Description
Object description
British aircraftman served with Royal Air Force aboard troopship SS Leopoldville on voyage from GB and Freetown, Sierra Leone, 12/1943-1/1944
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of period as aircraftman with Royal Air Force aboard troopship SS Leopoldville on voyage from GB and Freetown, Sierra Leone, 12/1943-1/1944: assembling for overseas posting at Blackpool, GB, 12/1943; attitude to overseas posting; embarkation on train; train journey from Blackpool to Glasgow, GB; embarkation aboard troopship; initial impressions of mess deck; conditions on mess deck; issue of hammock; nature of first meal; slinging hammock; first night on board ship; ablution facilities available; breakfast; familiarisation with ship; items to be carried around ship; boat drill; dinner; activities to pass time; reading letters; loss of hammock; second day on board ship in dock.
REEL 2 Continues: briefing prior to sailing; sailing of ship from dockside; send off from dockside; attitude to leaving GB; first night at sea; effects of movement of ship and seasickness; weather conditions; effects of seasickness amongst Royal Air Force personnel on messdeck; dealing with seasickness; weather conditions experienced in Bay of Biscay; daily routine on board ship; supplementing rations on board; visit to Enternments National Service Association (ENSA) show on board interrupted by ship's alarm; reaction to threat of German submarines; improvement in weather; sight of land; arrival at Gibraltar, 24/12/1943; activities on board ship, 24/12/1943; Christmas Day celebrations, 25/12/1943; sleeping on deck, 25/12/1943; sailing for West Africa, 26/12/1943; attempt to boycott high prices in ship's Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI); changing into tropical kit.
REEL 3 Continues: submarine warning off African coast; lectures about service and medical complaints in West Africa; uniform worn in West Africa; duration of service for personnel in West Africa; arrival in harbour at Freetown, Sierra Leone, 31/12/1943; need to wash fruit sold by canoe boys; disembarking from ship, 4/1/1944; dockyard activities in Freetown, Sierra Leone; use of barrage carrier; attitude to service in Sierra Leone; impressions of Freetown, Sierra Leone; train journey through Sierra Leone; morale on arrival in village; need to use mosquito nets; washing of clothes; dedicates piece of music.