Fitzgerald, Gerald Beresford (Oral history)

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Sound: © IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
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Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
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Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
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Sound: © IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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Description

Object description

British seaman served aboard HMS Stork in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 9/1939-7/1941; served aboard HMS Stork, 36th Escort Group in North Atlantic and Mediterranean, 8/1941-1/1943; volunteered for chemical warfare tests at Chemical Warfare Experimental Station, Porton Down in GB, 1943; served aboard HMS Black Prince, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in Arctic and English Channel, 11/1943-7/1944; served aboard HMS Black Prince, 15th Cruiser Sqdn in Mediterranean, 7/1944-10/1944; served aboard HMS Black Prince, 4th Cruiser Sqdn, British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 11/1944-8/1945

Content description

REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1936-1938: enlistment in Royal Navy, 1936; basic training at Plymouth; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 9/1939; Munich Crisis, 9/1938. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Stork in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 9/1939-7/1941: joining ship, 9/1939; composition of crew; character of ship; living and working on board; working up period; east coast escort duties; degree of German success against east coast convoys; role as trainer and gun layer; aerial torpedoing of ship off Methil, 8/9/1940; nature of east coast convoys. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Stork, 36th Escort Group in Atlantic and Mediterranean, 8/1941-1/1943: opinion of Captain Frederic Walker; nature of Liverpool to Gibraltar convoys, 1940-1941; number of submarine kills; ramming of submarine U-574 off Portugal, 19/12/1941; accidental ramming of ship by HMS Deptford, 22/12/1941. REEL 2 Continues: loss of escort carrier HMS Audicity duing Convoy HG 76; successful depth charging of submarine U-252 off Cape Finisterre; attitude towards German submarine crews; belief that Merchant Navy had worse duties than Royal Navy; success of HMS Stork as an escort; training for boarding submarines; recovery of Catapult Aircraft Merchant ship (CAM) pilots; torpedoing of ship by submarine U-77 during Operation Torch, 12/11/1942; character of return voyage to Falmouth, GB, 1/1943; story of volunteering from chemical warfare tests after leaving ship, at Chemical Warfare Experimental Station, Porton Down, 1943. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Black Prince, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in Arctic and English Channel, 11/1943-7/1944: drafting to cruiser in Belfast, North Ireland, 1943; duties in English Channel; convoy escort duties in Arctic, 1944; ashore at Kola Inlet, Soviet Union, 2/1944-3/1944; lack of aid from Soviet Navy; night-time destruction of German torpdedo boat T29 off Sept-Iles in English Channel, 26/4/1944; ship's duties off Omaha Beach during Normandy Landings, 6/1944. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of operations aboard HMS Black Prince, 15th Cruiser Sqdn, in Mediterranean, 7/1944-10/1944: refitting and sailing for Mediterranean for invasion of Southern France, 7/1944; hunting for German manned caiques in Aegean Sea, 9/1944-10/1944; attitude of Royal Navy personnel towards Germans over Battle of Crete, 5/1941. Aspects of operations as seaman aboard HMS Black Prince, 4th Cruiser Sqdn, British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 11/1944-8/1945: duties in Indian Ocean, 1944; reception in Sydney, Australia, 2/1945; provisioning by Fleet Train of British Pacific Fleet; Japanese Kamikaze attacks on ship, 5/1945.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Fitzgerald, Gerald Beresford (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1989-08-12
Dimensions: whole: Duration 90, Number Of Items 3
Catalogue number: 10804

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Fitzgerald, Gerald Beresford (Oral history)

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