The above photograph of Able Seaman Archibald Arthur Newby kindly loaned by his daughters Joyce Lillian Wathan (nee Newby), June Elizabeth Salisbury (nee Newby), and the late Kathleen Eva Hurst (nee Newby). March 2012

Able Seaman P/JX 312417 Archibald Arthur Newby served in the Royal Navy on HMS President and died on the 18th August 1943 aged 34 years. His ship Fort Poplar was attacked off the coast of Tunisia and Able Seaman Newby died of his wounds and was buried at sea.

Archibald was the son of Arthur and Elizabeth Newby of Rothley, husband to Lilian and father to June, Joyce, Kathleen and Graydon.

He is commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Portsmouth, Hampshire. This Memorial at Portsmouth was built to commemorate all those members of the Royal Navy who had no known graves, the majority having died at sea. Chatham and Plymouth also have Naval Memorials. After World War Two the Memorials were extended and at Portsmouth there are names of 24,586 identified casualties from both wars. Able Seaman Archibald Arthur Newby is one of those names. Panel Ref: Panel 75 Column 2

HMS President III was formerly HMS Saxifrage built in 1918 and part of a small class of convoy protection ships built to look like Merchant ships for use as Q-ships (Decoy ships) in World War One. HMS President survives and is now moored in the River Thames.