It was a stunning loss of life and one of the Royal Navy’s most crushing defeats. Alex Bowers tells the story of a Newfoundland family beset by tragedy when two of its sons joined the ‘Mighty Hood’
Sometimes, a picture speaks a thousand words. A boy reaches for his father’s hand as he marches down a Canadian street (Wait for Me, Daddy!); a Soviet soldier hauls the Hammer and Sickle above Germany’s principal government building (Raising a Flag over the Reichstag); a frightened group of Vietnamese children – one whose clothes and skin have been torn off by napalm – flee their stricken village (The Terror of War). These enduring images have stood the test of time, capturing our attention and compelling us to understand the individuals depicted in vivid detail. Others, however, shroud their subjects in mystery, leaving their stories unspoken.
Two faded, grainy photographs – posed and devoid of emotion – are the only known examples showing brothers George and Arthur Brewer, born and raised in Epworth on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula. It would be evident to the layperson that they had served in the Royal Navy, although less so that they were related, unless studied with keen interest.
Nevertheless, to l…
