CECIL Thomas Dundas was only 23 when he was killed on Christmas Day 1940 – but the young merchant seaman from Stroma packed a lot into his short life.

He helped rescue Antarctic explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot, Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, while a member of the crew on the research ship Discovery II and saw action in the Spanish Civil War as well as World War II.

He died in the latter conflict while serving as the third officer aboard SS Jumna when she was sunk in the Atlantic by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. There were no survivors. That fateful day almost 80 years ago marked the end of a life which had so much potential.

Cecil was born on January 19, 1917, and was the youngest of six children born to Matthew and Annie Dundas but his family also included eight half-brothers and sisters. His father remarried after losing his first wife, Elizabeth, but only three of their children survived to adulthood.

Cecil went to school on Stroma and then on to Wick High for two years before studying at the nautical college at Gravesend in Kent.

When he was 18 he went to the Antarctic on the Discovery II as a seaman and spent 20 months on the vessel. During that time he helped in the rescue of American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, who was born in London and later emigrated to Canada.

On November 23, 1935 during a transantarctic flight from Dundee Island to the Little America camp – established by explorer Richard Byrd a few years earlier on the Ross Ice Shelf – their plane ran out of fuel and they had to land about 25 miles short of their destination. They had to walk to the camp but were unable to notify the authorities of their plight because radio contact was lost and they were reported missing.

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The Discovery was sent out from Melbourne in Australia to search for them and the two men were discovered on January 16, 1936, after almost two months. They returned to New York on April 6 and their support ship, MS Wyatt Earp, arrived separately two weeks later. Their plane, a single-engined Northrop Gamma called Polar Star, was recovered and donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1936.

Ellsworth Land, Mount Ellsworth and Lake Ellsworth in Antarctica are all named after Lincoln Ellsworth, who made four trips to the continent between 1933 and 1939.

The dramatic rescue was big news and Cecil was pictured along with other crew members in a number of newspapers. While based there he visited the grave of Ernest Shackleton, the explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic.

After leaving the Discovery II, he joined a cargo vessel that was involved in running the blockade of Barcelona during the brutal Spanish Civil War which lasted from 1936 to 1939 and was fought between Republican forces and General Franco's nationalists. Franco's forces were helped by the Italians and Germans while the Republicans were assisted by the International Brigade that was made up mostly of volunteers.

Cecil survived 15 air raids during two trips to Barcelona – a Republican stronghold – and on one occasion suffered the effects of shock after a bomb exploded near the ship.

When he was 22 he went to Liverpool to sit his second mate's ticket and was one of only two out of 15 to pass. He then spent some time on the SS Zurich Moor before joining SS Jumna as third officer around the autumn of 1940.

The Jumna was part of the North Atlantic convoys but on Christmas Day 1940 was sailing from Liverpool to Calcutta with 44 Indian seamen returning home after their ship had been sunk earlier in the year. She was spotted near the Azores by the Admiral Hipper – tasked with sinking Allied merchant shipping – and was attacked and sunk. None of the 111 people on board survived. The Admiral Hipper was scuttled in Kiel in Germany in 1945.

Cecil's name is included on war memorials at Stroma, Canisbay and Tower Hill, London, where he is commemorated along with other British merchant seamen who lost their lives.

His family and relatives have never forgotten him or what he did. They have his war medals, photos from the Antarctica expedition, cards and newspapers clippings about his adventures.

It was his great-niece Carol Robinson and her 11-year-old daughter, Kirsten Gough, who discovered more information about his life.

Carol, who comes from Caithness and now lives in East Lothian, explained what happened. Kirsten was given Cecil's uniform buttons and two Christmas cards he had sent his parents from the Discovery II by her granny, Liz Henderson, who lives in Halkirk with husband Dennis.

"That sparked her interest. She was fascinated by him and got me hooked too," she said. "We managed a visit to Stroma in the summer of 2019 which has further fuelled our interest.

"When we were up north this year my uncle Ronnie Dundas from Strath Halladale gave us a bag containing old photographs and newspaper clippings as well as Cecil's birth certificate which we had been searching for. My uncle William Dundas in Edinburgh is the custodian of Cecil's medals, and Kirsten and I have all the other memorabilia, which we will treasure.

"I am totally blown away by his achievements. To have done so much in such a short life is amazing.

"I knew about him and went to the war memorial at Canisbay every year with my mam and grandad. The more I found out about him the more interested I became.

"I think Cecil would have been so proud that Kirsten has sparked this interest in him. I think he would have been quite chuffed. The family was aware of what he did but did not have all the details."

Carol and Kirsten have amassed a huge amount of information about Cecil and Carol has even been in touch with the daughter of the captain of Discovery II.

Asked what she plans to do with it, she replied: "I am hoping to put it all together and make an album. That would be great for Kirsten when she gets older."

Carol added: "We are very proud of Cecil and want to mark the 80th anniversary of his death on Christmas Day by lighting a candle for him and all the others who were lost."

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