Able Seaman Godfrey Frederick Callaghan (1906 to 1942)
So why am I remembering Godfrey for Anzac Day 2022? He was "lost" to the Callaghan family until a few months ago when I was contacted by Lynette, the wife of Godfrey's first cousin once removed.
Another family history enthusiast, Lynette had found the image below amongst the glass photonegative in the William Joseph Macpherson Collection at the State Library of New South Wales.
Fifth from the left is my great-uncle, Paddy, with his future wife, Jessie (Theresa) Samora, to his left and brother, Denis (Dinny) Lutge, to his right.
Theresa is sitting next to her sister, Emily Samora. Her brother, Francis Samora, is on the extreme left. Between Emily and Francis is Thomas Callaghan, Emily's future husband.
Godfrey Callaghan is the grandson of Emily and Thomas. His mother, Gladys Muriel Callaghan, is the fourth of Emily and Thomas's ten children.
In the 1880s, the Samora's built the home in the picture, Warringah Lodge, for the Macpherson's on the shores of Sydney's Middle Harbour. [1] Knowing both the home and many Callaghan's in my early life, it was time for them to join the "FAN Club" in my Ancestry tree.
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| https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/digital/N2Q05BpPZeX5 |
My first inkling that Gladys had a child, before her marriage to Thomas William Connell in 1914, was an entry in the NSW Police Gazette on 6 February 1907. Gladys was three months short of her sixteenth birthday when she's named as the complainant against George Bower who was charged with "child desertion".
The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages shows Godfrey Callaghan was born on 10 December 1906 to Gladys M Callaghan. The birth was registered at Mosman, NSW (5428/1906). Godfrey was seven when his mother married Thomas Connell. It's not clear who Godfrey was raised by from on-line records. In 1913, the year prior to her marriage, Gladys was living at 6 Prince Street Mosman with Ethel Rogers and their occupations are shop assistants.
Was Godfrey raised by his grandparents, Emily and Thomas Callaghan, at their home at 137 Ourimbah Road, Mosman? This is most likely as their two youngest children were born in the year before and year after Godfrey's birth.
On 12 August 1924, Godfrey entered the Royal Australian Navy. His engagement commenced on 10 December 1924, the date of his eighteenth birthday, for an initial period of twenty years. He trained at the newly established HMAS Cerberus on the Mornington Peninsula.
There's not much disclosed in Godfrey's service records but his service continued as an able seaman. He spent many years based at Garden Island in Sydney prior to being transferred to HMAS Canberra on 30 May 1942. His character is always recorded as "V.G." and his ability initially as "Sat." but, within eighteen months, was "Supr." He was clearly an asset to our defence force.
In 1932, Godfrey married Blanche Banyard. They settled at 109 Davidson Street, North Strathfield. Blanche was two years older and born in Hampshire, England. She arrived in Australia with her parents and six siblings when she was five. Godfrey and Blanche didn't have any children.
HMAS Canberra was docked in Sydney in February 1942 for an extensive refit. In May 1942, after completion of the refit, she escorted a convoy to Melbourne. Godfrey joined the crew on her return to Sydney. The following night, HMAS Canberra was in Sydney Harbour on the night of the Japanese midget submarine attack on 31 May/1 June. In June, Canberra was involved in offensive sweeps of the Coral Sea.
In August 1942, Canberra operated with the naval force supporting the American landing at Guadalcanal and Tulagi. She was lost in the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942. Godfrey was one of the eighty four people missing believed killed. [2]
The stretch of water where Canberra was lost is now known as Iron Bottom Sound after 32 Allied ships were lost there during the Second World War. Canberra's wreck was rediscover in 1992, fifty years after her scuttling. She lays upright on the ocean floor about 2500 feet below sea level. This is the last resting place of Godfrey who died when he was thirty five.
His name is one of over 23,000 lost in both World Wars recorded on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. The Commonwealth War Graves Memorial Register records-
"CALLAGHAN, A.B. GODFREY FREDERICK, 14721. R.A.N. H.M.A.S. Canberra. 9 August 1942. Age 35. Husband of Blanche Callaghan, of Concord, New South Wales, Australia. Panel 72, Column 3."
HMAS Canberra is commemorated on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra where a service is held each year on the anniversary of her loss.
In 1949, Blanche married Herbert Joseph Henderson (1890 to 1958), a widower with three adult children who was a timber merchant. They settled in Herbert's home at 92 Wallis Street Enfield. Blanche lived for over 30 years after Herbert's death. She died on 5 July 1991 and is buried with Herbert and his first wife at the Field of Mars Cemetery, East Ryde.
It's pleasing for me to see that Able Seaman Godfrey Frederick Callaghan is no longer a forgotten member of my extended family. His details have now been included by three more family historians in their on-line trees at Ancestry.
[1] You can read about Warringah Lodge HERE.
[2] You can read about the loss of Canberra HERE.
POSTSCRIPT: It's highly likely that Godfrey's father was George Augustus Bower. He was born on 6 January 1886 to Charles and Maria Bower of Picton, NSW. The Police Gazette records that George was a carpenter who was believed to have gone to the country. The 1912 Electoral Roll shows George Augustus was a carpenter living in Myrtleford, Victoria. He then moved to Melbourne prior to dying in Sydney in 1918. He's buried at Rookwood Cemetery.
