Stringer, Charles Gordon (Oral history)

British civilian medical student in London, GB, 1939-1942; officer served as surgeon commander with Merchant Navy aboard SS Umgeni in Atlantic, 12/1942-4/1943; served aboard SS Manela in Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 5/1943-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in Dublin and GB, 1919-1939: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Recollections of period as medical student in London, GB, 1939-1942: German Air Force attack on St Thomas' Hospital; sight of German Air Force bomber attacking Buckingham Palace; public morale; effect of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's broadcasts; opinion of William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw'; background to volunteering for Merchant Navy, 12/1942. Recollections of operations as surgeon commander with Merchant Navy aboard SS Umgeni, in North and South Atlantic, 12/1942-4/1943: voyage from Liverpool to South Africa via Panama Canal; encounter with German submarine wolf pack, 27/12/1942; death of captain from stress and burial at sea; leaving convoy for New York, US, 1/1943; reasons for using Panama Canal, 3/1943; torpedo fired at ship in mid-Atlantic during fancy dress ball, 3/1943. Recollections of operations as surgeon commander with Merchant Navy aboard SS Manela in Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 5/1943-8/1945: reasons for late arrival at ship in Aden Protectorate, 16/5/1943; how William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw' knew of movements of ship; character of ship as flying boat base; wartime history of ship. REEL 2 Continues: medical personnel aboard; life on board; carrying Women's Royal Naval Service personnel aboard ship; precautions taken after loss of SS Khedive Ismail in Indian Ocean, 12/2/1944; use of atolls in Indian Ocean for flying boat operations; opinion of role of ship; duties in Mediterranean in late 1944; VE Day in Rangoon, Burma, 8/5/1945; prior recollection of his action station aboard SS Umgeni.