Ellen Jupp

My mother (Ellen Marion Emily Jupp - maiden name) at the age of 21 was working at the Portsmouth telephone exchange in Commercial road opposite the train station. We were talking about her early life and she recounted a story that she remebered working on the telphone switchboard at the time the Affay went missing. She vividly remembers finding the time very stressful as for 7 to 14 days after the ship went missing because of the volume of calls that she had to deal with. She was not allowed to listen to the calls but the very volume of them left her very stressed. This backs up statements that the missing sub knocked the Suez crisis off the front page news. 
 
During that time a pregnant wife of one of the missing Royal Marine crew onboard the Affray (there were three RM's as you know) was brought into the telephone exchange by a Padre (Naval or RM ?) and was given employment there for some months to help keep her mind engaged. My mother believes that she had twin boys but unfortunately she cannot remember her name.
  
 
Steve Courtney

Dear Kevin,

I've just read on your website a story by Steve Courtney in which he talks about his mother, Ellen Jupp, who was working at a telephone exchange at the time of the disaster. He mentions the arrival of a pregnant woman, the wife of a RM, who worked for a while at the exchange. I believe this woman was my mother as she was indeed pregnant with twins at the time (but not two boys but a boy and a girl). In fact my sister and I were born in St. Mary's hospital in Portsmouth on September 26, 1951. She later returned with us to our home town of St. Neots, in Cambridgeshire.

My father was one of the Royal Marines aboard the Affrey. His name was A.H.G. Hooper (Alfred Herbert George) and my mother's name was Jean Mary Hooper (deceased).

Best Regards,

Richard James Hooper.

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