Interview with Sidney William Taylor

British civilian in Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1939-1942; seaman aboard HMS Seagull in Arctic and English Channel, 1942-1944; served aboard LST 3022(3) in Far East, 1945-1946

REEL 1 Background in Cottingham and Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1925-1939: family; education. Aspects of period as deck hand in Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1939-1942: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; incident of German Air Force landmine which fell on Preston Road; incendiary bombs which fell on city; attitude towards German Air Force crews; German Air Force bomb hits on city; use of Anderson Shelter; effect of German Air Force landmines; duties as deck hand aboard tug boats, 1940-1942; characteristics of tugs; Oerlikon Gun mounted on tug. Aspects of enlistment and training as seaman with Royal Navy at Devonport, GB, 1942: enlistment, 1942; basic training. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Seagull in Arctic, 1942: initial impressions of ; weather conditions off Iceland; attempt to rescue bosun from sea off Iceland; sight of German Air Force reconnaissance aircraft; German submarine attacks on convoy. REEL 2 Continues: use of radar; crew's reaction to Soviet Army troop's treatment of Finnish prisoners of war at Kola Inlet, Soviet Union; Soviet Army soldier's confiscation of bar of chocolate given to Soviet civilian; demonstration of minesweeping equipment to Soviet Navy in White Sea; character of Soviet anti-mine methods; instruction in history of Russian Revolution in Kola Inlet; character of Soviet people; reaction to return to GB. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Seagull in GB coastal waters, North Sea, English Channel and during Normandy Landings, 1944: role escorting Mulberry Harbour sections to south coast of GB; story illustrating seamanship of captain off Deal, GB; taking on radar-jamming equipment at Ipswich, GB; minesweeping work off coast of Normandy, France, 5/6/1944; use of broomstick identification for D-Day operations; effect of HMS Warspite firing guns, 6/6/1944; use of Oropesa gear for minesweeping operations; threat from E-Boats; incident of narrow escape from friendly fire. REEL 3 Continues: story of torpedoing of HMT Kingston Chrysoberyl by German Navy midget submarine off Walcheren Island, Netherlands, 1944 including use of Danbuoys. Recollections of period as seaman aboard LST 3022(3) in Far East, 1945-1946: drafting to landing ship tank at Glasgow, GB; vermin on board; voyage through Mediterranean; arrival in Bombay, India, 1945; role in quelling of mutiny in Royal Indian Navy, Bombay, India, 1946; sight of sunken Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser Ashigara at Singapore, Malaya; ferrying Dutch troops from Singapore, Malaya to Dutch East Indies, 1946; sight of American equipment in Papua New Guinea, 1946; return to GB aboard HMS Glengyle, 1946; demobilisation procedure in GB, 1946; period as civilian merchant seaman after Second World War including memories of Ernest Hemingway.