LCDR Arthur Henry CALLAWAY DSO RANVR
(and the brave men of H.M. Trawler Lady Shirley)

Arthur Henry Callaway, accountant and naval officer, was born on 3 April 1906 at Woollahra, Sydney, son of Arthur Henry Callaway, vocalist, and his wife Cecilia Frances, née Thomson, both Sydneysiders. Educated at Bondi Superior Public School, by 1923 young Arthur was a clerk with Rosenfeld & Co. Pty Ltd, merchants.

He joined the Royal Australian Naval Reserve on 1 July 1924 as a Midshipman and in June 1939 transferred to the Volunteer Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant.  His recreations were yachting and rowing; in 1931-33 he was honorary treasurer of the Sydney Rowing Club.  An associate-member of the Federal Institute of Accountants, from the early 1930s Callaway practised in the city.  On 23 November 1935 in St Michael's Anglican Church, Vaucluse, he married Thelma May Rowe.

Having specialised in anti-submarine warfare, Callaway was promoted Lieutenant Commander on 23 June 1939.  He was mobilised in September and served in HMAS Yarra until March 1940.  Lent to the Royal Navy, in November he sailed for England.  In June 1941 he assumed command of H.M. Trawler, Lady Shirley, which operated from Gibraltar; of 477 tons gross, she and similar vessels had been requisitioned for patrol duties.

Tall, blue eyed and bearded, Callaway was a quiet, reflective and purposeful man who trained his crew thoroughly and ran a happy ship.  On 4 October Lady Shirley was searching for a merchantman lying damaged 400 nautical miles (741 km) west of the Canary Islands.  These were dangerous waters infested by German U-boats ever watching and waiting for the helpless merchantmen.

The morning had dawned bright and clear, with a little wind and a long low swell.  A German U-boat, U111, a submarine of 750 tons, measuring 245 feet in length, lay on the surface, her crew enjoying the early morning sun.  She was commanded by Kaptain-Leutnant Wilhelm Kleinschmidt, an experienced underwater sailor with a crew of fifty-one, which included 4 other officers and a prospective captain Korvetten-Kapitan Heinecke.  The sea, as far as the eye could see, was empty, but unknown to Kleinschmidt, beyond his gaze as he scanned the horizon, lay the U-boats nemesis.

At 8.40am, Lady Shirley altered course to investigate a sighting, soon confirmed to be the conning tower of a German U-boat.  Meanwhile Kleinschmidt had sighted smoke from Lady Shirley’s funnel and though not alarmed, decided to dive.

More than one and a half hours passed until at 1004 Commander Callaway’s patience was suddenly rewarded by an unmistakable contact.  A pattern of depth charges was dropped, none of which damaged U111, but they certainly disturbed her crew.  Kleinschmidt decided to surface, and barely had the rumble of the exploding canisters died away before the crew of the Lady Shirley sighted the periscope rising from the depths.

Callaway swung his ship hard aport to bring his single 4inch gun to bear, and as the Conning tower slowly emerged, his gun crew opened fire at 500 yards range.  The Germans running along the submarine’s deck to man the forward 4.1inch gun were sprayed with machine gun fire and either killed or driven back.  The survivors, however, opened fire with a machine gun and killed the gun-layer in Lady Shirley, whose place was taken by Sub-Lieutenant Frederick French, RNR, who scored three hits in rapid succession.

The action lasted for another twenty minutes during which several of Lady Shirley's crew were severely injured and eight Germans, including the submarine Captain, died.  The 4-inch fire eventually proved effective and with the U-boat badly damaged and already sinking by the stern the surviving senior officer ordered abandon ship. Forty-four Germans were taken from the water, one of whom was moved to comment .....

.....“we were bigger than you, we could see you, but you couldn’t see us yet you beat us.” 

The trawler’s crew of thirty, then had the problem of containing forty-four surviving German POWs for the return trip to Gibraltar.

This was the first time that POWs were captured from a U-boat operating in the South Atlantic.  German survivors claimed that U-111 was the first U-boat to be lost of those operating in that area.

The action had taken place in position 27.15N, 20.27W south west of Tenerife.

On October 14 1941, Lieutenant-Commander Henry Callaway RANVR was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.....

..... ”For great daring and skill in a brilliant action against a U-boat”.

His First Lieutenant, another Australian, Lieutenant Ian Penn Boucaut RANVR, was awarded the DSC.  In all, another DSC, five Distinguished Service Medals, a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and six Mentioned in Despatches were awarded to the members of the crew.

The King has been graciously pleased to approve the following Awards: —

For daring and skill in a brilliant action against a U boat in which the Enemy was sunk and surrendered, to H.M. Trawler Lady Shirley:

The Distinguished Service Cross
Lieutenant Ian Penn Boucaut, R.A.N.V.R.,
Temporary Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Edward French, R.N.R.

The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
Seaman Sidney Halcrow, who was so badly wounded that he was ordered to go below, but stood to his gun until the action was over, when he passed out.

The Distinguished Service Medal
Leading Seaman William Henry Mackrill, R.N.R.
Seaman George Alec Bussey,
Seaman Albert Milne,
Seaman William Windsor,
Stoker Ian Robert McCready,

Mention in Despatches (Posthumous)
Seaman Leslie William Pizzey

Mention in Despatches
Chief Engineman George Alex Wyatt
Seaman Kenneth Francis Hibbs
Seaman Andrew Mclnenny
Ordinary Signalman James Henry Warbrick
Stoker Ronald Summers

Unfortunately none of the crew lived to receive their decorations as these brave men and the gallant Lady Shirley disappeared without trace while patrolling the western approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar between 3 and 4 a.m. on 11 December 1941.  It was later concluded from German records that she had been torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat (U374) at 35°15'N, 5°26'W.

Arthur Henry Callaway was survived by his wife and daughter, and by his son Ian, who followed in his fathers footsteps and joined the Royal Australian Navy, rising to the rank of Commodore.

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Sources:
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Naval Historical Society of Australia
Australian War Memorial
The London Gazette Friday 14th November 1941

Compiled by Laurie Pegler