Gunner Thomas Jess served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. Born on 9th March 1923, he was the son of William George Jess and Matilda Jess of Ballykeel, Dromore, Co. Down. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, he worked at James Mackie and Sons Ltd. in Belfast, Co. Antrim.
He was a survivor of the sinking of HMS Lapwing on a run to Murmansk on 20th March 1945. The British-built Sloop went down on Arctic Convoy JW-65 after coming under attack from U-968 under the command of Otto Westphalen.
Imperial War Museum Photo: FL 9971 (Part of the Ministry of Defence Foxhill Collection of Ship Photographs). HMS Lapwing at sea in 1944. The converted Black Swan Sloop saw action on D-Day 6th June 1944 and served throughout the war in Arctic Convoys until its sinking on 20th March 1945.
A T5 homing torpedo struck HMS Lapwing amidships breaking the vessel in two. The stern remained afloat for around 20 minutes before going down around 6 miles off Cape Kilden in the Kola Inlet. A total of 168 of the 229 on board died when the vessel went under leaving 61 survivors. HMS Savage rescued those crew members and brought them to Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
The explosion blew Jess across the deck and he returned to his post to await the order to abandon ship. He always wore his lifebelt and that saved his life as he jumped into the icy waters. There, he grabbed hold of a raft and was one of the crew members pulled from the water onto HMS Savage.
The crew of HMS Lapwing had already seen action on D-Day, 6th June 1944 as the vessel transported United States Army troops to Omaha Beach.
Thomas Jess finally received the Russian Ushakov medal for his role in the Arctic Convoys in 2014. He died on 19th September 2015 aged 92 years old.