Jonathan Rogers, (16 September 1920 – 10 February 1964) was a Welsh-born sailor and an
Australian recipient of the
George Cross, awarded for the heroism he displayed on the night of 10 February 1964 during the sinking of .
Early life
Rogers was born in
Llangollen
Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...
, Wales, joined the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
at the age of 18 and was awarded the
Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation.
Examples include:
*Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action
* Distinguishe ...
for the "coolness and leadership" he showed while serving as coxswain of Motor Torpedo Boat 698 in action in May 1944.
'Buck' emigrated to Australia after the war and joined the
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
, serving in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
George Cross
He was serving aboard the destroyer when, during exercises, it was
struck and sliced in half by the aircraft carrier . Rogers, along with more than 50 other men, was trapped in the sinking forward part of the stricken destroyer.
Making no attempt to save himself, he helped as many men as possible escape through a small escape hatch and, as the compartment sank ten minutes later, was heard leading his trapped comrades in a prayer and hymn as they met their fate, as his citation said, with 'dignity and honour'.
Honours and awards
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Jonathan
1920 births
1964 deaths
People from Llangollen
Australian recipients of the George Cross
Australian military personnel of the Korean War
Deaths due to shipwreck at sea
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)
Royal Navy sailors
Royal Australian Navy personnel
Royal Navy personnel of World War II
British emigrants to Australia
Military personnel from Denbighshire