On Tower Hill Memorial, Trinity Square, London is the name of Chief Officer Collins Bartlett Luke serving with the Merchant Navy on S.S. Westburn (Sunderland) who died 11/06/1941

He was the son of William Bartlett Luke and Amelia Mary Helen Luke; husband of Eva Maud Luke, of Welling, Kent.

Christine Davison has submitted the following:

Collins Bartlett Luke was the son of William Bartlett and Amelia Mary Helen Luke, nee Collins. His name is sometimes recorded as Luke Bartlett.

He was born on 2nd April 1884 at Dartmouth, Devon. Collins’ mother died in 1891, and his father remarried in 1893 to Emma Babbage. He later married Catherine Maude in 1909 and is described as a Master Ironmonger. I’m assuming he made it rather than sold it. William died in 1926 at Babbacombe, Devon.

Collins’ future wife Evelyn/Eva Maud Headley was born in Enniskillen, Ireland, on 25th September 1884. Her father was George Headley. The 1891 census recorded her living in Taunton, Somerset, with her stepfather, George Hann, who was a publican, her mother and siblings; her eldest brother and sister were born in South Africa, but her younger brother was also born in Ireland.

Collins married Eva on 16th June 1910 at Stonehouse, Devon. The 1911 census showed Eva living in Stoke, Devonport. Collins is absent, probably away at sea.

He began his seafaring career in March 1898, and his first ship was Contessima, which was a square-rigged fishing vessel. He passed his second mate’s ticket in July 1905 and was living in Stonehouse, Devon. A description of him said he was 5 feet 5 and a half inches tall, had a fair complexion, brown hair and blue eyes.

Collins and Eva had two sons, Kenneth and Graham, and a daughter, Phyllis. Their son Kenneth served in WW2 and was a prisoner of war, captured by the Japanese in 1942.

Collins served in the Merchant Navy during WW1, and by 1921 the family were living at 23 Hartley Street, Sunderland, but Collins, although not at home, is recorded on board his ship S.S. Oxshott as First Mate, docked at Howden on the Tyne.

The 1939 register showed them living at 46, St. George’s Terrace, East Boldon. Collins was absent, but Eva and the two sons were there, and Eva was a First Aid Nurse.

Collins died on 11 June 1941 when his ship, on which he was Chief Officer, S.S. Westburn, was damaged by enemy action 3 Miles north of Skinningrove, Yorkshire. There were 5 casualties, including Collins.

Collins Bartlett Luke is remembered at East Boldon on E46.01 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.