafton returned to the beaches to pick up more men.

On the morning of May 29, HMS Wakeful was torpedoed by the German e-boat S-30. The torpedoes struck Wakeful’s ammunition magazine and the ship disappeared within 15 seconds, taking with it nearly 700 men. Only one of the men that HMS Wakeful had picked up survived, as well as 25 of the ship’s crew. The site where Wakeful sank has been declared a Commonwealth War Grave.

Other ships close by went to rescue survivors from the Wakeful; these were HMS Gossamer, HMS Lydd, HMS Comfort, HMS Nautilus and HMS Grafton. While rescuing survivors from Wakeful off Nieuwport Belgium, Grafton was struck in the stern by a torpedo from the German submarine U-62. This seriously damaged the ship and also triggered a second explosion which damaged the bridge, killing the captain and another officer, 13 ratings, and the canteen manager as well as 35 troops who had just been rescued from Dunkirk.

HMS Graftonwent to help the stricken HMS Wakeful but suffered heavy damage herself. Domenico D’Agostino was one of three Maltese seamen to loose their lives during the evacuation from Dunkirk.

For some reason HMS Comfort pulled away from HMS Grafton and the other ships, and when it returned to help rescue the men from HMS Grafton it was mistaken for the enemy. In the ensuing confusion the other ships opened fire on HMS Comfort, thinking it was U-62 coming in to finish off HMS Grafton. Within minutes, HMS Comfort was sunk by concentrated machine-gun and canon fire and ramming by HMS Lydd.

The torpedo that hit the Grafton had caused extensive damage, however the ship remained afloat. The troops on board HMS Grafton were quickly transferred to the British ferry Malines.

However, another tragedy was taking place for the D’Agostino family. The younger brother, Domenico, was caught in the wreckage caused by the explosions aboard HMS Grafton. His brother Carmelo, along with other sailors, was frantically trying to free his brother Domenico. HMS Grafton was sinking fast, and as the 750 troops were now on board the Malines an officer from the Grafton was checking to see if more men were still on board.

The scene the officer saw was one he wished he would never en­coun­ter. Carmelo was frantically trying to free his brother Domenico before the water level rose and drowned him. The officer joined in the effort to try to help free Dome­nico, but seeing that it was futile, he ordered Carmelo and the other sailors to abandon ship and leave Domenico.

One can only imagine the scene unfolding as Carmelo, Dominico and the other sailors looked at the officer in disbelief. How can one abandon one’s own brother to face an agonising death? How could he?

The officer must have wished he wasn’t there, but he had to act, and fast. Grafton was a doomed ship and going down fast. The only option he saw that would get the men to obey his orders and abandon ship was to pull out his service revolver and shoot the doomed and helpless Dominico before the water level rose and drowned him.

Carmelo and the other sailors abandoned HMS Grafton in the early hours of that faithful morning. Unfortunately Carmelo was injured during the evacuation due to the confusion and darkness of that morning.

HMS Ivanhoe scuttled HMS Grafton after taking on board survivors off the latter. HMS Grafton had been torpedoed by U-62 as it was helping survivors from HMS Wakeful.

Domenico was not the only Maltese rating to lose his life on board HMS Grafton. Canteen manager Carmelo Ciappara from Paola and leading steward Michel Scicluna from Mosta also lost their lives on May 29, 1940. Their memorial plaque may be found at Plymouth Naval Memorial.

HMS Grafton remained afloat long enough for all the survivors to be rescued. After an attempt to take the ship in tow failed it posed a danger by remaining in the area, so the decision was taken to sink it. At the break of dawn the British destroyer HMS Ivanhoe scuttled Grafton with a torpedo.

The injured Carmelo was taken to Portland with a cervical spine injury as well as a thigh injury. He received further treatment at Dartford Hospital where he spent four months encased in plaster from head to waist. He was then sent to Basingstoke to have his plaster removed and then to Portsmouth to await further orders.

Carmelo was to embark, with other Maltese seamen, on the SS Barneveld, an unarmed ammunition steamer bound for Malta. As Malta was under siege with constant bombardments it was decided to take a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, through the Suez Canal. After reaching Freetown in West Africa the SS Barneveld set sail once again.

It had only covered a few miles out to sea when heavy black clouds on the horizon indicated a ship. It was coming from one of the most successful battleships in the German navy – the 16,000 ton Admiral Von Scheer. Carmelo, along with other Maltese men and the crew of the Barneveld, were ushered on board Admiral Von Scheer, and with a salvo the Barneveld was sunk.

After a long journey to Argentina they were then sent to France and from there transferred to prisoner-of-war camp Stalag XXV in Marlag, between Hamburg and Bremen. Life as a POW was not easy but at least they were not treated too badly and were still alive.

Carmelo’s wife Maria Stella née Galdes had been told that her husband was lost at sea on the SS Barneveld. She was relieved to receive the news he was alive and held as a POW.

Carmelo was to spend four and a half years as a POW, and at times the tragic incident he had witnessed on the Grafton concerning his brother Domenico must have weighted heavily on his shoulders. How was he going to tell his mother about Dome­nico’s death? What would he say to his brother’s widow Irene? These must have been a constant headache for Carmelo as he waited for liberation so he could rejoin his family.

HMS Wakeful was hit by a German torpedo and sunk in 15 seconds. HMSGraftonwent to help rescue the men off Wakeful and was itself torpedoed.

Liberation came in April 1945, and once freed and medically checked he was flown to the UK and from there to Malta. Carmelo was shocked to see the devastation the Axis bombing had on Malta. Whole streets were in ruins everywhere.

Carmelo’s homecoming was a happy one and he had long decided to keep the events that unfolded on the Grafton a secret. He found it too difficult to tell his mother or his brother’s widow how Domenico had died. He decided to leave things as they were.

Carmelo resumed his duties in the Royal Navy. However, in 1947, due to the injuries he had suffered on the Grafton, he was pensioned off and spent the rest of his life helping his wife in the little shop she had opened.

But a man’s conscience can prove to be a heavy burden. Carmelo lived to the venerable age of 92 and the events on board the Grafton were constantly on his mind. His parents were now dead, as was his brother’s widow Irene. He felt the need to tell his brother’s family the truth regarding the events on HMS Grafton.

Domenico’s youngest son Vincent was passing through a patch of ill health and Carmelo did not want to tell him at the time. However, with old age approaching the need to get the news off his chest was urgent, so Carmelo decided to confide in Raymond, his sister Yvonne’s son. Raymond decided to wait for the right moment to tell Vincent about the story his uncle had told him. When Raymond saw the right opportunity he revealed all he had been told about the story on HMS Grafton.

As Vincent and I were sipping our coffee I could still see the hurt in his eyes as he told me this story. He expressed mixed emotions on the way his father had met his death and the officer who had shot him. On one hand he felt relieved that his father did not die a death of helpless desperation with the ship dragging him down, drowning him with it. But on the other had he felt certain anger at the misfortune his father Domenico met on HMS Grafton. During our meetings and conversations I could feel the love and pride Vincent had for his father Domenico and his uncle Carmelo.

Stories such as these cannot be found in our history books, although I believe that is where they belong; they are found in the hearts and minds of families such as the D’Agostinos. It is a pity such stories will not be told in future because of the aging population of people related to those who lived through or died in WWII.

Appreciation

I would like to thank the D’Agostino family and especially Vincent for their cooperation. It was not easy to talk about a story such as this.

Commemoration

Every year, family and friends of re­la­tives who lost their lives on board aircraft carrier HMS Glorious gather to pay tribute to these men and commemorate their death at the Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa. For details call the author on 7983 5319 or e-mail salvuazz@hotmail.com.