One of the men to die in one of Filey’s two wartime fishing tragedies William was a mate aboard the fishing vessel the Pride, which was stationed in Grimsby throughout the first year of the war.  This vessel’s fate is well documented, as there were several witnesses at the time of its sinking.  Although the Pride was registered to fish from Grimsby, she and her crew used to make frequent trips to the port of Lowestoft which during the Second World War was the centre of fishing fleet and Naval Patrol Service operations.  On one particular such trip she was just offshore when she hit a mine which resulted in a loss of all hands aboard the Pride, as well as the overall loss of the boat.

          William was one of three Filey men serving aboard the beleaguered vessel, along with William Johnson Colling, and John Robinson, whose details will be included later on in this book.  He was the son of John and Mary Colling and although listed on the Filey memorial (his place of birth), his actual place of residence was in Scarborough where he lived with his wife and family.