Description
Object description
British seaman served aboard HMS Spartan in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1943-1944, including sinking off Anzio, Italy, 29/1/1944
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Stockton-on-Tees, GB, 1918-1939: family; education; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1939: reasons for joining Royal Navy; issue of kit and uniform; opinion of accommodation and messing arrangements; specialist training as torpedoman; drilling; pattern of service aboard HMS Royal Oak and HMS Ceres, 1939-1943. Recollections of period as seaman aboard HMS Spartan in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 8/1943-1/1944: opinion of cruiser; camouflage painting; position in ship and daily duties; working up trials; composition of crew; protective clothing.
REEL 2 Continues: captain's rounds; opinion of accommodation and sleeping arrangements; contents of personal locker; opinion of rations and messing arrangements; rum ration; washing facilities; problem of seasickness; mending clothes; recreational activities; memories of fellow crewmen; listening to radio; communication with family; working up trials in GB coastal waters; memories of Scapa Flow, GB; daily duties and responsibilities; test firing torpedoes; lookout duty on bridge; swimming as recreational activity; threat from enemy planes.
REEL 3 Continues: speed trials and test firing guns; delivery of mail and supplies; role during action stations; involvement in operations at Anzio, Italy, 1/1945; opinion of Captain Patrick McLaughlin's decision to drop anchor; sight of Mount Vesuvius erupting; role of ship in bombardment of shore; attacks on ship by German Air Force aircraft; period prior to sinking. Recollections of sinking of HMS Spartan off Anzio, Italy, 29/1/1944; effects of Hs 293 Glider Bomb hitting ship.
REEL 4 Continues: abandoning ship and rescue operations; time spent in sea including swallowing oil; transfer to rest camp in Malta; treatment and issue of new kit and uniform; how family heard of sinking on radio. Reflections on period of naval service, 1943-1945: service aboard other ships and shore service following sinking of HMS Spartan; opinion of contribution of HMS Spartan in war and lessons learnt from sinking; celebrating VE Day at Stockton-on-Tees, 8/5/1945 including drawing pictures of ships for children's street party, 8/5/1945; demobilisation and post-war employment.
REEL 5 Continues: discussion of entries in the log of HMS Spartan and explanation of technical terms including issue of card for fire stations and personal identification; memories of Italian civilians in Taranto, Italy.