Sid was a Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot travelling through the Indian Ocean to join his squadron when a German surface raider sank his ship. The admiral in charge of the area organized ships to hunt the raider, but his choice proved wrong. He had acted on the best information available because his superiors had not passed on everything he needed. After the ship's gun crew were killed, Sid and his best friend took over the weapon and kept firing while others escaped in lifeboats. The family does not know where Sid's best friend ended up. Sid's body washed ashore in India and was buried somewhere along the coast. Dr. Clarke hopes to find the grave, visit it, and pay his family's respects. Sid was remembered secondhand as "rip roaring fun." His sister lost all three of her brothers, so her daughters grew up without uncles. In this personal interpretation, the admiral was not responsible because he did the best he could with the information available, while the causes ran up and down the chain of command.
Notable Point · 1:17-2:57
Uncle Sid and the limits of wartime blame
In this personal account, the admiral was not responsible for a family loss at sea: he acted on incomplete information, and the causes ran through the wider chain of command.