Description
Object description
British seaman served aboard HMS Cicala in China, 1939-1940; petty officer served aboard HMS Prince of Wales in North Atlantic and Far East, 1941 including sinking off Malaya, 10/12/1941; served on shore duties in Singapore, Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942; escaped aboard HMS Endeavour from Singapore, Malaya to Ceylon, 2/1942
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Portsmouth, GB, 1916-1932: family; education; background to enlistment in Royal Navy, 1932. Recollections of period as seaman aboard HMS Cicala on River Yangtse, China, 1939-1940: drafting to gunboat, 2/1939; characteristics of river gunboat; role of coxswain; payment of hard lying allowance; method of paying Chinese servant; design of gunboats; age and operation of armaments; contraband trading with sampans; Japanese officer's hint of future attack on British; his work in the magazines; minelaying off Hong Kong.
REEL 2 Continues: blowing up of junk in minefield. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard HMS Prince of Wales in North Atlantic, 1941: gunnery course to train as director layer prior to joining ship; assessment of RYPA machine; gun laying work; character of the direction finder; work of each member of training crew; entering the direction finder; coping with cold as director trainer; skill of judgement needed in director trainer's job; regulation of speed of gunfire to ship's roll; unreliability of early radar; orders to pursue the German battleship Bismarck, 5/1941; first sight of Bismarck in Denmark Strait, 24/5/1941.
REEL 3 Continues: Bismarck's opening fire on HMS Prince of Wales; disappearance of HMS Hood, 24/5/1941; sight of hits on Bismarck; effects of shell hitting water tank above direction finder; casualties on board; personal morale during action; removal of unexploded shell from ship's oil tank at HMNB Rosyth; disposal of shell. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard HMS Prince of Wales, Force Z in the Far East, 11/1941-12/1941 including sinking off Malaya, 10/12/1941: dispatch of naval force to Far East; reaction to painting of hammer and sickle on ship; arrival of Vice-Admiral Tom Phillips; role of Force Z; appearance of Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service aircraft and start of bombing; Japanese torpedo attack; HMS Repulse's shooting down of Japanese aircraft; contrast in training between HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse; torpedoing of HMS Prince of Wales in propellers and effect on electrical system.
REEL 4 Continues: listing of ship; reaction to order to abandon ship; release of floating material; abandoning ship; his reluctance to wear regulation lifebelt; his entry into the water; appeal from non swimming shipmate for help; rescue by HMS Electra; question of use of scrambling nets; reception of survivors in Singapore, Malaya; enquiry into sinking by officers. Aspects of period on shore duties in Singapore, Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942: mustering at HMS Sultan and sending of Royal Marines to join military units; use of stokers to man trains in Malaya; decision to remove civilians.
REEL 5 Continues: volunteering as embarkation officer; attitude to departure of civilians; decision to try and leave Singapore, Malaya; duties in dockyard. Aspects of escape aboard HMS Endeavour from Singapore, Malaya to Ceylon, 2/1942: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer's proposal to escape aboard ship; character of ship; collecting crew; securing of supplies for ship; preparations for sailing including mounting of gun.
REEL 6 Continues: change of objective from Australia to Ceylon; coaling at Sabang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies; refuge on Sumatran coast; clash with Japanese aircraft; arrival in Ceylon; question of leaving his duties during fall of Singapore, Malaya. Reflections of service with Royal Navy during Second World War, 1939-1942: method of obtaining jobs in Singapore; operation of illegal Crown and Anchor games on board troopships; lack of tendency to apportion blame for sinkings; Royal Navy attitude to need for orders.
REEL 7 Continues: lack of panic during sinking of HMS Prince of Wales, 12/1941; attitude of crews of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse towards each other; firing during sinking, 12/1941; attitude towards Japanese; relations between crew and officers aboard HMS Prince of Wales; condition of ship on joining it; presence of rats on board ship; presence of part of HMS Hood's turret on deck of HMS Prince of Wales after Bismarck action in Denmark Strait, Atlantic, 5/1941.