Wilkey, Desmond Gilbert John (Oral history)

British officer served as observer with 700 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Kent in GB coastal waters and Arctic, 8/1941-8/1942; served with 806 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Illustrious in Indian Ocean, 1942; served with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in East Africa, 1942-1943; served with 700 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Rodney in GB coastal waters, 1944; served with 1770 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indefatigable off Norway, 7/1944-8/1944; served with 1770 Naval Air Sqdn, 7th Carrier Air Group, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indefatigable, 1st Aircraft Carrier Sqdn, British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 11/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in Bristol, GB, 1921-1940: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment and training as observer with 750 Fleet Air Arm in GB and Trinidad, 1940-1941: reasons for applying to join Fleet Air Arm; training at HMS St Vincent, Gosport then HMS Excellent, Whale Island, GB; method of spotting for guns; training with No 1 Observer Training School at HMS Goshawk, Piarco, Trinidad. Recollections of operations as observer with 700 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Kent in GB coastal waters and Arctic, 8/1941-8/1942: appointment to heavy cruiser; role of Supermarine Walrus; taking Anthony Eden and other Very Important Persons (VIPs) to Soviet Union, 11/1941-12/1941; question of usefulness of Supermarine Walrus during Arctic convoys; sight of HMS King George V damaged by collision; ashore in Murmansk, Soviet Union, 12/1941; problems of operating in Arctic. REEL 2 Continues: problems of seaworthiness of ship in Arctic; involvement in accident at HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston, Orkney Islands when aircraft hit sea with wheels down, 8/1942; technique for attacking submarines in Supermarine Walrus. Aspects of period as observer with 806 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Illustrious in Indian Ocean, 1942: character of aircraft carriers' crew; memories of Michael Hordern. Aspects of period as observer with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in East Africa, 1942-1943: duties operating in Fairey Fulmars in Kenya; attitude to serving in East Africa; breaking ankle, 8/1943. Aspects of period as observer with 700 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Rodney in GB coastal waters, 1944: appointment to squadron; withdrawal of Supermarine Walrus from service. Recollections of operations as observer with 1770 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indefatigable during attacks on German battleship Tirpitz in Norway, 7/1944-8/1944: appointment to squadron; opinion of Fairey Firefly; opinion of commanding officer Major Vernon Cheesman; landing on and use of arrester hooks; practising for attack in Scotland; role of Fairey Fireflies in attack on Tirpitz. REEL 3 Continues: nature of attack on Tirpitz during Operation Mascot, 17/7/1944; minelaying in Norwegian Leads off Trondheim, 10/8/1944; how further attacks on Tirpitz thwarted by smoke pots during Operation Goodwood, 24/8/1944; loss of squadron aircraft, 10/8/1944. Recollections of operations as observer with 1770 Naval Air Sqdn, 7th Carrier Air Group, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indefatigable, 1st Aircraft Carrier Sqdn, British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 11/1944-8/1945: character of Rear Admiral Philip Vian; attacks on Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, 4/1/1945; forced landing when aircraft ran out of petrol; Operation Meridian attacks on Palembang Oilfields, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, 29/2/1945 and 2/3/1945; question of American Admiral Ernest King's unwillingness to have British Pacific Fleet; sight of US Fleets; attacking Japanese airfields on Ishigaki Jima, Japan; role protecting fleet and looking for ditched pilots; Kamikaze attack on aircraft carrier and quick recovery, 1/4/1945. REEL 4 Continues: character of Operation Iceberg; shooting down of Kamikaze aircraft before they could attack; character of Operation Iceberg off Okinawa Island, Japan, 6/1945; attitude towards Japanese in contrast with Germans; incidents of battle fatigue and morale; question of counselling and adjusting to civilian life.