The final resting place of a son of Thornaby has finally been discovered 73 years after he disappeared.

Submariner Wilf Foundling Stoker 1st Class was reported missing along with 70 other crew members in January 1943 on board HMS P311 in the Mediterranean Sea. Last month the sub was finally discovered off the coast of Sardinia.

I think Wilf came from the Derby Terrace area of Thornaby, he was the son of Arthur and Jane Foundling. He is remembered on the Thornaby Cenotaph & The Chatham Naval War Memorial. Wilf was 21 when he went missing. The P311 was to have been named HMS Tutankhamen but was lost before being named. She left Malta in December 1942 carrying 2 chariots for a dangerous mission against Italian cruisers. However she was believed mined and lost in January 1943. She has been identified off Sardinia still with her external cargo chariots attached.

Wilfs niece who he taught to play “alleys” still lives in Stockton. His nephew Dave Foundling went to Richard Hind with me.

Photographs and details courtesy of Norman Hill.