Seaman James Halliday and HMS Esk

James (Jim) Halliday was a coal miner from Dalmellington in Ayrshire when he signed up for the Navy at age 20.

After training he served aboard HMS Esk (pennant H15), a fast minelayer Destroyer. During his service on Esk, he was offered the chance to leave the navy and return to coal mining, an offer refused due to loyalty to his crew mates. Late 1939 was fairly routine, laying minefields and carrying out Escort duties, but 1940 was different. Jim was onboard Esk during the battle of Norway and operated off of Narvik alongside other Royal Navy ships including being with HMS Glowworm prior to her getting split from the fleet and her famous last stand. Among some of Jim's war trophies are some belongings of the Nazi political officer of SS Alster, captured by HMS Icarus with assistance from HMS Esk.

HMS Esk was then called up to Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk, she was there for the duration of Dynamo, taking troops from the beach initially before evacuating from the Mole. On the 1st of June Esk came to the rescue of SS Scotia which was aflame and sinking after being bombed by the Luftwaffe. Scotia was carrying mainly French troops and Jim was on deck pulling survivors onboard. One of those he hauled onboard was a Senegalese soldier who was mortally wounded and who Jim comforted in his final moments. They shared no common language, but presumably in gratitude or camaraderie, the soldier pushed his bayonet toward Jim in a gesture of wanting him to have it. He passed shortly after. At the end of Dynamo, Esk had lost one crew, had rescued thousands of troops and had been damaged by the constant bombardment. While she was under repair, Jim came home for what would be his final leave. Upon his return to his ship, Jim returned to laying minefields but late on the 31st of August, his flotilla was ordered to dump mines and intercept a suspected German invasion fleet off the coast of Holland. In the process, HMS Express and HMS Ivanhoe struck mines from an uncharted German minefield. The order was given to sail into the minefield for Esk to pick up survivors but in doing so Esk herself hit a mine, exploding moments later and taking over 130 of her crew to the bottom with her. Jim's body was washed up on one of the German Friesian islands sometime later and was buried in the local churchyard by the local population. At the war's end, his body was moved to the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Kiel. Esk & Jim fought for exactly a year from the start of WW2, but a lot was packed into that year. It is worth reading Herbert Vaughan's account of Esk's war and sinking on Scarborough Maritime Heritage's website for more detail.