Seal, Jack (Oral history)

British seaman served aboard HMS Ambuscade, 16th Destroyer Flotilla in English Channel North Sea and North Atlantic, 5/1940-9/1940; served aboard HMS Pozarica in GB coastal waters, Arctic and Mediterranean, 3/1941-2/1943

REEL 1 Background in Islington, London, GB, 1921-1939: family; employment; attempt to join Royal Artillery, 1938; training with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve aboard HMS President. Aspects of training as seaman at HMS St Vincent, Gosport, GB, 1939-1940: start of training; his petition against 9pm return to barracks for seamen, 1939; reasons for not passing signals course; Royal Navy system for having trained barbers; drafting to minesweeper HMS Plover and testing of de-gaussing gear in Solent. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Ambuscade, 16th Destroyer Flotilla in English Channel, North Sea and North Atlantic, 5/1940-9/1940: joining ship in Portsmouth, 5/1940; fraternisation with civilians in Glasgow; canteen messing; mess deck life; action station; abortive plan to land landing party at Le Harve, France, 8/6/1940; ambush of ship by Germans on shore at Fecamp, France, 10/6/1940. REEL 2 Continues: his rescue of ship's officer during action at Fecamp, France, 10/6/1940; rescue of disabled destroyer, HMS Boadicea, 10/6/1940; start of escort duties in North Atlantic, 8/1940; handling of survivors who had been in lifeboat for two weeks; nature of escort duties; receiving popular music recordings from American ships; aiding motor torpedo boats after actions against German E-boats in North Sea, 7/1940; near accident with depth charge. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Pozarica in GB coastal waters, Arctic and Mediterranean, 3/1941-2/1943: joining ship in River Clyde, 3/1941; characteristics of anti-aircraft ship; preference for regular officers; towing floating dock through English Channel to Scapa Flow and how the incident was reported by war correspondent Godfrey Winn; ashore in Bangor and Belfast, Northern Ireland. REEL 3 Continues: fraternising with civilians in Belfast, Northern Ireland; initiating wartime romance between shipmate and girl from Belfast, Northern Ireland; provisioning of ship for Convoy PQ 17 in Northern Ireland, 6/1942; composition of escort for Convoy PQ 17 in Arctic; reaction to loss of pilot during German Air Force attack on convoy; scattering of Convoy PQ 17, 4/7/1942; observation of Convoy PQ 17 by German Air Force reconnaissance aircraft; steadiness of ship's officers under German Air Force attack; sight of ammunition ship exploding; arrival at Matochkin Strait, Novaya Zemlya, Soviet Union; camouflaging ships; losses on route to Archangel, Soviet Union; conditions in Archangel, Soviet Union; penalties against Soviet civilians for fraternising with Royal Navy personnel; playing football in Archangel, Soviet Union; rations in Archangel, Soviet Union. REEL 4 Continues: memories on war correspondent Godrey Wynn during period in Soviet Union; Soviet reaction to losses during Convoy PQ 17; question of Soviet decorations for survivors; return Convoy QP 17 to GB; his reaction to scatter order during Convoy PQ 17, 4/7/1942; story of how he was criticised for describing conditions in Soviet Union by officer in Victory Barracks, Portsmouth, GB; ship's role during Operation Torch at Philippeville, Algeria, 11/1942; problems with Newcastle accent of seaman in transmitting station; torpedoing of ship by German torpedo bomber aircraft off Bougie, Algeria, 29/1/1943; casualties; Captain Laurence Hill's attitude towards Germans; refusal to abandon ship and towing into Bougie, Algeria, 29/1/1943; opinion of American troops held by 1st Guards Bde personnel in Algeria, 2/1943.