Bates, William Ernest (Oral history)

56934112
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Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
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© 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.

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Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
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© 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 with HMS Hasty, 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean, 2/1942-6/1942 including sinking west of Crete, Greece, 15/6/1942; served aboard HMS Express in Indian Ocean, 12/1942-2/1943; served aboard HMS Woodcock, 2nd and 7th Escort Groups in North Atlantic, 5/1943-9/1944 and with Task Force 112, British Pacific Fleet in Pacific, 3/1945-8/1945

Content description

REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy at HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1941: reaction to call-up to Royal Navy, 1941; opinion of training; climbing the mast. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Hasty, 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean, 2/1942-6/1942 including sinking west of Crete, Greece, 15/6/1942: living conditions on board; canteen messing; problems with cockroaches during later service aboard HMS Express; supply runs to Tobruk, Libya; his action station on Oerlikon Gun; psychological effects of aerial bombing; unloading supplies in Tobruk, Libya; Alexandria, Egypt-Malta convoys; torpedoing of ship off Crete, Greece, 15/6/1942; orders to sink bombed and damaged hospital ship HMHS Ramb IV off Alexandria, Egypt, 10/5/1942. REEL 2 Continues: rescue by HMS Hotspur, 16/6/1942; return to Alexandria, Egypt and voyage to South Africa. Aspects of operations as seaman aboard HMS Express in Indian Ocean, 12/1942-2/1943: joining ship, 12/1942; similarity between HMS Express and HMS Hasty; action station on Lewis Gun; escorting troopships. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Woodcock, 2nd and 7th Escort Group in North Atlantic, 5/1943-9/1944: standing by commissioning of ship, 5/1943; armament of ship; working up at Tobermory, GB, 6/1943; memories of Captain Frederic Walker; opinion of Captain Frederic Walker's escort work; sinking of Spanish trawlers; nature of bad Atlantic storm and period in Newfoundland; method of attacking German submarines; use of rattlers against acoustic mines in Bay of Biscay. REEL 3 Continues: reasons for missing Normandy Landings, 6/1944. Aspects of operations as seaman aboard HMS Woodcock, Task Force 112, British Pacific Fleet in Pacific, 3/1945-8/1945: supply duties; work picking up ditched American pilots off Japan; impressions of US Navy; duties in Tokyo Bay, Japan; attitude to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; liberation of Hong Kong, 8/1945.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Bates, William Ernest (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1989-08-20
Dimensions: whole: Duration 90, Number Of Items 3
Catalogue number: 10868

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Bates, William Ernest (Oral history)

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