Dearson, Kenneth John (Oral history)

British petty officer served with Wireless Branch and Y Service, Royal Navy in GB coastal waters, Mediterranean and China, 1932-1939; served aboard HMS Danae, 9th Cruiser Sqdn in Far East, 1939-1942; served aboard HMS Prins Albert, Combined Operations in GB coastal waters, English Channel, Mediterranean and Far East, 1942-1945

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1918-1931: family; education. Recollections of period as petty officer telegraphist with Wireless Branch and Y Service, Royal Navy in GB coastal waters, Mediterranean and China, 1931-1939: reasons for enlistment in Royal Navy, 1932; training at HMS St Vincent, Gosport, GB; drafting to HMS Nelson; story of meeting with Lord Louis Mountbatten aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth at Gibraltar to construct wireless system; impressions of Lord Louis Mountbatten; attending royal event in Oslo, Norway, 1937; secondment to British diplomatic wireless service in eastern China, 1938; recruitment to Y Service; character of Y Service; work he did aboard HMS Nelson in Mediterranean and GB coastal waters, 1936-1937. Recollections of operations as petty officer telegraphist with Y Service aboard HMS Danae, 9th Cruiser Sqdn in Far East, 1939-1942: briefing on characters used by Imperial Japanese Navy, 1940-1941; prior recollection of problems he had in Y Service operations, late 1930s. REEL 2 Continues: opinion of quality of German wire operators; use of 'bug key'; character of Italian and Japanese operators; role monitoring German shipping in South East Asian ports; convoy escort duties prior to fall of Singapore, Malaya, 15/2/1942; escape from Singapore to Ceylon, 16/2/1942 including picking up army survivors. Recollections of operations as petty officer telegraphist with Y Service aboard HMS Prins Albert, Combined Operations in GB coastal waters, English Channel, Mediterranean and Far East, 1942-1945: request by Lord Louis Mountbatten for him to aid in planning of Operation Jubilee, 5/1942; role using wire recorder to record German Freya Radar transmissions; role during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942; debriefing by Lord Louis Mountbatten after operation; nature of wire recorder; intelligence gleaned about German Freya Radar. REEL 3 Continues: outcome of radar operation during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942; opinion of work of Flight Sergeant Jack Nissen during Operation Jubilee, 19/8/1942; work testing receivers after 8/1942; preparations of communication system for landings in Southern France, 7/1944-8/1944; testing wireless equipment at Bizerte, Tunisia, 6/1943; co-operation with United States Navy in Mediterranean, 1943; problems with weight of wireless equipment used during landings at Salerno, Italy, 9/1943; role in wireless deception campaign to give impression that Allied landings would come in Pas-de-Calais, France, 1944; deception work in Scotland for Operation Torch, the landings in North Africa, 11/1942; voyage to Arakan, Burma, 1945; sight of released Allied prisoners of war from camps in Rangoon, Burma and Dutch internees from Tjilatjap, Java, Dutch East Indies, 1945; attending Japanese surrender at Singapore, Malaya, 12/9/1945.