Harry Varley (1917-1941)

Second World War Roll of Honour 

Harry Varley was born on 26 January 1917 in Burnley, Lancashire, the son of Rowland Varley, a railway clerk, and Ellen (née Smith) Varley of 16 Irene Street, Burnley, later of St Annes on Sea, Lancashire. He was educated at Fulledge Council School and Tormorden Road Council School before proceeding to Burnley Grammar School in 1928 with a scholarship. He was awarded a Stocks Massey endowment scholarship of £15 a year for two years as a result of his School Certificate examination in 1932. He was a member of the School’s Football 1st XI and was Captain of Brun House in 1934-35. He was awarded a Stocks Massey scholarship of £70 a year for three years in 1935 and matriculated at Downing College in October that year. He studied Modern and Medieval Languages and achieved a First in his preliminary examination in June 1936.

Harry Varley enlisted in the Royal Air Force and boarded the passenger ship SS Aguila at Liverpool in August 1941 bound for Gibraltar. The ship set sail from Liverpool on 13 August 1941 carrying 1,288 tons of general cargo as well as passengers from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. They sailed as part of Convoy OG-71, which was made up of twenty-three merchant ships and a naval escort. On 17 August, the convoy was spotted by a German aircraft which alerted enemy U-boats in the area to its presence. The following day, the Norwegian destroyer Bath, which had fallen behind the convoy while defending it, began to be stalked by U-204 and was torpedoed and sunk at 2.05am on the morning of the 19th, while some 400 nautical miles to the southwest of Ireland. Three minutes later, the attack began on the main convoy with the sinking of the cargo ship SS Alva. Two hours later, at 4.06am, the SS Aguila was hit by two torpedoes. It sank in just ninety seconds with the loss of 153 crew and passengers, including Harry Varley. In all, eight merchant ships were lost from the convoy and thereafter, the Royal Navy stopped the practice of using civilian ships to transport their personnel.

Sergeant Varley was killed on active service on 19 August 1941, aged 24. He is commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede and on the war memorial at Burnley Grammar School (since closed).