Corporal William James Hunter (540459) served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Born on 10th November 1919, he was the son of William Hunter and Agnes Hunter (née McBride) of Lower Mary Street, Newtownards, Co. Down. The family later lived at 8 James Street, Newtownards, Co. Down.
He died on 12th September 1942 aged 22 years old on H.M.T. Laconia. The Royal Navy requisitioned the former passenger liner in 1939 converting it into an Armed Merchant Cruiser. En route from Cape Town, South Africa to Freetown, Sierra Leone, Laconia came under torpedo attack from German U-Boat U-156. On board were around 460 crew members, 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, 280 British military personnel, 100 Polish military personnel, and 80 civilians.
Wikipedia Creative Commons Library Photo: German submarines U-156 in the foreground and U-507 pick up survivors following the sinking of H.M.T. Laconia off the coast of West Africa by U-156. Photo taken on 13th September 1942. Copyright Leopold Schumacher.
As H.M.T. Laconia went down, U-Boat commander Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein realised there were civilians and P.O.Ws on board. His crew began rescue operations. On 13th September, an United States Army Air Force B-24 Liberator bombed U-156 and others helping in the rescue effort. The crew claimed not to have received a message over the radio or seen the Red Cross flags flying. Following this incident, Admiral Karl Donitz issued the Laconia Order. This prevented U-Boat crews from assisting Allied survivors, leading to unrestricted submarine warfare by the Kriegsmarine.
There were more than 1,000 victims of the sinking of H.M.T. Laconia including Allied personnel but the majority of deaths were Italian Prisoners of War. William James Hunter has no known grave. His name is on Column 263 of the Alamein Memorial, Egypt.