Ould, Vic (Oral history)

British radar control rating served aboard HMS Carron in Western Approaches and Far East, 1945-1947

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Hackney, Kilburn and Kingsbury, London, 1920-1943: family circumstances; children's games; education; sporting activities; reactions to outbreak of war and false air raid alarm, 3/9/1939; closure of school due to location next to factory and consequent lack of educational qualifications; work at electrical instrument factory; aircraft crash at West Hendon, ca 1941; duties as messenger with Supplementary Fire Parties, Air Raid Precaution Unit; story of close escape whilst delivering message during air raid; effects of German air raids on local factories; first aid training with Boy Scouts; Morrison air raid shelter table. REEL 2 Continues: air raid shelters; blackout; effects of land mine hit on Colindale Tube Station; work at chemical factory, Cricklewood including fire watching duty and working as delivery van boy; food and clothing rationing. Background to volunteering to join Royal Navy at Deansbrook Road Drill Hall, Edgware, ca 3/1943: reasons; medical and required dental treatment; aptitude test; securing parental consent; prior training with Royal Artillery Cadets and Air Cadets; call up, 8/1943. Aspects of training as boy telegraphist at HMS Royal Arthur Shore Station at Skegness, 8/1943-9/1943: reception and kitting out; chalet accommodation; food rations; lectures; journey to Ayr. REEL 3 Recollections of training as boy Telegraphist at HMS Scotia Shore Station, Ayr, 9/1943-3/1944: journey to Ayr; morning routine; Morse code training and reasons for failing course; relationship with local civilians and recreations during visits to Ayr; relationship with instructors, recruits and officers; discipline; rejection of opportunity to repeat course and consequent conversion to seamans' branch. Period at HMS Royal Arthur Shore Station, 4/1944-4/1944. Recollections of period training as ordinary seaman at HMS Ganges, Shotley, 4/1944-7/1944: strict discipline and nature of course; gas mask training; hut accommodation; cleaning hut and preparing for kit inspections; seamanship training including method of heaving lead. REEL 4 Continues: seamanship training including boxing compass, knots and splices, rowing and sailing cutters; lectures; aircraft and ship recognition; night look out duty training; signal flags training; gunnery training and shell identification; torpedo training; climbing masthead, swimming and gymnastic tests; nights out in Harwich; relationship with recruits and instructors; selection for training as radar operator. Recollections of training as radar control operator at HMS Valkyrie, Douglas, Isle of Man, 7/1944-8/1944: hotel billets; method of operating 273 radar set. REEL 5 Continues: practical exercises; identifying nature of radar echoes. Period at Chatham Barracks, 8/1944-10/1944: discipline; minimal duties; drafting procedure. Recollections of service as radar control operator aboard HMS Carren with 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow, 10-1944-1/1945: shore billets whilst ship was being commissioned at Greenock; age of crew; nature of messdeck; hammock; seasickness; discipline; relationship with officers; role at action station in transmitting station; role with iron deck party; watch system; role as starboard bridge lookout. REEL 6 Continues: role as starboard bridge lookout; taking wheel in wheelhouse; off duty periods; food rations and role of cooks of mess; sea and gunnery trials before acceptance of ship; difficulties in waking across decks at sea; latrines and reactions to lack of privacy; working up trials; story of being called out on sinking of HHMS Bullen off Cape Wrath, 6/12/1944, including tannoy announcement, lowering scramble nets and booms, failure to sight Carley float, asdic contact, dropping depth charges, period of silent routine above suspect U Boat, preparation of boarding party, sighting mine and return to Scapa Flow; background to writing book: 'Life and Death of HMS Bullen', 1998. REEL 7 Continues: mission escorting aircraft carrier force off Norwegian coast, ca 12/1944, including effects of rough weather, zoot suit, sleeping on flooded messdeck and attempts to pick up crew of ditched aircraft; visits ashore at Scapa Flow; miniature submarine alarm; participation in Operation Spellbinder off Norwegian coast, 10/1/1945-12/1/1945, including plan, reports received in transmitting station, role covering minelaying of HMS Apollo, accidental discharge of ship's siren during covert operation and return to Scapa Flow. Recollections of periods aboard HMS Carron based at Greenock, Liverpool, Londonderry and Devonport, 1/1945-8/1945: role escorting liner troopships through Western Approaches; dropping depth charges on suspected U Boats to prevent them attacking liners; zig zagging; US personnel carried aboard liners; meeting liners on return journey; story of U Boat contact whilst escorting liner into Liverpool; story of visit to Glasgow dancehall and being late back from shore leave. REEL 8 Continues: story of visit to Glasgow dancehall and being late back from shore leave; effects of storm whilst escorting Queen Mary; story of difficulty in tying up to buoy at Greenock; unloading damaged depth charges; role to physically stop torpedoes when escorting HMS Renown; refitting at Devonport for Far East service; shore leave, 8/1945. Recollections of period aboard HMS Carren in Far East, 8/1945-6/1946: story of getting drunk on last night in Devonport; reactions to posting; voyage out through Mediterranean and Suez Canal; role on radar set; operations at Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, 11/1945, including carrying Indian troops, corpses in sea, disembarking Indian troops, embarking Dutch civilians, warnings of imminent attacks by Indonesian insurgents; situation. REEL 9 Continues: operations at Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, 11/1945, including situation, posting as trainer on 'Y' gun and opening fire on Indonesian shore positions, embarking wounded Indian troops and opening fire on Indonesian gun positions; crossing line ceremony; investigating smoke signal from marooned Japanese merchant seaman on Gasper Islan; 'showing flag' at Padang, Batavia; preparations for action and story of visit ashore following mutiny of Indian Navy at Bombay, India, 2/1946; return voyage and decommissioning leave, 5/1946. Period in Chatham Barracks, 5/1946-2/1947: guard duties; demobilisation procedure. Post-war career: decision not to return to work at chemical factory; difficulty in finding work; work as mechanic; effects of war service and debt owed to servicemen.