History & Learning

Written by Paul Darran (great nephew)

Charlie was born in 1902 the son of a soldier & the brother of a sailor & soldier. His forefathers had served in the British Army continually since 1794. Both charlie & his brother Arthur Richard Darran had enlisted into the Royal Navy.

Charlie Darran was on HMS Poppy from 1942-1945.

He enlisted into the RN on the 16 Feb 1918 at HMS Ganges. He served on many ships including HMS Repulse on the world tour 1920s. He then went to HMS Dolphin to train in submarines. Serving on H49, L16, & L18.

In 1940 he served on HMS Brilliant & in 1942-45 served on HMS Poppy on the Russian convoys.

Convoys of HMS Poppy

PQ17 & QP14

KMS 1 Operation Torch

Convoy MKS 3 to UK

Arctic Convoy JW53

Atlantic Convoy as part of the 24th Escort group

Sailed with Group D with supply convoy for Operation Husky

Arctic Convoy JW54B

Preparations for operation Neptune – June 6th : D-Day – Neptune

Sword beach: D+3 – returned with empty LSTs – regular routine to Sword, Juno and Gold beaches with coasters, LSTs and old ships for Mulberry harbour.

He died on the 1 Feb. 2000.

Click to expand photos