Description
Object description
British seaman served aboard HMS Cottesmore, 21st Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, North Sea and North Atlantic, 12/1940-5/1941; midshipman and officer served aboard HMS Sheffield, 18th Cruiser Sqdn in Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Arctic, 9/1941-2/1943; officer served aboard submarine HMS Tantalus, 3rd Submarine Flotilla in GB coastals waters and Arctic, 7/1943-1/1944 served aboard submarine HMS Tantalus, 4th Submarine Flotilla in Indian Ocean, 3/1944-4/1945; served aboard submarine HMS Varne in GB coastal waters, 1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Cottesmore, 21st Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, North Sea and Atlantic, 12/1940-5/1941: characteristics of destroyer; use of hammocks; messing arrangements; action stations on QF 4 Inch Naval Gun; convoy escorts duties in North West Approaches in North Atlantic, 2/1941; character of east coast convoys in North Sea; hunting German E-boats off east coast; role of ship as anti-aircraft ship in River Thames; relations between officers and ratings; commissioning and warranting system; question of commissioning of men from lower deck; opinion of officer training at HMS King Alfred III at Lancing, GB, 1941; attitude towards Germans.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as midshipman and officer aboard HMS Sheffield, 18th Cruiser Sqdn in Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Arctic, 9/1941-2/1943: joining ship as midshipman; his duties as midshipman; living conditions in gun room; discipline on board; participation in Convoy WS 11 to Malta in Mediterranean, 9/1941-10/1941; role directing fighters during Convoy WS 11; pursuing Italian Fleet; reception in Malta, 10/1941; use of Supermarine Walrus aircraft during convoy; patrolling in Atlantic, 10/1941; escorting Convoy PQ 5 to Soviet Union, 11/1941-12/1941; ashore in Soviet Union.
REEL 3 Continues: nature of brash ice; mining of ship off Iceland, 4/3/1942; steering ship after mining; method of repairing hole in ship's side; return to GB, 3/1942; reoccupation of Spitzbergen Island, Norway, 9/1942; change in actions stations on promotion to sub-lieutenant; meeting with Admiral Bruce Fraser; embarkation of American troops at Belfast, Northern Ireland for Operation Torch landings in North Africa, 26/10/1942; impressions of Operation Torch convoy; oiling at sea; procedure for piping an admiral aboard ship; disembarking of American and British troops to HMS Broke for landings at Algiers, French Algeria, 7/11/1942; move to Bougie, French Algeria, 10/11/1942; role supporting aircraft carriers.
REEL 4 Continues: sight of aircraft taking off and landing on aircraft carriers during Operation Torch, 11/1942; work on bridge with Captain Arthur Clarke; return to GB; shadowing Convoy JW 51A in Arctic, 12/1942; watch keeping incident in Kola Inlet, Soviet Union, 12/1942; entertaining Soviet Navy personnel on board; tradition of 'boys rounds'; presence of boy seamen on board ship; presence of Ordinary Seaman Romanov on board; dusk action stations procedure; engagement with German heavy cruisers Admiral Hipper and Lützow during Battle of Barents Sea, 31/12/1943 including destruction of German destroyer Friedrich Eckholdt.
REEL 5 Continues: change in ship's captain to Captain Charles Addis; hoving to in storm off Iceland and subsequent damage to ship, 18/2/1943; encounter with War Correspondent Godfrey Winn. Recollections of operations as officer aboard submarine HMS Tantalus, 3rd Submarine Flotilla in GB coastal waters and Arctic, 7/1943-1/1944: training for submarine service prior to joining ship; circumstances of his joining submarine; submarine's officers; patrols off Bear Island, Norway, 8/1943; move to Seydisfjordur, Iceland with threat of German raid; conversion of submarine for service in Far East at Portsmouth, GB, 10/1943-12/1943; sight of ashes of Admiral Dudley Pound being carried on board HMS Liverpool at Portsmouth, GB, 10/1943; submarine training at Larne, Northern Ireland, 1/1944; patrolling of Portuguese coast, 2/1944; prior recollection of Italian charioteer attack on Gibraltar whilst serving aboard HMS Sheffield, 8/12/1942.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of operations as officer aboard submarine HMS Tantalus, 4th Submarine Flotilla in Far East, 3/1944-4/1945: voyage across Mediterranean on route to Far East, 17/2/1944-26/2/1944; character of personnel on board submarine; arrival in Ceylon, 25/3/1944; patrolling Straits of Malacca, 4/1944; narrow escape from Japanese torpedo, 17/4/1944; sights seen through periscope; pursuit of Japanese supply ship SS Amagi Maru and subsequent its sinking, 1/5/1944-2/5/1944; transporting Special Operations Executive agents to Malaya; drawbacks of carrying out espionage work; conditions on board; submarine newspaper; arrival of replacement personnel; character of steward; rations; card playing; dedication of captain Lieutenant Commander Hugh 'Rufus' Mackenzie; use of 'heads' on board.
REEL 7 Continues: picking up Special Operations Executive agents; problems with skin disease; reasons for missing submarine's fourth war patrol, 6/7/1944-2/8/1944; move to Fremantle, Australia, 9/1944; description of 'uphomer' system in Fremantle, Australia; character of Operation Rimeau a plan to use submersible Folboat canoes against Japanese shipping in Singapore, Malaya; role of submarine picking up raiders; character of voyage from Fremantle, Australia to Singapore, Malaya, 1/1945; plan to rescue ditched American airmen during raid on Singapore, Malaya, 31/1/1945; depth charging off east coast of Malaya, 11/1944; presence of Japanese prisoner of war on board after sinking of vessel; method of conducting surface actions; abortive plan to go ashore on Merpas Island, 21/11/1944.
REEL 8 Continues: despatch of Folboat party to try and establishment with Operation Rimeau raiders; re-embarkation of Folboat party from Merpas Island and story of what had happened to Operation Rimeau raiders; failure of magnetic pistol in torpedoes during attack in Karimata Strait, 11/1944; participation in record submarine patrol, 1/1945-2/1945; failure to intercept Imperial Japanese Navy warships, 11/2/1945; problems dealing with crews of intercepted Japanese vessels; informality of evening rounds; rescue of Japanese ship's log from sea; demand for civilised treatment of Japanese prisoners of war on board during return to Australia; coding system used; return to Ceylon, 7/4/1945.
REEL 9 Continues: voyage from Ceylon to GB via Aden, Aden Protectorate, 17/4/1945-27/5/1945; VE Day service submerged in Mediterranean, 8/5/1945; arrival in GB, 27/5/1945. Aspects of period as officer aboard submarine HMS Varne in GB coastal waters, 1945: appointment to submarine; abortive plans to go back to Far East; his injury during Royal Air Force practise bombing attack in English Channel; leaving Submarine Service; question of what he learnt from film 'Das Boot' (1981).
