description
Object description
British boy seaman served aboard HMS Resolution in GB coastal waters, 1938-1939; seaman served on demolition duties with Force F at Calais and Cherbourg, France, 5/1940-6/1940; trained as torpedoman at Torpedo School, HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, GB, 7/1940-9/1940; served aboard HMS Nigeria, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, 9/1940-4/1941; officer served with Submarine Service in GB, Canada and US, 1941-1943; served aboard submarine HMS Spark, 2nd Submarine Flotilla in Far East, 1944-1945; served with Submarine Service in GB and US, 1945-1971
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Richmond, GB, 1921-1934: family; education. Aspects of training as boy seaman with Royal Navy in GB, 1934-1938: training as boy seaman with training ship, HMS Arethusa and at HMS Ganges, Shotley, 1934-1937. Aspects of period as boy seaman aboard HMS Resolution in GB coastal waters, 1938-1939: drafting to battleship, 1938; expectation of coming war on board ship, 1938; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; application to join Fleet Air Arm, late 1939. Aspects of demolition operations with Force F at Calais and Cherbourg, France, 5/1940- 6/1940: demolition training; experiences in Calais; demolition work in Calais; further demolition work in Cherbourg, 6/1940. Aspects of period as seaman at Torpedo School, HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, GB, 1940: boarding French destroyer at Portsmouth after fall of France, 7/1940; attitude to treatment of French naval personnel, 7/1940; explosion of German magnetic mine at HMS Vernon, 8/1940. Aspects of period as torpedoman aboard HMS Nigeria, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, 9/1940-4/1941: area of operations from Scapa Flow; incident when he struck superior.
REEL 2 Continues: how incident was dealt with and his drafting to HMS Nelson, 4/1941. Recollections of period as officer with Submarine Service in GB, US and Canada, 1941-1943: background to commissioning as officer, 1941; leaving submarine HMS H 28 for appointment during exercises off Scottish coast, 8/1942; voyage aboard RMS Queen Elizabeth from GB to US; joining submarine HMS Seawolf at Philadelphia, US, 9/1942; operating with submarine HMS Seawolf off Canadian coast, 1943; question of pay; appointment to submarine HMS H 33. Recollections of operations as officer aboard submarine HMS Spark, 2nd Submarine Flotilla in Far East, 1944-1945: character of voyage from GB to Ceylon, 9/1944-10/1944; role as first lieutenant; studying Japanese language; boxing exploits at Trincomalee, Ceylon; patrolling in Indian Ocean, 1944; capture of Indonesian POWs; living conditions on board submarine in Indian Ocean; operations in Java Sea.
REEL 3 Continues: Japanese attacks on submarines in Dutch East Indies, early 1945; heavy depth charging by Japanese destroyer, 8/2/1945; danger of using No 291 Radar Set; typhoon experienced in Dutch East Indies; reception in Fremantle, Australia. Recollections of various postings with Submarine Service, in GB and US, 1945-1962: return to GB, spring 1945; taking command of submarine HMS Uther, 7/1945; taking command of submarine HMS Saga after accident with fishing trawler Girl Lena in English Channel, 2/1946; security work in Japan, 1948-1951 including interrogating Japanese POWs returning for Soviet Union; transfer of S Class submarines to French Navy, 1951; liaison with US Navy submarine fleet, 1960-1962; work at Portland, late 1950s; background to establishment of Submarine Museum, Gosport, 1962.
REEL 4 Continues: administering test firing of Polaris Missile at Cape Canaveral, US, 1969-1971; effect of Sputnik Satelite launch on Polaris Missile programme, 1957; definition of terms 'SSN' and 'SSBN'; importance of support of American Vice Admiral Levering Smith; memories of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, 1966-1968; memories of Lord Louis Mountbatten and Lady Edwina Mountbatten in 1939; attending Taranto Dinner with Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1964.
REEL 5 Continues: attending Taranto Dinner with Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1964.
