Broome, Roy (Oral history)

British stoker served aboard submarine HMS Thrasher, 3rd Submarine Flotilla in North Sea, 1/1943-12/1943; served aboard submarine HMS Trenchant, 4th Submarine Flotilla in Far East, 7/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in Middleton, GB, 1923-1941: family; education; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1941-1943: call-up to Royal Navy, 1941; training as naval fireman; fighting fires during German bombing of Plymouth, 1942; submarine training at HMS Dolphin, Gosport including using Submarine Escape Training Tower; continuing submarine training at Blyth; relations with civilians in Blyth; training with submarine depot ship HMS Cyclops at Dunoon, winter 1942-1943; reaction to missing drafting to HMS Sickle. Recollections of operations as stoker aboard submarine HMS Thrasher, 3rd Submarine Flotilla in North Sea, 5/1943-12/1943: joining submarine, 1/5/1943; memories of commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Arthur Hezlet; character of submarine; accident with smoke gun; role of submarine towing midget submarine HMS X5 during Operation Source, 11/9/1943-20/9/1943. REEL 2 Continues: slipping midget submarine HMS X5 in mountainous seas, 20/9/1943; morale of midget submarine HMS X5's crew; outcome of Operation Source. Recollections of operations as stoker aboard submarine HMS Trenchant, 4th Submarine Flotilla in Far East, 7/1944-8/1945: transfer of crew to submarine in GB, 12/1943; anxiety of deep dive trials; his accommodation on board; taking food to Malta on passage to Far East, 5/1944; imprisonment of crew members in Aden, Aden Protectorate, 6/1944; serious illness he suffered from; problems with heat on patrol in Malacca Strait; conditions of bread on board; types of targets attacked; action against mine layer off Singapore, Malaya, 9/8/1944; speed with which crew could operate gun; sinking of Japanese submarine chaser north of Lombok Strait; searching for Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser Ashigara. REEL 3 Continues: sinking of Imperial Japanese Navy Ashigara cruiser in Bangka Strait, 8/6/1945; sinking of German submarine U-859 off Penang, Malaya, 23/9/1944; German and Japanese prisoners of war held on board submarine; sinking of Japanese submarine chaser CH-8 with submarine HMS Terrapin 4/3/1945; fate of captured submariners from HMS Stratagem at hands of Japanese; post-war meeting with captain of German submarine which had accompanied submarine U-859; attacks on merchant vessels including junks; mine-laying operations off Malayan coast; landing Special Boat Service personnel at Padang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies; transporting Charioteers to Phuket Island, Thailand, 10/1944. REEL 4 Continues: comparison between operating out of Trincomalee, Ceylon and Fremantle, Australia; use of escort vessels; problems of sleeping in submarine on patrol; problems with lack of oxygen; fourteen hour Imperial Japanese Navy depth charging of submarine; question of accuracy of German film 'Das Boot' (1981); question of whether German submarine crews took survivors on board; problem of crab lice infestations in Far East; humourous incidents aboard HMS Trenchant.