Hi Steve, thanks for posting - I'm sure it has not gone unnoticed that is it exactly 75 years today that George Oliver, your Uncle and their 25 shipmates spent their last day together aboard H49 - hopefully there will many families remembering these men today.
Hi Steven. George William Oliver was uncle to me and Christine Frahm who I met on this forum.He ,as you may know,was the sole survivor and would have known your uncle ,being a stoker himself.So early in the war,the submarine service being quite small,nearly everyone knew everyone else.It may not have been made known at the time,to families of those lost,that there was a survivor.After his return from captivity he received several letters from bereaved families inquiring about their lost relatives.Our family has kept copies of these,but I dont recall your surname being among them.The parent of Commander Colthart wrote congratulating him on his survival subsequent return home.George, the eldest of 3 boys and 5 girls,was the only one not to marry and sadly in later life became very melanchoic about the loss of so many old shipmates,both on H 49 and on other boats, which he would not have found out about until his return.......Did your uncle leave a widow and perhaps children. My cousin Christine ,brought up in Hartlepool,knew George as she grew up. I only met him once or twice in my childhood, but my eldest brother was named after him George Oliver Hume........Best wishes to you....Phil Hume
I have just come across this page, my uncle F D Simpson was a stoker on H 49 I remember my father receiving a letter from the M.o.d when the submarine was found.