Mills, Charles Piercy (Oral history)

British officer commanded HMS Brazen, 19th Destroyer Flotilla in English Channel, 9/1939-12/1939; served as signals officer aboard HMS Hood in GB coastal waters and North Atlantic, 1940-1941; served as staff officer with planning team for Operation Torch at Norfolk House, London, GB, 8/1942-10/1942; served as staff officer with planning team for Operation Torch at Norfolk House, London and Southwick House in GB, 9/1943-6/1944; served as Flag Lieutenant to Rear Admiral Geoffrey Oliver, 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, East Indies Fleet in the Far East, 3/1945-12/1945; commanded HMS Concord off Korea, 1951-1952; served as staff officer with Mediterranean Fleet aboard HMS Tyne in Mediterranean during Operation Musketeer, the landings at Suez, Egypt, 10/1956-11/1956

REEL 1 Recollections of operations commanding HMS Brazen, 19th Destroyer Flotilla in English Channel, 9/1939-12/1939: role of ship, 9/1939; attitude of Royal Navy to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; duties in English Channel including picking up dead German Air Force personnel off Dover, 11/1939. Aspects of period as squadron wireless officer aboard HMS Hood, Scapa Flow, GB, 1940-1941: attending signals course at Portsmouth prior to joining ship, 1940; duties and role; prestigious nature of ship; question of knowledge of weakness in ship's armoured hull. Recollections of period as staff officer at Headquarters, Western Approaches Command, Liverpool, GB, 1941-1942: handling convoys in Western Approaches; experiences of Atlantic convoys; morale at headquarters; knowledge of progress of Battle of Atlantic. REEL 2 Continues: differing policies of Royal Navy commanders on Atlantic convoys; support group system; estimation of Captain Frederic Walker's anti-submarine work; opinion of commanding officer Admiral Percy Noble; lack of experience of German Air Force attacks on Liverpool. Aspects of period as staff officer with planning team for Operation Torch, Norfolk House, London, GB, 8/1942-10/1942: later experience of landing in North Africa with United States Navy, 10/1942; problems in planning stage of operation; period aboard armed yacht HMS Philante at Larne, Northern Ireland, 1943. Aspects of period as staff officer with planning team for Operation Neptune at Norfolk House, London and Southwick House in GB, 9/1943-6/1944: General Bernard Montgomery's insistence on five assault areas rather than three. REEL 3 Continues: take over of Navigation School at Southwick Park; working with American personnel including their paradoxical attitude towards security; memories of D-Day and its initial postponement; duties after D-Day including visit to beaches in Normandy, France. Recollections of period as Flag Lieutenant to Rear Admiral Geoffrey Oliver, 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, East Indies Fleet in the Far East, 3/1945-12/1945: plans for Operation Zipper; opinion of escort carriers; receiving news of VJ Day, 15/8/1945; role as flag lieutenant; opinion of commanding officer Admiral Geoffrey Oliver; lack of contact with Japanese; opinion of Lord Louis Mountbatten's work in Far East. REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of operations commanding HMS Concord during Korean War, 1951-1952: duties screening aircraft carriers and bombarding western coast of North Korea; bombarding trains off east coast of North Korea; shore battery hit on ship; coping with severe weather conditions. Recollections of period as staff officer with Mediterranean Fleet aboard HMS Tyne in Mediterranean during Operation Musketeer, the landings at Suez, Egypt, 10/1956-11/1956: role as chief of staff to Admiral Robin Durnford-Smith, commander of Mediterranean Fleet; memories of Egyptian nationalisation of Suez Canal; orders to plan for capture of Suez Canal; aspects of landings; view of landings from HMS Tyne; calling off of operation, 11/1956; reaction to calling off of operation and question of viability of operation.