Cutler, Maurice Albert (Oral history)

British engine room artificer served aboard HMS Havock, 2nd and 22nd Destroyer Flotillas in North Sea, Norway and Mediterranean, 1/1940-6/1942 including grounding off Kelibia, Tunisia, 6/4/1942; internee in Laghouat Internment Camp, French Algeria, 4/1942-11/1942; served aboard HMS Royal Sovereign, Home Fleet in United States of America and GB coastal waters, 3/1943-5/1944; served with HMS Whirlwind, British Pacific Fleet in Far East, 11/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Recollections of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Havock, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in North Sea and Norway, 1/1940-6/1940: joining ship, 1/1940; character of destroyer; duties as engine room artificer; move to Norway, 4/1940; start of First Battle of Narvik, 10/4/1942; damage to ship during action; conditions in boiler room during action; shelter given by fjords from German dive bombing; operating off The Hook of Holland, Netherlands, 5/1940. Recollections of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Havock, 2nd and 22nd Destroyer Flotillas in Mediterranean, 6/1940-4/1942: transfer to Mediterranean Fleet, 6/1940; Malta convoy and Tobruk run duties; damage during evacuation of Crete, Greece and Gulf of Sirte, 1941-1942; running aground off Kelibia, Tunisia, 6/4/1942. REEL 2 Continues: Aspect of period as internee in Laghouat Internment Camp, French Algeria, 4/1942-11/1942: internment by Vichy French; conditions in camp; tunnelling activities; conditions under which internees released after Operation Torch, the landings in North Africa, 11/1942; disposal of sand from tunnel; morale in camp. Aspects of period as engine room artificer aboard HMS Royal Sovereign, Home Fleet in United States of America and GB coastal waters, 3/1943-5/1944: joining ship in Philadelphia, United States of America, 3/1943; character of boiler rooms; handing over ship to Soviet Navy at Rosyth, GB, 5/1944. Aspects of period as engine room artificer aboard HMS Whirlwind, British Pacific Fleet in Far East, 11/1944-8/1945: arrival in Hong Kong, 8/1945; contact with Prince Philip in Hong Kong, 8/1945; refit in New Zealand, 6/1945; under kamikaze attack, 4/1945; story of return to Narvik, Norway, 1946.