Captain Terry Herrick - Telegraph Captain Terry Herrick, who has died aged 97, was one of five brothers who fought in the Second World War, and won two of their many medals for gallantry. On setting off on honeymoon with his wife, Janet, in the troopship Lancashire in 1938, Herrick wrote that it was a wonderful wedding present being destined to become first lieutenant in the destroyer Decoy on the China station. Several years passed before he saw England again. When war was declared Decoy was sent to the Mediterranean; Janet travelled to New Zealand, and then made her way to England via Canada. Just before midnight on June 27 1940, shortly after Italy had joined the war, a surfaced submarine was sighted off Crete and hunted through the night until, at dawn, a long slick of oil and wreckage confirmed that Decoy and her escorts had sunk Console General Liuzzi. There were no survivors, and no great celebration. Herrick was awarded his first DSC for gallantry and distinguished service in helping to evacuate some 50,000 troops from Greek beaches in April 1941. Next he was selected to command Hotspur, making him the junior destroyer captain in the fleet. A few days later he landed a raiding party off Tyre, in what was then Vichy-held Syria, to capture a bridge behind French lines. Later that day, off Sidon, he helped drive off two large French destroyers which were shelling Australian troops advancing along the coast. On November 25 Hotspur was part of the battle fleet's anti-submarine screen when, from 500 yards away, he witnessed the torpedoing of the battleship Barham, which rolled over and disappeared in "a cloud of dirty grey and black smoke". Entering the cloud, which he said smelled worse than a bad London fog, he emerged on the other side to see hundreds of heads bobbing in the water. Launching his boats despite an air raid warning, he stayed to rescue as many as possible, reasoning that the Germans might machine-gun those in the water. Eventually Hotspur picked up 385 survivors, including Vice-Admiral Pridham-Whippel, while the Australian destroyer Nizam rescued 176 – the sole survivors of Barham's crew of 1,311. Off Tobruk in late 1942, Herrick hunted an underwater contact for several hours, repeatedly dropping patterns of depth charges, then stopping to listen on Asdic for their slow-moving enemy. Suddenly, a few hundred yards away, a U-boat surfaced and, as its guns were manned, Herrick opened fire until the crew poured out. He then ordered a boarding party, but the boat had been scuttled and was sinking quickly. Among those rescued were the boat's captain and engineer officer. The U-boat's captain explained that his engineer officer was surly because he had already been sunk by Hotspur at the first Battle of Narvik two years before. Herrick was awarded a Bar to his DSC for his skill and enterprise in the engagement. Terrence Desmond Herrick, a third generation New Zealander, was born at Napier, North Island, on November 12 1911. He was educated at Havelock North and Wanganui schools before winning the Governor-General's nomination to Dartmouth in 1925. His early years at sea included service in the battleship Resolution, in the coal-burning fishery protection trawler Colne and in the cruiser Shropshire. When, in 1934, he joined the sloop Laburnum in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy he had been away from home for nine years. Terry Herrick was one of five brothers who rallied to the colours and won a hatful of medals. Three were killed in action with the RAF: Brian was lost flying with Coastal Command over the English Channel; Dennis won the George Medal but was shot down over Brittany; Mike, who was awarded the DFC and Bar, was shot down in the Pacific. Terry and Larry, who won the DSC while commanding the submarine Uproar, were the survivors. Leaving the Mediterranean for England in October 1942, Terry Herrick was promoted lieutenant-commander to command the new destroyer Brecon. He returned to the Mediterranean for the Allied invasions of Sicily and Salerno on the Italian mainland, where he closed the beaches to fire on German shore batteries, this time under conditions of general air superiority. After five years in destroyers, in May 1944 he was sent to instruct new commanding officers at Portsmouth. As captain of the new fleet destroyer Cockade, he arrived in the Pacific after the Japanese surrender, and visited New Zealand after a second long gap. His postwar appointments included commanding the destroyer Corunna and being naval officer-in-charge, Auckland. He then served briefly in the Admiralty, commanded the Gibraltar dockyard and became captain of the Fleet in Singapore. After leaving the Royal Navy in 1963, Herrick was Assistant Chief of Naval Staff in the now independent RNZN for a year. An appointment as commissioner for civil defence on North Island then gave him the opportunity to travel and reacquaint himself with his native country. For the past 25 years he had been living in Wairarapa, helping his sons on their farms. In 1997 he published an autobiography, Into the Blue. Terry Herrick died on April 15. His wife predeceased him, and he is survived by their two sons and one daughter.
It must have been tragic to lose three brothers. From the CWGC website, they were all younger than him. F/O Brian Herrick was lost on 24/11/40, with 272 sqdn, a Coastal Command unit operating Blenheims at the time. P/O Dennis Herrick GM was lost on 30/6/41, also in a Blenheim with 53 sqdn. S/L Michael Herrick DFC* was lost on 16/6/44 aged just 23, with 305 sqdn which had the Mosquito FBVI at the time - he is buried in Frederickshaven cemetary, so not the Pacific as the Telegraph obit of Terry says .
NZFPM |Flight Lieutenant Michael James Herrick Mosquito FB VI NS913 crashed near Oue west of Hadsund 16/6 1944
Killed in action on a convoy escort; took off at Aldergrove in Blenheim IV [Z5734 XK-D] but found the wrong convoy and was involved in a dogfight with a Fairey Fulmar; the Blenheim stalled off a turn and dived into the North Channel, which killed Herrick and his two crew members Took off from St Eval at 11.10 hrs, he was brought down into the sea flying Blenheim IV [V6087 PZ-O] when on an anti-shipping strike off Brest; wounded & taken prisoner, but died a few days later in the German Naval Hospital at Lorient. The other crew were lost with the aircraft: Sergeant. Gordon Francis Wilson Gahagan Sergeant. George Leonard Wells His GM citation
A most remarkable family. Incredible. I can provide bios of the brothers lost as aircrew but I think they're mostly covered above. Another fine Navy man gone. RIP.
The flying Herrick boys as per Errol Martyn's For Your Tomorrow: First of all Dennis' George Medal: Brian Dennis Michael A bit repetitive when compared to the earlier posts but some extra info included. The bios in Vol 3 go into movement details - postings etc - but pretty much repeat the above in more detail.
Thanks, great work. In the case of Brian, I see one account says he was in a "practice dogfight"; the other implies that it was a "friendly fire" incident (I think they had more sensible terminology for such incidents then) To complete the history of the family, is there any information available about the fifth brother, Larry (Lawrence??), who was RN and survived the war?
This is all I could find quickly, AR. I haven't pasted it too well. Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945 - H Herrick, Laurence Edward "Larry" One of six sons & two daughters * of Edward Jasper Herrick, and Ethne Rose Herrick. Brother of: F/O B.H. Herrick, RAF P/O D.T. Herrick, RNZAF Sq.Ldr. M.J. Herrick, RAF Capt. T.D. Herrick, RN Cousin of: P/O P.G. Herrick, RAFVR * one of which married Gen. Sir Nigel Poett 1918 Hastings, New Zealand - 12.2004 still alive Cadet 01.01.1936 Midsh. 01.01.1937 A/S.Lt. 01.01.1939 S.Lt. 18.11.1939, seniority 01.11.1938 Lt. 08.1940, seniority 16.04.1940 A/Lt.Cdr. < 04.1946 Lt.Cdr. 16.04.1948 Cdr. 31.12.1950 (retd 19.06.1959) DSC 10.11.1942 8 Mediterranean patrols, sank [Am?] Milo [award posted] MID 20.12.1940 sinking American submarine & trawler MID 18.09.1951 Korea Education: Wanganui Collegiate School 01.01.1936 - (02.1936) special entry cadet, HMS Frobisher (cadet training cruiser) 01.01.1937 - (10.1938) HMS Suffolk (cruiser) (China) 02.01.1939 - (08.1939) promotion course, Portsmouth 15.02.1940 - (04.)1941 First Lieutenant, HMS Tigris (submarine) 12.06.1941 - (08.)1942 First Lieutenant, HMS P 34 (submarine) 01.12.1942 - (06.1944) Commanding Officer, HMS P 31, 02.1943 renamed: HMS Ullswater, 04.1943 renamed: HMS Uproar (submarine) 06.1945 - (07.)1945 HMS Maidstone (submarine depot ship) (for submarines) 22.12.1945 - (04.1946) HMS Indefatigable (aircraft carrier) 09.1947 - (07.)1948 HMS Mauritius 16.08.1948 - (05.1950) Commanding Officer, HMNZS Pukaki (Korea) 01.10.1952 - (05.1953) HMS President (for miscellaneous services) 13.01.1955 - (01.1957) Executive Officer, HMS Lochinvar (minesweeping trials & experimental establishment, Port Edgar)
