Able Seaman George Kerr, Royal Navy. He was lost at sea, aged 18, when H.M.S. “Dorsetshire” was sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Indian Ocean on 5th April 1942. 234 crew were lost and 500 rescued. He had been born at Dalfibble Farm, Kilmichael, Dumfriesshire and was the son of Jonathon and Georgina Kerr of Arlisfield. Dumfries and is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. Before enlisting he had been employed as an under keeper at Ladykirk House. H.M.S. “Dorsetshire” was one of the cruisers which helped sink the German Battleship Bismarck in May 1941. The “Dorsetshire” was a County Class heavy cruiser of 10,000 tons and was launched in 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard. In March 1942 she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet to support British forces in that theatre of War. In April the Japanese launched a raid into the Indian Ocean and spotted the ” Dorsetshire” and her sister ship “Cornwall” en route to Colombo in Ceylon. Both ships which were without air cover were sunk by dive bombers. Over 1,100 men were rescued out of a combined crew of over 1,500. The photo shows the ” Dorsetshire” at anchor in Scapa Flow.
