Dillingham, Ernest Edward (Oral history)

British boy seaman trained at HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1925-1926; served aboard HMS Iron Duke in GB coastal waters, 1926-1927; seaman served aboard HMS Coventry in Mediterranean, 1927-1928; served aboard HMS Active in Mediterranean and GB coastal waters, 1930-1931; served aboard HMS Wishart on China Station, 1931-1933; served aboard HMS Esk in Mediterranean, 1935-1936; served aboard HMS London in Mediterranean during Spanish Civil War, 3/1938-10/1938; petty officer served aboard HMS Kingston, 5th Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic and North Sea, 9/1939-5/1940; served aboard HMS Kingston, 14th Destroyer Flotilla in Red Sea and Mediterranean, 5/1940-4/1942; served on shore duties on Malta, 4/1942-7/1942; served aboard HMS Brissenden in North Atlantic, English Channel and off Normandy, 1/1943-1/1945; served aboard HMS Brissenden, 21st Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters and on Palstine Patrol in Mediterranean, 1945

REEL 1 Background in India and GB, 1909-1925: family; education; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training as boy seaman at HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1925-1926: enlistment in Royal Navy, 7/1925; how he became an instructor boy; pay; strictness of training. Aspects of period as boy seaman aboard HMS Iron Duke in GB coastal waters, 1926-1927: summer and winter cruises; striking topmast to get under Forth Bridge; coaling ship. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Coventry in Mediterranean, 1927-1928: drafting to ship in Malta, 1/1927; attending regettas; differences in pay for seamen and lack of discontent; opinion of Invergordon Mutiny, 9/1931 and his application for free discharge; comradeship in Royal Navy; popularity of Mediterranean Station; benevolent fund on board. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Active in Mediterranean and GB coastal waters, 1930-1931: drafting to ship, 4/1930; handling of destroyer at speed during trials; contrast between life on board destroyer and on bigger ships; repairs to ship in Portsmouth. Recollections of period as seaman aboard HMS Wishart on China Station, 1931-1933: transferring to ship, 11/1931; voyage to China, 1931; alterations to steering gear in Bombay, India; piracy problem in Chinese waters, 1932; arrival in Hong Kong; sight of Japanese-Chinese hostilities in Shanghai, China; ashore in Shanghai, China, 1932; duties on River Yangtse, China; nature of Chinese piracy; anti-piracy patrols; ashore at Wei Hai Wei, China; attachment of Chinese boy to each mess. REEL 3 Continues: relations with Chinese workers. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Esk in Mediterranean, 1935-1936: monitoring Italian convoys during Abyssinian Crisis, 1935. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS London in Mediterranean during Spanish Civil War, 3/1938-10/1938: voyage aboard troopship HMT Neuralia from GB to Malta; duties during Spanish Civil War; state of refugees; his taking letter from refugee in Barcelona to his brother in Palma, Spain; impressions of Spanish Civil War. Aspects of operations as petty officer aboard HMS Kingston, 5th Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic and North Sea, 9/1939-5/1940: patrol work in northern waters; problems of moving around destroyer in rough weather. REEL 4 Continues: depth charging in co-operation with HMS Kashmir to sink submarine U-35 in North Sea, 29/11/1939; rescue of survivors from submarine U-35, 29/11/1939; his action station; alert at the time of the loss of the HMS Rawalpindi, 23/11/1939; discovery of remains of tanker MV Imperial Transport off Greenland, 14/2/1940; need to attend to destroyer's boilers every three weeks. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard HMS Kingston, 14th Destroyer Flotilla in Red Sea and Mediterranean, 5/1940-4/1942: move to Red Sea, 25/5/1940; receiving news of fate of family in Guernsey, Channel Islands; convoy escort duties in Red Sea; encounter with Italian submarine Torricelli off Perim Island, Red Sea, 23/6/1940; danger of circling torpedo in Red Sea; capture of Italian submarine by trawler in Red Sea. REEL 5 Continues: taking French women and children to Djibouti, French Somaliland, 1940; internment of German ships in port of Assab, Italian Eritrea; torpedo accident aboard HMS Khartoum leading to sinking at Perim Island, Red Sea, 23/6/1940; move to Mediterranean; supply runs to Tobruk, Libya, 1941; participation in Greek and Crete evacuations, 4/1941-5/1941; effect on morale of hits on ships off Crete, Greece, 5/1941; under German Air Force attack off Crete, Greece, 5/1941; rescue of survivors from HMS Fiji, HMS Juno and HMS Greyhound off Crete, Greece, 5/1941; refuelling from HMS Warspite; state of fleet after evacaution of Crete, Greece, 5/1941; escorting convoy to Malta, 6/1941. REEL 6 Continues: encounter with Italian Fleet, 17/12/1941; shell hit on HMS Kingston during torpedo attack on Italian Fleet during Battle of Sirte, 17/12/1941; failure of Italians to attack damaged ship; burial of crew members at sea; success of ship in reaching Malta; fate of British warships in Mediterranean, 1941-1942; mining of Haifa Harbour, Palestine by Vichy French, 6/1941; encounter with Vichy French ships, 23/6/1941; sight of Vichy French troops being evacuated from Beirut, Lebanon, 6/1941; prior recollection of disarming of French ships in Alexandria, Egypt, 3/7/1940; prior recollection of encounter with Italian destroyers Panthera and Tigre in Red Sea, 2/3/1941. REEL 7 Continues: damage to ship in action against Italian Fleet, 22/3/1942; Axis air attacks on ship in Valletta, Malta, 3/1942-4/1942 resulting in sinking in No 4 Dock, 11/4/1942. Aspects of period on shore duties as petty officer with Royal Navy on Malta, 4/1942-7/1942: duties with garrison artillery troops at fort; work clearing harbour of water logged barges; supply of Malta by submarine; air raid siren system in Malta; unloading HMS Breconshire. REEL 8 Continues: story of receiving supply of cigarettes from submarine HMS Porpoise; flight from Malta to Gibraltar in Vickers Wellington, 7/1942; return voyage aboard HMS Llanstephan Castle from Gibraltar to GB. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard HMS Brissenden, 15th Destroyer Flotilla in North Atlantic, English Channel and off Normandy, France, 1/1943-12/1944: drafting to destroyer, 1/1943; duties in North Atlantic, 5/1943; attitude to prolonged periods on service on board destroyer; story of effects of alcohol on petty officer who went berserk with bayonet, Loch Ewe, GB, 1943; duties in North Atlantic; attempt of ship's doctor to commit suicide. REEL 9 Continues: start of duties in English Channel, 1/1944; abortive attempt to deliver oil to French Resistance, 1944; sinking of armed German trawler in English Channel; story of sinking of cruiser HMS Charybdis and destroyer HMS Limbourne during Battle of Sept Iles in English Channel, 23/10/1943 and burial of dead on Guernsey, Channel Islands; participation in D-Day landings, Normandy, France, 6/6/1944; protection of Allied ships from German E-boat attack off Normandy; rescue of US aircrew in English Channel; refitting after Normandy landings; Aspects of operations as petty officer aboard HMS Brissenden, 21st Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1945: leave in Guernsey, 5/1945; starved condition of people in Guernsey, 5/1945; attitude of civilians towards Germans on Guernsey; volunteering to stay on ship for service to Far East, 8/1945; duties preventing Jewish migration on Palestine Patrol in eastern Mediterranean, 1945. REEL 10 Continues: his treatment of rescued Jewish migrant who fell overboard from migrant ship; lack of hostility from Jewish civilians towards Royal Navy personnel.