Plea from nephew to find out how his uncle died

5:00pm Thursday 11th September 2008

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THE nephew of a soldier who died in a tragic training accident 60 years ago is asking people to come forward and help with his quest to unravel what happened on the day his uncle died. On August 27,1946, six local soldiers drowned in an army training accident in Fingringhoe, near Colchester in Essex.

The Gazette report the following week named the men who drowned as Arthur Buckley, 24, from Gloucester, George Butcher, 22, from North Nibley, Eric Cook, 18, from Wortley, near Wotton-under-Edge, Richard Elliot, 23, from Coaley, Raymond Franklyn, 18, from Bristol and Samuel Govey, 18, from Uplands, Stroud.

The nephew of Eric Cook, Eric Whitlock, is planning a visit to Fingringhoe where a memorial for the men who drowned has been created by residents.

Mr Whitlock, from Pontypool, is keen to hear from any relatives of the drowned soldiers or any of the men who were training with them in August 1946.

He believes there has been a cover-up and that the coroner's verdict of ‘misadventure’ did not best describe what happened to the six soldiers over 60 years ago.

Mr Whitlock said: "I would like the opportunity to flesh out the details and the personal stories behind the tragedy and how my family and others are still affected by the perceived cover up 62 years ago. "Anyone reading the inquest records would suspect that the verdict returned of misadventure was a bit of a whitewash to say the least.

"I would like to hear from any of the men who were training at the time with Eric and especially from eyewitnesses to the accident or their families, which included Private John Donaldson and Private Charles Joseph Gill, who were in the boat but were saved, Captain Robert Rowe, Lieutenant Eric Perry and Corporal Ronald Tilling."

If you have any details on the incident contact Mr Whitlock on 01495 753987 or email ericwhitlock@telco4u.net.