Colin Boyd has provided the following:
George was born in Southwick, Sunderland in 1896 and by the time of the 1911 Census he was living with his parents, John and Mary, and eight siblings at 26, Mary Street, Southwick. He was employed as an apprentice fitter at a local engine works. It is reasonable to assume that when George came out of his time he chose to go to sea as there were always more finished apprentices than shore based jobs. Serving a formal apprenticeship was widely accepted as a first step towards a career in marine engineering.
By 1941 George was a fully qualified Chief Engineer working for the British Tanker Company Limited (British Petroleum) having found time in 1927 to marry Elizabeth Barlow in Sunderland. In May 1941 George was serving on board ss "British Emperor" on a voyage with a full cargo of oil from the Persian Gulf to East Africa. On May 7th 1941 they were intercepted by the German raider "Pinguin" and after a couple of salvoes from her six inch guns the cargo was on fire and the crew abandoned ship. Amazingly all 44 crew members survived to become prisoners on board "Pinguin".
On the following day, May 8th 1941, it became the "Pinguin's" turn to be outgunned when she was intercepted by the eight inch gunned cruiser HMS CORNWALL. Following a 27 minute gun duel the "Pinguin's" crew were in the process of abandoning ship when an eight inch shell from CORNWALL detonated the 138 mines stored in number 5 hold and she disappeared in a massive explosion. 341 German sailors died as did 214 of the 238 prisoners on board including all 44 members of the crew of "British Emperor".
Interestingly both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the U.K. Merchant Seaman Deaths 1939 - 1953 record the deaths of the crew of "British Emperor" as being due to enemy action on May 7th 1941 when in fact they were killed on May 8th 1941 by the fire of HMS Cornwall!
(The CWGC explanation is as follows:
According to all reports I can find on the internet, the S.S. British Emperor was definitely sunk on the 7th May 1941 by the German raider Pinguin. Certainly some of the crew appeared to have survived and were picked up by the raider, although I failed to find clear details of exactly who. The survivors were then tragically killed when the Pinguin was sunk by HMS Cornwall on the 8th May 1941. However, in order for us to amend any of our records for the crew of the S.S. British Emperor we would need to see some official documentation confirming which of the crew were picked by the Pinguin. According to all the Merchant Navy records we have found, all the crew (except 2nd Officer Hunt who died of wounds later) are officially listed as dying on the 7th May 1941).
George Mewes Helm is remembered in Southwick on S130.03, in Sunderland on S140.159 and on our List of Ships’ crews
