The Life and Legacy of Stoker Bernard West: A WWII Story

Stoker 1st Class Bernard Geoffrey West, born on 2 March 1923, served in H.M. Motor Anti-Submarine Boat 29. He tragically drowned on 14 March 1944, aged 20, during a transfer between vessels. Buried with full naval honors in Ramsgate Cemetery, his legacy represents the risks faced by wartime reservists.

Bernard Geoffrey West: A Detailed Biography

Stoker 1st Class Bernard Geoffrey West, C/KX 161347, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, served in H.M. Motor Anti‑Submarine Boat 29 and died by accidental drowning off Ramsgate, Kent, on 14 March 1944, aged 20. [1][2][3] He is buried with full naval honours in Ramsgate Cemetery, Division M.A., grave 161, and commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. [1]

Early Life and Family

Bernard Geoffrey West was born on 2 March 1923 in the Bridge registration district, Kent; his birth was registered in the June quarter of 1923 (volume 2A, page 1715) and he was the son of Edward West and Maude Louisa (née Norris). [1] He grew up in rural Kent during the inter‑war years, a period of relative calm between the two world wars, in a family rooted in the Weald and Bridge areas. [1]

By 29 September 1939 the Register records Bernard, then aged 16, living at Little Hale Cottages, Camp Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent. [1] His occupation is given as “milk roundsman”, an early‑morning job delivering fresh milk by cart or small vehicle to local households, reflecting a typical working‑class route into employment for a young man in rural Kent. [1]

Early Life and Family (Community and Home Guard)

Before joining the Navy, Bernard took part in local defence preparations as a member of the Weald Platoon of the Home Guard, the volunteer force raised in 1940 to resist any German invasion and support civil defence. [1] This involvement shows an early sense of duty and readiness to serve, even while he continued his civilian work delivering milk around the Weald. [1]

He remained unmarried and there is no evidence he had children; his short life was framed by family, local work and then rapid transition into wartime naval service. [1] Within family research his details are preserved in genealogical databases under FamilySearch ID G3LH‑HQX. [1]

Military Service

Bernard enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), the wartime reserve branch that recruited civilians for naval service. [1] He was allocated service number C/KX 161347 (also recorded administratively as Q/KX 163147 in one Admiralty summary) and trained as a Stoker 1st Class, responsible for the running and maintenance of engines and machinery in small craft. [1]

He was posted to H.M. Motor Anti‑Submarine Boat 29 (M.A.S.B. 29 / H.M. L.A.S.B. 29), one of the small, fast powerboats operated by Coastal Forces for anti‑submarine patrol, air‑sea rescue, escort and inshore defence. [1][2][4] Motor anti‑submarine boats were compact craft developed from high‑speed racing boat designs, capable of rapid manoeuvre in coastal waters and equipped with depth charges, light guns and listening gear; they played a vital but hazardous role around ports such as Ramsgate, tasked with mine‑searching, patrols and rescue duties in the Channel and Thames Estuary approaches. [1][2][3]

Military Service (Coastal Forces Context)

Coastal Forces boats, including MASBs, were typically crewed largely by RNVR ratings like West, many of whom had limited maritime background before enlisting but quickly adapted to the demands of small‑craft warfare. [1][4] Ramsgate served as a base for anti‑submarine and air‑sea rescue flotillas; surviving reports of the 1st Motor Anti‑Submarine Flotilla show how boats numbered in the 20s and 30s, operating from Ramsgate under the Flag Officer Dover, were continuously engaged in search, escort, mine‑sweeping, buoy‑servicing and patrol tasks across the period 1941–44. [3] This environment placed constant demands on crews, even on apparently routine movements between moorings and harbour positions.

Although Bernard’s individual service record is not quoted in full, his rating as Stoker 1st Class indicates he had completed initial training and gained technical proficiency with the MASB’s engines, likely petrol or diesel, and auxiliary systems. [1] His duties would have included engine checks, fuel management, and emergency repairs in cramped conditions below deck, making him essential to the boat’s ability to manoeuvre in combat or during rescue operations. [1][2]

Circumstances of Death

On the evening of 14 March 1944, H.M. M.A.S.B. 29 lay in the waters off Ramsgate when Bernard West and another crew member were ordered to transfer to another vessel. [1] At about 21.30, in darkness and under wartime blackout conditions, West attempted to jump from his boat onto the second craft; he misjudged the distance between the moving hulls and fell into the gap between them. [1]

Evidence presented at the Ramsgate coroner’s inquest, reported in the Thanet Advertiser on 24 March 1944, recorded statements from Able Seaman William James Reeves and A/B Charles Clark, who described seeing West go to the upper deck, hearing a splash shortly afterwards, and then realising a man was overboard. [1] The tragedy was compounded by the fact that West could not swim, a not uncommon situation among wartime sailors; as he fell, he became wedged beneath the boat he had been ordered to board, making immediate rescue extremely difficult. [1]

A search began at once, but in the dark waters around the hulls, direct access to the trapped seaman proved impossible. [1] Only at 1.15 a.m., nearly four hours later, was his body recovered using grappling irons; an RNVR lieutenant‑commander testified that there were no external injuries and that the appearance was consistent with death by drowning. [1] The coroner, Mr J. H. Robinson, returned a verdict of accidental death, summarising: “This young man lost his life in trying to jump onto the boat he was ordered to transfer to, but he misjudged the distance and fell in between the two.” [1]

Burial and Commemoration

Bernard Geoffrey West’s funeral took place on 24 March 1944—his 21st birthday—at a “south coast town”, recorded elsewhere as Ramsgate, where he was buried with full naval honours in Ramsgate Cemetery, Division Ramsgate, Section M.A., grave 161. [1] The Sevenoaks Chronicle described how his parents, brother and sisters, and around forty shipmates attended the service, with floral tributes from family, neighbours, Sevenoaks farmers, Captain A. F. W. Howard, his ship’s company, fellow ratings in the flotilla, flotilla officers and other officers and shipmates, illustrating the breadth of those who mourned him. [1]

His headstone, recorded in the burial notes, reads:

“B. G. WEST
STOKER I. R.N. C/KX.161347
M.A.S.B. 29
14TH MARCH 1944 AGE 20
ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HIM, O LORD;
AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM
R.I.P.” [1]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry lists him as “WEST, BERNARD GEOFFREY, Stoker 1st Class, C/KX 161347, H.M. M.A.S.B. 29, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, died 14 March 1944, aged 20, son of Edward and Maude Louisa West, of Weald, Kent; buried Ramsgate Cemetery.” [1] His CWGC record and a Find a Grave memorial (ID 57638392) ensure that his grave and details remain accessible to descendants and researchers. [1]

Legacy

Bernard Geoffrey West’s life represents a common but often overlooked type of wartime sacrifice: a young reservist killed not by enemy action but by the inherent risks of naval service. [1] Serving in a small coastal craft, he faced the dangers of narrow decks, moving hulls and cold, dark seas every day, and his death during a routine transfer underlines how lethal such conditions could be even in home waters. [1][3]

For his parents at Hurst Dene, Weald, and his siblings and extended family, his loss at twenty—officially recorded as 20 though his funeral coincided with his twenty‑first birthday—brought enduring grief, tempered by pride in the tributes paid by officers and shipmates who described him as “an efficient, hard‑working seaman, fond of moving pictures”. [1] Today, through CWGC, local newspapers, genealogical records and studies of Coastal Forces and motor anti‑submarine boats, Bernard’s name stands alongside those of many young RNVR men whose service in “the Little Ships” helped secure British coastal waters in the later stages of the Second World War. [1][2][4][3]

Key External Links (for WordPress)

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Bernard-Geoffrey-West.pdf
[2] MASB – British Military Powerboat Trust https://bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/MASB/masb.htm
[3] Report on activities of 1st Motor Anti-Submarine Flotilla (1941- 1944) https://asrwhaleback.com/report-on-activities-of-1st-motoranti-submarine-flotilla-1941-1944-lt-eric-custance/
[4] Royal Navy Coastal Forces 1940-1945 – Unit Histories https://www.unithistories.com/units_british/RN_CoastalForces.html
[5] HMS M29 – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_M29
[6] RN Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Gun Boats & Motor Launches … https://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/thread.php?threadid=2054&page=7
[7] WRENing it up, WWII Coastal Forces style – laststandonzombieisland https://laststandonzombieisland.com/2016/10/29/wrening-it-up-wwii-coastal-forces-style/
[8] Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured … https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties-usnavy-marinecorps-personnel-killed-injured-selected-accidents-other-incidents-notdirectly-result-enemy-action.html
[9] [PDF] ROYAL NAVY LOSS LIST COMPLETE DATABASE http://www.thisismast.org/assets/downloads/rn-loss-list-2023-02-27.pdf
[10] SS Arkansan – Bernard Bio https://www.ssarkansan.com/home/bernard-bio
[11] 29th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29th_Motor_Torpedo_Boat_Flotilla
[12] THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205185545
[13] [PDF] 3rd Drowning Tragedy Hits Area Family https://www.cadl.org/lhonline/ICN1967-07-05.pdf
[14] MTB 747 AB Albert Pearson – Coastal Forces Veterans http://cfv.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=354
[15] British navy anti submarine boat hi-res stock photography and … https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/british-navy-anti-submarine-boat.html
[16] Titles owned by GEORGETOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY https://catalog.georgetowntexas.gov/catalog/titles/
[17] MOTOR TORPEDO BOATS: History, Technical details + Action … http://ww2f.com/threads/motor-torpedo-boats-history-technical-details-action-capsules.48087/
[18] List of monitors of the Royal Navy – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monitors_of_the_Royal_Navy
[19] 20 May 1944 – Family Notices – Trove – National Library of Australia https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44810010
[20] WW2 MGB 81 Motor Gun Boat Restoration – Berthon https://www.berthon.co.uk/shipyard/yacht-refits-refurb/ww2-mgb-81-motor-gun-boat-restoration/
[21] HMS M29 https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5633237

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