Leach, Kenneth Walter (Oral history)

British officer served as engineer aboard HMS Pozarica in GB coastal waters, Arctic and Mediterranean, 1940-1943 including torpedoing off Bougie, Algeria, 29/1/1943; served aboard HMS Port Quebec in North Atlantic, 5/1943-11/1943; served aboard HMS Prince Baudouin in English Channel during Normandy Landings and in Mediterranean, 4/1944-12/1944; served aboard HMS Devon City in Far East, 2/1945-2/1946

REEL 1 Recollections of operations as engineering officer aboard HMS Pozarica in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1940-1942: conversion of ship into anti-aircraft ship, early 1940; transferring from Merchant Navy to Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve; question of Royal Navy's inexperience with diesel powered vessels; radar equipment on board; contrasting working patterns between Merchant Navy and Royal Navy; technical problems experienced with slow convoy speeds; duties in GB coastal waters; experiencing air attacks in engine room; problems in engine room; disadvantages and advantages of being in engine room. Recollections of operations as engineering officer aboard HMS Pozarica during Convoy PQ 17 in Arctic, 6/1942-7/1942: preparations for convoy; reaction to order to scatter; question of hearing German battleship Tirpitz being torpedoed by Soviet submarine. REEL 2 Continues: orders to proceed at full speed; assembling of remains of convoy at Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Soviet Union; under German Air Force attack on route to Archangel, Soviet Union; relations with Soviets at Archangel, Soviet Union; Soviet disbelief about fate of convoy; presence of Godfrey Winn on board during convoy. Aspects of operations as engineer officer aboard HMS Pozarica in Mediterranean, 1942-1943: mishap to HMS Bulawayo in Algiers Harbour, French Algeria; torpedoing of ship off Bougie, French Algeria, 29/1/1943. Aspects of operations as engineering officer aboard HMS Port Quebec in North Atlantic, 1/5/1943-2/11/1943: drafting to ship; mines breaking loose during minelaying duties off Greenland; characteristics of the ship. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of operations as engineering officer aboard HMS Prince Baudouin during Normandy landings and Mediterranean, 4/4/1944-12/12/1944: characteristics of ship; landing United States Rangers on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; participation Operation Anvil, the landings in Southern France, 8/1944. Aspects of operations as engineering officer aboard HMS Devon City in Far East, 23/2/1945-17/2/1946: character of depot ship; role in Far East, surrender of Japanese forces at Port Swettenham, Malaya, 8/1945; treatment of Japanese prisoners of war; preference for sea service during wartime.