Interview with Robert Frank Collins

British seaman served as radar operator served aboard SS Empire Lawrence during Convoy PQ 16 in Arctic, 5/1942 including sinking 27/5/1942; served on shore duties with Naval Party 100 in Soviet Union, 5/1942-8/1942; served aboard HMS Martin, 17th Destroyer Flotilla in Arctic, 8/1942-9/1942; served aboard HMS Illustrious, Eastern Fleet and British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 1/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Deptford and Bromley, GB, 1923-1941: family; education; employment with Woolwich Arsenal; reasons for working in Birmingham; memories of German Air Force bombing campaign; sight of Beckton Gas Works alight at Beckton, 7/9/1940; family move from Deptford to Bromley, 1930s; degree of danger from bombs and shrapnel; use of air raid shelters; listening to radio; attitude towards Prime Minister Winston Churchill and William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw'; employment clearing bomb damage in Birmingham. Recollections of operations as radar operator aboard SS Empire Lawrence during Convoy PQ 16 in Arctic, 21/5/1942-27/5/1942: joining ship in Birkenhead; lack of security about ship's destination; opinion of ship's defensive capabilities. REEL 2 Continues: role as radar operator and quality of radar equipment; opinion of merchant ship defence; sailing with convoy from Iceland; German Air Force attacks on convoy; firing on ship's Hawker Hurricane by United States Merchant Marine ships. Aspects of sinking of SS Empire Lawrence during Convoy PQ 16 in Arctic, 27/5/1942: German Air Force bomb hit on ship; sounding of abandon ship; German Air Force Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber attack on small boat he was in blowing him into sea; removal of clothing; rescue by boat from HMT Lady Madeleine; transfer to HMS Hyderabad. Recollections of period of shore duties with Naval Party 100 in Soviet Union, 5/1942-8/1942: arrival in Murmansk; how survivors were refused admittance to hospital; aid organised for survivors by American chief petty officer; period in Soviet Army camp. REEL 3 Continues: removal of Royal Navy personnel to another Soviet Army camp; rations received in camp; nature of washing facilities; drawing lots for return convoy; shelter from German Air Force bombing in Soviet Navy destroyer Gromky; presence of survivor from HMS Gossamer; move to Archangel aboard SS Empire Bard; living conditions in Archangel; promise to return home on next convoy; scrounging food from ships; question of Godfrey Winn's depiction of Soviets. Aspects of operations as radar operator aboard HMS Martin in Arctic, 8/1942-9/1942: rescue of survivors from German Navy minelayer Ulm, 25/8/1942; attitude of some survivors to being rescued; souvenirs taken from survivors; attitude towards admiral's speech about sinking of German Navy minelayer Ulm, 25/8/1942; method of getting message to his mother from Soviet Union; story of mother being told to write to Naval Party 100; drafting to Cockburnpath on return to GB. REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of operations as radar operator aboard HMS Illustrious, Eastern Fleet and British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 1/1944-5/1945: drafting to aircraft carrier; nature of operations in Indian Ocean, 3/1944-1/1945; Japanese Kamikaze attack on ship off Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, 29/1/1945; problems of landing Vought Corsair on flight deck; listening to Tokyo Rose; sight of Third Fleet, United States Navy at Leyte Island, Philippines; problems with guiding aircraft in ground wave and transfer to gun turret for action stations; slight damage occurring to aircraft carrier during Japanese Kamikaze attack off Sakishima Gunto, Japan, 6/4/1945; celebration of VE Day off Papua New Guinea, 8/5/1945. Recollections of period ashore with Naval Party 100 in Soviet Union, 1942: recapitiulation of sinking of SS Empire Lawrence in Arctic, 27/5/1942; attitude of Soviet civilians in Murmansk towards Royal Navy; girlfriend he had in Archangel. REEL 5 Continues: sight of Soviet Army female snipers on their way to front; character of International Club; precautions against German Air Force raids in Murmansk; opinion of lack of hierarchy in Soviet Army; question of how his experiences affected his political outlook; private enterprise in Archangel; attitude towards being neglected by Royal Navy in Soviet Union.