Interview with Frank Arthur Knights

British civilian shipwright in GB, 9/1939-5/1941; seaman served as shipwright with Coastal Forces at HMS Hornet, Gosport, GB, 7/1941-11/1941; served with Coastal Forces in Mediterranean, 1/1942-9/1944; served aboard HMS St Tudno at Terneuzen, Netherlands, 10/1944-3/1945; served aboard HMS Beachy Head in Pacific and Indian Ocean, 1945

REEL 1 Background in Felixstowe, GB, 1917-1939: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; later story of Royal Navy, 5/1941. Aspects of period as civilian shipwright at Ramsgate, GB, 5/1940-6/1940: abortive attempt to send vessel Atlanta to join Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940; memories of fishing boat Silver Cloud which made trips to Dunkirk, France; work assisting troops returning from Dunkirk Evacuation, 6/1940. Aspects of period as civilian shipwright in GB, 6/1940-5/1941: membership of Waldringfield Local Defence Volunteers, 6/1940-7/1940, including patrolling sides of River Debden and reaction to being aimed with shotgun; German Air Force attacks on RAF Martlesham Heath; Italian Air Force aircraft which were brought down at Woodbridge. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 5/1941-7/1941: volunteering for Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 5/1941; basic training at Borstal. Aspects of period as shipwright with Coastal Forces at HMS Hornet, Gosport, GB, 7/1941-11/1941: work on motor torpedo boats and motor gun boats; difference between terms 'fore and aft' and 'square rig'; nature of work; drafting to Egypt, 11/1941. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of voyages from GB to Egypt, 1941-1942: voyage aboard HMT Highland Princess from GB to Durban, 11/1941-1/1942; voyage aboard HMT Ile De France from South Africa to Canal Zone, Egypt, 1/1942. Recollections of period as shipwright with Coastal Forces in Mediterranean, 1/1942-9/1944: preparation of ex-United States Navy motor torpedo boats at Port Tewfik, Egypt; experiences of motor torpedo boat repair work aboard HMS Vulcan, 1942; leave in Cyprus; period aboard LCT 3 used as mobile workshop for motor torpedo boats following Eighth Army advance in North Africa, 1942-1943; basing ashore repairing motor torpedo boats at Bône, French Algeria, 1943; opinion of Lieutenant Max Henschel; German Air Force attacks on Bône, French Algeria; move to Syracuse and Augusta in Sicily, Italy; work at Bastia, Corsica, France, 1943-1944 including attack by German Navy vessels. REEL 3 Continues: basing at La Maddalena, Sardinia, Italy; naval shore patrol work; voyage from Italy to GB, 9/1944. Aspects of period as shipwright aboard depot ship HMS St Tudno at Terneuzen, Netherlands, 10/1944-3/1945: duties; weather conditions. Aspects of period as shipwright aboard HMS Beachy Head in Pacific and Indian Ocean, 1945: voyage from GB to Vancouver, Canada to join vessel, 4/1945; voyage from Vancouver, Canada to Ceylon, 7/1945; story of contracting ear infection and being invalided back to GB; attitude to having served in Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during Second World War.