More about John Kerr Fairweather

For reasons unknown this man is not listed on the original Dundee Roll of Honour, but is remembered on the Harris Academy, Dundee Roll of Honour.

John was serving aboard the British cargo ship S.S. Harrogate when she foundered 50 miles off the coast of Norway on February 20th, 1918. She was on a voyage from Hull to Bergen carrying a cargo of coke.

Family Background:

John`s father, David, was Lieutenant & Quartermaster in the Scottish Rifles in charge of recruitment. The family lived at 13 Benvie Road, 32 Dudhope Crescent Road and then 61 Reform Street, Dundee.

Service History:

John enlisted on 1^st June 1914 in the RNVR for 3 years and on the outbreak of war joined Anson Battalion in training in Kent. He served at Antwerp and then Gallipoli where he was wounded twice in the hips and legs and hospitalised in Alexandria, Egypt. He returned to the Battalion in Gallipoli in late 1915 and post that campaign in 1916 transferred to sea service. In February 1918 he was one of three ratings manning the stern gun of the SS Harrogate, an armed merchantman. The Harrogate was on passage from Hull to Bergen with a cargo of coke when she disappeared approximately 50 miles off Bergen. The cause is unknown but was probably stormy weather.

John K Fairweather was the son of Lieutenant and Quartermaster David Fairweather, Scottish Rifles and Mrs Joanna Fairweather of 61 Reform Street, Dundee. Before the war he was an Apprentice Fitter and he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve onboard HMS Unicorn. In August 1914 he was mobilised and drafted to the Anson Battalion of the Royal Naval Division and began to train as a Naval Infantryman. In October 1914 the RND was sent to help defend Antwerp in Belgium against the German Army. The RND had to be withdrawn after two days to avoid being cut off but not all the Battalions made it to safety. John Fairweather made it back to Britain and the Anson Battalion moved to Blandford Camp in Dorset. He went with the Battalion to Gallipoli at the end of February 1915 and was wounded twice in action receiving bullet wounds to his legs and hips. He was hospitalised on both occasions but returned to the Anson after recovery. He volunteered for sea service and, in April 1916, was transferred from the Middle East to Chatham Naval Barracks. Here he for trained to serve in a Defensively Armed Merchant ship. Typically, he would form part of a gun crew embarked in a ship to help defend it from surface attack by a U Boat. The SS Harrogate sank in a storm about 50 miles off Bergen whilst on passage from Hull with cargo of coke. John Fairweather is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial at Southsea Common and also on the HMS Unicorn First World War Memorial. He was awarded the 1914 Medal, popularly known as the Mons Star.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie