Begg, Andrew (Oral history)

British engine room artificer served aboard HMS Icarus, 20th Destoyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, Norway and in English Channel during Dunkirk Evacuation, 12/1939-9/1941; served aboard HMS Icarus, 3rd and 6th Destroyer Flotillas in Arctic and Mediterranean, 9/1941-3/1943; served aboard HMS Icarus, 4th Support Group and Canadian 2nd Escort Group in North Atlantic, 3/1943-4/1944; served aboard HMS King George V, British Pacific Fleet in Far East and Pacific, 12/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as seaman with Royal Naval Special Reserve in GB, 6/1939-9/1939: background to joining; calibre of recruits and training; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Recollections of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Icarus, 20th Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters and Norway, 12/1939-5/1940: character of ship; consequences of accident to engine; duties in engine room; minelaying off Norway, 4/1940; clash with German cruisers off Norway; capture of German supply ship Alster as prize at Vestfjorden, Norway, 10/4/1940; aiding stricken HMS Effingham, 5/1940; demeanour of German prisoners of war in Norway; sweeping channel in fjord for British naval force heading to Narvik, 13/4/1940; degree of information received in engine room; minelaying equipment; his action station. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Icarus, 20th Destroyer Flotilla in English Channel during Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940: orders to move to Dunkirk, France, 28/5/1940; slow loading of troops on first trip, 29/5/1940; work of Royal National Lifeboat Institution boats during evacuation; handling troops on board; approaches to Dunkirk, France and shooting at German tanks; evacuation from East Mole at Dunkirk, France; collision with tug, 2/6/1940. Aspects of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Icarus, 20th Destroyer Flotilla in North Sea, 7/1940-9/1941: probing attacks by E-boats on Goodwin Sands area, summer 1940; invasion scare, 1940; evacuation of Spitzbergen Island, Norway, 18/8/1940; fate of ship's mascot 'Bukta'; minelaying in North Sea; loss of HMS Esk off Texel Island, Netherlands, 31/8/1940; reconversion to destroyer status, 10/1940. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Icarus, 3rd and 6th Destroyer Flotillas in Arctic and Mediterranean, 9/1941-3/1943: screening of convoy during Operation Pedestal to Malta, 8/1942; conditions during Arctic convoys, 1942; attitude of Soviets towards Royal Navy personnel in Polyarnoe, Soviet Union. Aspects of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Icarus, 4th Support Group and Canadian 2nd Escort Group in North Atlantic, 3/1943-4/1944: picking up German submarine transmissions at sea; sinking of German submarines in North Atlantic; collision with corvette HMCS Drumheller in fog off St John's, Newfoundland, 21/9/1943; Christmas celebrations in St John's, Newfoundland during repairs, 12/1943. Recollections of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS King George V, British Pacific Fleet in Far East and Pacific, 12/1944-8/1945: reasons for his drafting to battleship. REEL 4 Continues: discipline aboard bigger vessels; character of workshop and equipment; supporting American landings on Okinawa Island, Japan; cessation of hostilities after dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; sight of devestation in Yokohama, Japan; hospitality of American forces in Leyte Island, Philippines; hospitality of civilians at Parramatta, Australia, 1945.