Bone, John Rayner (Oral history)

British seaman served aboard MGB 60, 6th Motor Gunboat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in English Channel, 1/1942-9/1942; officer served with MGB 42 and MGB 43, 3rd Motor Gunboat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in GB coastal waters and English Channel, 4/1943-4/1944; served with MTB 621, Coastal Forces in English Channel, 5/1944-12/1944; served aboard MTB 777, Coastal Forces in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 12/1944-5/1945; commanded HDML 1333 and ML 189, Coastal Forces in Far East, 1945-1946

REEL 1 Background in Chislehurst, GB, 1921-1941: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; employment; wish to volunteer for Royal Navy, 1939; membership of 54th (Chislehurst) Bn Kent Home Guard in GB, 1940-1941; knowledge of armaments; guarding local rail junction; character of Home Guard; German bombing and V weapon attacks in area; public morale; disruption to transport of bombing; effect of V weapon attacks; civilian attitudes under bombing and towards Germans; inspiration of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's speeches. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy, 1941: call-up to HMS Raleigh, Torpoint, Plymouth, 8/1941; non-selection as officer cadet; pattern of training after volunteering for Coastal Forces. Aspects of operations as seaman aboard MGB 60, 6th Motor Gunboat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in North Sea, 1/1942-9/1942: drafting to MGB 60, 1/1942; memories of Lieutenant Commander Robert Hitchens; technique of depth charging German escort trawlers; character of night actions. REEL 2 Continues: disruption of E-boat operations off Netherlands; formations used during attacks; lack of casualties on his boat; armament on motor gun boats; recommendation for commissioning, 9/1942. Aspects of officer training with Royal Navy in GB, 10/1942-3/1943: results of his training; bombing of Royal Naval College, Greenwich; famous notice at HMS Vernon; use of simulator for torpedo attacks. Recollections of operations as officer aboard MGB 42 and MGB 43, 3rd Motor Gun Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in English Channel and North Sea, 4/1943-4/1944: initial posting to HMS Wasp, Dover, 4/1943; mixture of nationalities at HMS Wasp; initial duties with Motor Anti-Submarine Boats at Ramsgate; duties on MGB 117 at Ramsgate; transfer to MGB 42; MGB 42's armament and hydrophones; amusing story of incident with hydrophone off Ostend, Belgium; attitude of Polish crews towards Germans; relations with Dutch personnel serving with Coastal Forces; amusing incident in rough weather. REEL 3 Continues: problems of engines coping with rough weather; objectives of Operation Dusty against German convoys in Boulogne-Calais area, 4/1944. Aspects of operations as officer aboard MTB 620, Coastal Forces in English Channel, 5/1944-12/1944: appointment to boat, 5/1944; characteristics of Fairmile D motor torpedo boats; allocation to Channel Islands/Brittany sector; contact with French Resistance at L'Abervrac'h in France, summer 1944. Aspects of operations as officer aboard MTB 777, Coastal Forces in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 12/1944-5/1945: standing by during construction of MTB 777, 12/1944; operations from Great Yarmouth; incident of being caught being moored to navigation buoy off Belgium; accident at Ostend, Belgium when a number of Coastal Forces vessels were destroyed, 14/2/1945. REEL 4 Continues: question of cause of accident; leaving MTB 777 after VE Day, 5/1945. Recollections of period as commanding officer of HDML 1333 and ML 189, Coastal Forces in Far East, 1945-1946: voyage to Far East, 9/1945; role taking command of HDML 1333; signs of aftermath of war in Malaya; casualness of former South African commanding officer of HDML 1333; reasons for transfer to ML 189; taking surrender of Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer in Singapore, Malaya; mission to discover why lighthouse not operating in Karimata Islands, Dutch Borneo, Dutch East Indies; use of Japanese prisoners of war at Johore, Malaya; appointment to administration job at Medway Barracks at Colombo, Ceylon, early 1946; return to GB, 1946; lack of effects of war service. Reflections on service with Coastal Forces: formation of Royal Naval Volunteer Supplemental Reserve Club at Greenwich. REEL 5 Continues: story of picking up German Air Force pilot off Ramsgate; 3rd Motor Gunboat Flotilla's role in landing agents on French coast.