James, George Philip Henry (Oral history)

British seaman served aboard HMS Middleton, 17th Destroyer Flotilla in Arctic, 1942; officer served with 21st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1943; served aboard MTBs 78 and 378, 7th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in Mediterranean, 1943-1944; commanded MTB 378, 7th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in Mediterranean, 1944-1945; served with HMS Medway Queen and MMS 1021 in GB coastal waters and North Sea; served with Control Commission for Germany in Germany, 1947-1949

REEL 1 Background in Southfields and Edmonton, GB, 1923-1939: family; education. Aspects of period with Air Raid Precautions Department, Middlesex County Council in Edmonton, GB, 1939-1941: role lecturing about air raid precautions; reasons for mother's refusal to use Anderson Shelter; first German bomb to fall on Edmonton. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1941: background to enlistment; training at HMS Collingwood, Fareham,1941-1942; in transit at HMS Iron Duke at Scapa Flow, 1942. Aspects of operations as seaman aboard HMS Middleton, 17th Destroyer Flotilla in Arctic, 1942: impressions and character of ship; discomforts for crew; losses during Convoy PQ 17, 6/1942-7/1942; ashore in Archangel, Soviet Union; air spotting duties; interview for commission on board. Aspects of period of officer training at HMS King Alfred, Hove, GB, 1942-1943: training for commission; volunteering for Coastal Forces and appointment to training for Coastal Forces at HMS St Christopher, Fort William. Aspects of operations as officer with 21st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1943: joining flotilla as navigator at HMS Beehive, Felixstowe, 4/1943; anti-convoy work in North Sea; appointment to 7th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in Mediterranean, 9/1943. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as officer aboard MTBs 78 and 378 with 7th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Coastal Forces in Mediterranean, 1943-1944: difference between American and British built torpedo boats; role intercepting German convoys on west coast of Italy; German convoy defences; torpedo equipment on board; incident of picking up train on radar set; opinion of United States Navy personnel; operating out of Leghorn, Italy; problems of living aboard motor torpedo boats; bartering rations with United States Navy personnel; prior recollection diet aboard HMS Middleton in Arctic. Recollections of operations commanding MTB 378, 7th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla in Mediterranean, 1944-1945: patrol tactics; importance of strength and new moon nights; award of Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for operations in Gulf of Genoa; character of crews and question of possibility of women serving on board; comparison between E-boats and motor torpedo boats. Aspects of period commanding HMS Medway Queen and MMS 1021 in GB coastal waters and Netherlands, 1945-1946: training then taking command of HMS Medway Queen; question of dangers of minesweeping. REEL 3 Continues: attitude to minesweeping. Aspects of period as officer with Allied Control Commission for Germany in Germany, 1947-1949: use of German ex-R boat flotilla men for minesweeping force; opinion of his workforce; use of Sperrbrecher minesweeper for blowing mines; areas of operations; planning landing of agents on Soviet occupied Baltic coast; prior recollection of landing agents on the Italian coast, 1944-1945; leaving Allied Control Commission for Germany, 1949.