Edward Fegen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Edward Fegen
Second World War
AwardsVictoria Cross
Sea Gallantry Medal (Silver)

Captain Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen, VC, SGM (8 October 1891 – 5 November 1940) was a Royal Navy officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen was born into a naval family, one of four children his father being Vice-Admiral F. F. Fegen MVO.[1] He was born at 42 Nightingale Rd, Southsea, Hampshire, on 8 October 1891. At the age of 12, he entered Osborne Royal Naval College and in 1909, he was appointed Midshipman on HMS Dreadnought.

First World War

On 24 March 1918, while the British ship SS War Knight was proceeding up the

Driscoll worked the helm and saw that all orders to the engine-room were correctly carried out, and his actions during this rescue resulted in both being awarded Silver Sea Gallantry Medals
.

Interwar service

A little later in his naval career, Fegen was seconded to the

Royal Australian Naval College, which was located on Jervis Bay on the south coast of New South Wales
. By coincidence, the vessel on which he later achieved fame (and death) was named after this bay.

Second World War

He was 49 years old, and an acting

Second World War
when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 5 November 1940 in the

armed merchantman HMS Jervis Bay, was escorting 38 ships of Convoy HX 84, when they were attacked by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer (often termed a "pocket battleship"). Captain Fegen immediately engaged the enemy head-on, thus giving the ships of the convoy time to scatter. Out-gunned and on fire Jervis Bay maintained the unequal fight for 22 minutes,[2] although the captain's right arm was shattered, and even after he died when the bridge was shot from under him.[3] He went down with his ship but 31 ships of the convoy managed to escape – including San Demetrio
.

He was remembered in Winston Churchill's broadcast speech on 13 May 1945 "Five years of War",[4] as having defended Ireland's honour:

When I think of these days I think also of other episodes and personalities. I do not forget

Lance-Corporal Kenneally
, V.C., Captain Fegen, V.C., and other Irish heroes that I could easily recite, and all bitterness by Britain for the Irish race dies in my heart. I can only pray that in years which I shall not see, the shame will be forgotten and the glories will endure, and that the peoples of the British Isles and of the British Commonwealth of Nations will walk together in mutual comprehension and forgiveness.

The citation for Fegen's Victoria Cross was published in the

London Gazette on 22 November 1940, reading:[5]

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the VICTORIA CROSS to the late Commander (acting Captain) Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen, Royal Navy for valour in challenging hopeless odds and giving his life to save the many ships it was his duty to protect. On the 5th of November, 1940, in heavy seas, Captain Fegen, in His Majesty's Armed Merchant Cruiser Jervis Bay, was escorting thirty-eight Merchantmen. Sighting a powerful German warship he at once drew clear of the Convoy, made straight for the Enemy, and brought his ship between the Raider and her prey, so that they might scatter and escape. Crippled, in flames, unable to reply, for nearly an hour the Jervis Bay held the German's fire. So she went down, but of the Merchantmen all but four or five were saved.

In popular culture

Issue #47 of the comic book Hitman by Garth Ennis and John McCrea contains a fictionalized account of Fegen's last battle and the sinking of the Jervis Bay.

References

  1. ^ Turner, J. F. V.C.'s of the Royal NavyLondon, Harrap 1957 p. 54
  2. ^ Caithness Archives: HMS "Jervis Bay" Armed Merchant Cruiser: Convoy HX 84: 5 November 1940
  3. ^ Caithness Archives: HMS "Jervis Bay" Armed Merchant Cruiser: Convoy HX 84: 5 November 1940
  4. ^ "BBC London 13 May 1945". Churchill's War Time Speeches. The Churchill Society London. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017.
  5. ^ "No. 34999". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 November 1940. p. 6743.
  • Connel, G.G., (1987) Mediterranean Maelstrom: H. M. S. "Jervis" and the 14th Flotilla, William Kimber, London
  • Edwards, Bernard, (2013) Convoy Will Scatter: The Full Story of Jervis Bay and Convoy HX84, Pen and Sword,
  • Pollock, George, (1958) The Jervis Bay, William Kimber, London

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Fegen&oldid=1193606288"