Knowstone's link to the Royal Navy - HMS Eggesford

HMS Eggesford, one of Britain’s 2nd World War type III Hunt class destroyers, was built in the yard of J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight in 1941 and served valiantly on escort duties in the Mediterranean. She survived the war and was eventually sold to the Federal German Navy as a training ship in 1959.

So where’s the link to our Parish? Towns and parishes throughout the country held collections to help towards the of cost building aircraft and ships. Knowstone parishioners were exceptionally generous collecting no less than £2,300 (£90,000 in today’s money) towards the build cost of HMS Eggesford (total build cost in 1941 £352,000).

At a meeting of Knowstone Parish Council on Tuesday 26th November 2019, Mrs. Rosemary Newton, who farms in East Knowstone and has carried out a great deal of research into this important piece of our parish history, presented a framed photograph of HMS Eggesford the Parish together with supporting documents obtained from the Ministry of Defence and other sources.

We are very grateful to Mrs Newton for researching this important and interesting piece of parish history.