ALF Index

Coming up from the pit the day war broke out, 3 September, 1939. Dalmellington miners , left to right, Matthew Dempsey, Jimmy Whalen, John Dick.
More information on Matthew Dempsey, on the left with a pipe in his mouth, and his family, by his grandson Tony Collins. At the time of this picture Matthew would be 51 years of age, having been born in Benquhat. He had married Helen Murray of Craigmark in 1915. They resided at 12 Burnton from 1926 till his death in 1966. In WW1 he had been a Royal Engineer and was gassed and taken prisoner in May 1918. The outbreak of another war in September 1939 would have been a matter of concern for him, like many others, who by then had sons who would become involved. Matt senior had no inkling as to what would befall his family. His eldest son Matthew Wren Dempsey. born September 1916 joined the Royal Naval Patrol Service in January 1941. He had previously been a miner and more recently had been a crewman on fishing boats from Ayr. In June that year his ship Admiralty Minesweeping Trawler ASH was sunk by a mine in the Thames Estuary. Having survived that event young Matt ended up on the Anti-submarine trawler JASPER and it was torpedoed and sunk by an E-boat on 1st December 1942. Matt and ten others were killed in the incident. His parents had to travel to the Salcombe area of Devon to recover his body and bring him home. His Commonwealth War Graves Commission grave stands next to his parents in Dalmellington cemetery.

1939

Industry

Mining

Coal

Dalmellington

Dalmellington

Photo

Black & White Print

Baird Institute

E123

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