Description
Object description
British seaman served aboard HMS Hunter in Mediterranean, West Indies, North Atlantic and GB coastal waters, 1938-1940; served aboard HMS Hunter, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in Norway, 4/1940 including sinking in Ofotfjord, 10/4/1940; prisoner of war in Norway, 4/1940; internee in Sweden, 4/1940-12/1940; escaped from Sweden to GB via Soviet Union, Turkey and South Africa, 12/1940-4/1941
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Falmouth, GB, 1919-1938: family; education. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Hunter in Mediterranean, 1938-1939: drafting to destroyer, 1938; atmosphere on board ship; protest by crew against extended service in Mediterranean, 3/1939; return from Mediterranean, 8/1939. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Hunter in West Indies, North Atlantic and GB, coastal waters, 9/1939-1/1940: searching for Admiral Graf Spee in Caribbean Sea, 12/1939; convoy escort duties in North Atlantic, 12/1939-1/1940; leave in Falmouth, GB, 2/1940-3/1940; practising for boarding ships in Sullom Voe, Shetland Islands, GB, 3/1940; admiration for Commander Rafe Courage.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Hunter, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in Norway, 4/1940 including sinking in Ofotfjord, 10/4/1940: escorting mine-laying destroyers off Norwegian coast; exchange of fire with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, 9/4/1940; entry into Vestfjord to gather intelligence of German presence at Narvik; character of First Battle of Narvik, 10/4/1940; abandoning ship in Ofotfjord, 10/4/1940. Aspects of period in sea after sinking of HMS Hunter in Ofotfjord, Norway, 10/4/1940: sight of ship sinking; swimming to Carley Float; rescue by German destroyer.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Norway, 4/1940: disembarkation at Narvik; treatment by German captors; survivors from HMS Hunter; sight of actions during Second Battle of Narvik, 13/4/1940; obtaining clothes; help from Norwegian civilian; sight of Fleet Air Arm Fairey Swordfish attacks; orders to march into Sweden, 23/4/1940; presence of Giles Romilly amongst survivors; attitude of Merchant Navy captain towards providing survivors with clothes; nature of trek into Sweden; arrival in Bjørnfell on border; obtaining food at Bjørnfell.
REEL 4 Continues: German requirement that prisoners of war sign declaration not to participate in war. Aspects of period as internee in Sweden, 4/1940-12/1940: aid from Swedish civilian women's organisation; conditions of internment; obtaining clothes and food; Eve of the May Revels celebrations, 30/4/1940; relations between guards and internees; attitude of Swedish civilians in village towards internees; duties in Stockholm; volunteering of some seamen to man ships from Sweden to GB. Recollections of escape from Sweden to GB via Soviet Union, Turkey and South Africa, 12/1940-4/1941: flight to Soviet Union, 12/1940; train journey from Moscow to Odessa, Soviet Union 12/1940; joining ship at Odessa, Soviet Union for Istanbul, Turkey; problems with striking lascars; attempt in Istanbul, Turkey to get German Gestapo expelled.
REEL 5 Continues: encounter with pro-British Turkish civilian in Smyna, Turkey; character of Turkish ports; voyage via Port Said and Suez Canal, Egypt; hospitality from civilians in Durban, South Africa; arrival in Plymouth, GB, 24/4/1941. Reflections on service aboard HMS Hunter: question of whether HMS Hunter survivors honoured agreement not to fight Germans again; his action station in director tower.