Description
Object description
British marine served with Royal Marines aboard HMS Nelson, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, 1/1939-8/1939; served aboard HMS Cairo in English Channel and Norway, 8/1939-6/1940; served aboard HMS Exeter in South Atlantic and Far East, 3/1941-3/1942 including sinking in Java Sea, 1/3/1942
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Marines in GB, 1937-1938: reasons for enlistment in Royal Marines, 3/1937; training at Royal Marine Depot, Deal. Aspects of period as marine aboard HMS Nelson, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, 1/1939-8/1939: drafting to battleship, 1/1939; service aboard battleships; seaman-marine relations; living conditions; lack of vermin; rations. Aspects of operations as marine aboard HMS Cairo in English Channel and Norway, 8/1939-6/1940: drafting to ship, 25/8/1939; seaworthiness of ship; clothing worn on board; declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; convoy escort duties and patrolling in English Channel; role of anti-aircraft cruisers; anti-aircraft duties off Norway, 4/1940-5/1940.
REEL 2 Continues: landing and embarking troops at Namsos, Norway; damage to ship and casualties off Narvik, 28/5/1940; under fire; operating anti-aircraft guns. Recollections of operations as marine aboard HMS Exeter in South Atlantic and Far East, 3/1941-3/1942 including sinking in Java Sea, 1/3/1942: joining ship in Plymouth, GB during German Air Force attacks, 3/1941; ship's armament; convoy to South Africa; reception in Durban, South Africa; duties searching for German commerce raiders in southern oceans; convoy escort duties in Far East; Japanese bombing attacks and tactics employed to avoid bombs; sight of capsized destroyer during First Battle of Java Sea, 27/2/1942; Dutch losses during First Battle of Java Sea, 27/2/1942; attempt of ship to escape to Ceylon; shelling by Japanese naval vessels during Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1/3/1942.
REEL 3 Continues: abandoning ship, 1/3/1942; period in sea and Japanese rescue effort; treatment on board ship; casualties during sinking. Sight of Nagasaki, Japan prior to and after atomic bombing, 1945.