World War II

World War II. . , German submarine activity during World War II peaked in 1942, with several attacks on shipping occurring in the Caribbean Sea alone. One such attack was the sinking of the merchant steam vessel Comayagua on the evening of 14th May 1942 by the German submarine U-125 commanded by Captain Ulrich Folkers. , The Comayagua was 14 miles southwest of George Town en route from Guatemala to Cuba when the first torpedo struck her amidships, killing six crew members on watch. A second torpedo blew off the ship's stern, immediately sinking her. The rest of her crew of 42 men abandoned the ship in boats and rafts. Surfacing his submarine, Folkers advised the ship's master Peter Larsen, that land was only 10 miles away. , A patrolling American Navy plane spotted the survivors and flying over George Town, dropped a note in the yard of Commissioner John Jones who dispatched Captain Eugene Thompson, master of the Caymanian ship MV Cimboco, to rescue them. , Whilst the small police force on Grand Cayman carried out coastal watch duty prior to the sinking of the Comayagua, it was decided that a 'Home Guard' would be more effective. In 1942, police Inspector Roddy Watler was appointed Officer in charge of the Cayman Islands Company of the Jamaican Home Guard, a post he held until the end of the war in 1945. , This mural is from a series of three original paintings by Caymanian artist John Broad commissioned by the National Trust to celebrate the history of Fort George., "World War II" original 60" x48" acrylic on canvas 2012