HOPE, anger, confusion. Relatives hardly know what to feel after human remains that could belong to the lost crew of the Gaul were found in Russia.
DNA tests are currently being carried out by the Russian authorities to identify what could be the remains of up to ten bodies. Families have been searching for answers for almost 40 years after the Gaul disappeared during a fierce storm in the Barents Sea in February 1974, 80 miles off Norway. The entire 36-man crew were lost.
RELATED ARTICLES Bodies of Hull trawler Gaul's missing crew 'found in Russia' 40 years after Cold War mystery sinking Gaul trawler mystery: 1999 DNA tests on four bodies found on Russian coast did not find match The trawler was eventually found in 1997 during a privately funded seabed survey. Only the remains of just three crewmen were discovered and were formally identified as factory charge-hand Stan Collier, 40, James Wales, 29, the Gaul's third engineer, and acting first mate Maurice Spurgeon, 38. Now, there are fresh hopes more missing men could be identified.
For Beryl Betts, the sense of purgatory is difficult to deal with. Her brother Billy Jones, 26, was a deckhand aboard the Gaul when it sank. "There will be mixed emotions for all the families," she said. "There will be relatives who will be over the moon by the news but I fear it could pose even more questions. "The wait now will be agonising. We have a hundred questions but we're not sure those answers will come." While pleased at the development, part of Beryl is very anxious about the outcome. "In a way, I wish they had only told us when they were absolutely sure," she said. "Now we have this uncertainty hanging over us right through Christmas. "It all settles down for a while and then something happens and it all comes flooding back. "This time feels more upsetting than before. I feel it is definitely them. There's a sense of trepidation."
While there have been false dawns in the past in the search for the missing men, Beryl is confident this time round. "I do feel 99 per cent sure these remains found belong to our crew members, but there is always that 1 per cent nagging at you," she said. "The way the police are acting suggests they are pretty confident and they have 18 family liaison officers on hand. "I don't think they would use those resources if they weren't pretty sure. They have been very good." Beryl, 74, of east Hull, hopes light will be shed on the troubling mystery. "We have been told there could be up to ten crew members," she said. "I just don't know how I will feel if one of them is my brother. It isn't something I have let myself think too much about. "There will never be closure until we find out the truth. "We have so many questions but I don't want to speculate at this stage. "We have been searching for answers for a long time and we are still not sure we will get them even now. "I feel we have been terribly let down up until now."
Humberside Police confirmed it was working with the Foreign Office to liaise with the Russian authorities over the discovery of the bodies buried under rocks by people living in the Rybachy peninsula in the Murmansk region in either 1974 or 1975, shortly after the Gaul disappeared. It is not clear why the discovery of the remains was not reported to the British authorities at the time although the loss of the Gaul happened at a time of extreme tension between the former Soviet Union and the West during the Cold War.
Another family member, who wished not to be named, also admits feeling mixed emotions. The man, who lost his dad, said: "Most people just don't believe it right now but we would like to think they are our relatives. "We are angry as this should have been done 40 years ago. "We have been let down so many times in the past and this has opened old wounds. "They are coming this week to take a swab for DNA tests. "But if it is my dad, it will at least provide some closure and we can finally pay our respects." The effects of that day still reverberate more almost 40 years on.
It was on January 22, 1974, Hull trawler the Gaul set sail for the Norwegian fishing grounds. Five days later she joined the fishing fleet in the Barents Sea and by Thursday, February 7, after ten days, the 66m trawler was ladened with 19 tonnes of boxed, frozen fish. Next day, she was spotted by another vessel in appalling weather conditions more than 70 miles north of Norway. And despite sending two private telegrams to Wick between 11.06am and 11.09am that day, the Gaul was never seen afloat again.
A formal investigation into the tragedy at the City Hall in autumn 1974 found "that Gaul capsized and foundered due to being overwhelmed by a succession of heavy seas". In April 1999, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) published its findings following a detailed search of the vessel using underwater video cameras.
It also concluded the Gaul had been lost due to "downflooding through open weathertight doors and hatches on her trawl deck after being 'knocked down' by several large breaking waves." But speculation has persisted among members of the fishing community that the Gaul had been involved in Cold War intelligence gathering. The eventual admission by the Ministry of Defence that some trawlers were used for Russian spying missions added fuel to the suspicions.
The Gaul was discovered by a television crew in 1997, using the same co-ordinates given to the Government more than 20 years earlier. The ship was claimed to have been found lying near top-secret sensor equipment for monitoring submarine movements. But the MAIB dismissed the claims. Yet in the intervening years, a number of questions surrounding her disappearance – including why no distress signal was sent – have refused to go away. A resumed public inquiry into the tragedy was given the go-ahead by Deputy PM and East Hull MP John Prescott following the presentation of the MAIB report and took place in 2004. The report ruled out the possibility the Gaul deliberately sunk by the Soviet Union or pulled down by a submarine. It also concluded the vessel was lost in a storm.
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