PHATUEL GRANGER 1890-1952. by his Grandson Michael.

Phatuel Granger 1890-1952

Phatuel Granger was born on 5^th November 1890 at 6 Bellerby Terrace, West Hartlepool.  He was the 3^rd son of Phatuel Granger and Ada Gray.  Their first born son had also been named Phatuel following a tradition lasting 100 years and spanning several generations.  Tragically he died before his second birthday and so when a new baby was born in 1890 he too was named Phatuel.

My grandfather was first and foremost a sailor, and it was ironic that during two world wars he served in the Army (mainly in the Inland Waterways Transport Unit, Royal Engineers), not the Navy.  

His nautical career started at the age of 15 when he was apprenticed to Master Mariner Joseph Wilson.  The apprenticeship lasted for 4 years and at the age of 19 he signed on with the SS Westland as an Able Bodied Seaman. During the following 3 years he made several transatlantic voyages visiting the West Indies, U.S.A. and Montreal. 

He continued with his training during this period and gained his 2^nd mate’s certificate at the age of 20, two years later he qualified for his 1^st mate’s ticket issued by the West Hartlepool authority.

Shortly afterwards he took employment with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, working on the river steamers that carried passengers and cargo up and down the Irrawaddy river from Rangoon to the interior of Burma.   On 21^st September 1914 he became licensed as Master of Inland Steam Vessels, by the authorities at Mandalay in Burma.

It was during this time that he met and married Ada Maude Nelson, the daughter of a civil servant in Customs Office in Rangoon.  They were married on 26^th November 1915 at the Immanuel Baptist Church, Rangoon, Burma.  He had very little time to enjoy married life as he had previously signed up to serve his country with the Royal Indian Marine.  He was deployed to Mesopotamia and was responsible for managing military river transport on the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates throughout the remainder of World War I.  He had a distinguished military career, progressing from the rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Indian Marine to Major in the Inland Water Transport Section, Royal Engineers by the end of the war. He was mentioned in despatches for distinguished service.

At the end of the war he and his wife returned to England and settled in Ravenstonedale in Westmorland.  Two sons (Phatuel and Michael) were born while the family lived at Ravenstonedale but Phatuel would not have spent much time at home.  He was working for the Western Telegraph Company onboard the ship Cable Enterprise.  This ship was used for maintaining undersea communications cables in South America during the years 1921 -1929. He was working out of ports such as Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo for most of this decade.  He was awarded his master’s certificate in 1924 in Newcastle on one of his trips back to England.  The family moved away from Westmorland to live nearer to his wife’s family in Thornton Heath and while living there they had a baby daughter (Patricia). 

When his work on the South American cable laying project was finished, my grandfather returned to England and embarked on a completely different career.  The family moved for a short while to Streatham in SW.London, during which time my grandfather learnt “The Knowledge” and, moving to Mitcham, became a London cabbie.

At the commencement of World War II, he was called up for service in the Army, being assigned the rank of Major in the Royal Engineers.  He was deployed to the Middle East again.  He had responsibility for managing Military shipping through the Suez Canal for most of World War II, but he was transferred to Calcutta on the 15th March 1945 to command grain distribution during the Bengal rice famine in India.   He was mentioned in despatches for distinguished service twice during the 2^nd WW, and finished the war with the acting rank of Lt. Col.  He next joined the German Control Commission to assist with establishing a post-war German administration.  At the completion of his work on the Control Commission he became Master of a pleasure yacht on the Rhine, working for a holiday company. He eventually went to sea again.  His final voyage was as 2nd Mate on SS Loradore in 1951.  During this voyage, he became ill with lung cancer and died shortly afterwards in the naval hospital at Greenwich.