Interview with David Jewsbury

British seaman served aboard HMS Circassia in North Atlantic, 1939-1940; served aboard HMS Arethusa, 2nd Cruiser Sqdn, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters and English Channel, 1940; officer served aboard HMS Eastern Isles and HMS Western Isles in GB coastal waters, 1941-1942; served aboard HMS Belvoir, 2nd and 5th Destroyer Flotillas in Arctic, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 3/1942-9/1942; served aboard HMS Exmoor, 5th, 22nd and 3rd Destroyer Flotillas in Mediterranean, 10/1942-6/1944; served aboard HMS Croome, 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in Aegean Sea, 7/1944-9/1944; served aboard HMS Zenith in Mediterranean and North Sea, 1945

REEL 1 Background in Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; enlistment in Humber Division of Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Ciracassa in North Atlantic, 1939-1940: drafting to armed merchant cruiser on Clydeside; character of ship's armament; patrols in North Atlantic; role of Armed Merchant Crusiers; failure to obtain commission at HMNB Chatham. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Arethusa, 2nd Cruiser Sqdn, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters and English Channel, 1940: drafting to ship at HMNB Chatham; living conditions on board; role of ship in English Channel; his job on board; active service during 1940; problems of fatigue. Aspects of period as officer cadet in GB, 1940-1941: role in charge of party of officer cadets to Portsmouth; officer who insisted on draft chit at barracks in Portsmouth; definition of term 'CW candidate'; officer training at HMS King Alfred III, Lancing College and HMS King Alfred, Hove and Newhaven; insignia of Royal Naval midshipmen. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as officer with HMS Eastern Isles and HMS Western Isles in GB coastal waters, 1941-1942: appointment to HMS Eastern Isles in Tobermory, 1941; memories of Commodore Gilbert Stephenson; role as navigator aboard HMS Western Isles; character of 'attack teachers'; German Air Force attacks on Gladstone Dock at Liverpool; question of public morale during German Air Force raids; his request for to serve in destroyers. Recollections of operations as officer aboard HMS Belvoir, 2nd and 5th Destroyer Flotillas in Arctic, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 3/1942-9/1942: appointment to ship; duties on board; convoy duties in Arctic on route to Soviet Union, 4/1942-5/1942; convoy escort duties in Indian Ocean, 6/1942-7/1942; orders to American passenger liner to resume her station after a man went overboard; threat from Imperial Japanese Navy submarines outside Durban, South Africa; reasons for move from Indian Ocean to Mediterranean, 23/6/1942; towing HMS Eridge into Alexandria after bombardment of Mersa Matruh, Egypt; method of recalling crew to ship in Alexandria, Egypt. REEL 3 Continues: nature of attack on Tobruk, Libya including loss of HMS Sikh and damage to HMS Coventry and HMS Zulu, 14/9/1942; question of why Hunt Class destroyers were safer than Fleet Class destroyers under air attack. Recollections of operations as officer aboard HMS Exmoor, 5th, 22nd and 3rd Destroyer Flotillas in Mediterranean, 10/1942-6/1944: circumstances of his transfer to ship; obtaining his watch keeping certificate; character of ship; variety of jobs officers did on board; successful Malta convoy; role of ship during build-up to Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, 10/1942; character of Operation Retribution to seal off Axis forces in Tunisia; Royal Air Force attacks on Royal Navy ships painted red during bombardment off Cape Bon, Tunisia; capture of German forces on Zembretta Island, Tunisia behaviour of German prisoners of war on board ship; story of loss of French currency; role of ship during landings on Sicily, Italy, 7/1943; artillery shell hit on X Turret at Augusta, Sicily, Italy. REEL 4 Continues: dealing with casualties and aiding ship's doctor in sick bay; German Air Force torpedo-bomber attack on hospital ship at Augusta; rescue of German Air Force pilot who had participated in attack on hospital ship HMHS Newfoundland, 13/9/1943; capture of Southern Italy, 9/1943; psychological effect of Italian surrender; role of ship at Salerno, Italy; work off west coast of Italy, late 1943; unopposed landing at Anzio, Italy, 1/1944; reaction to not being recalled to GB for Operation Neptune. Recollections of operations as officer on board HMS Croome, 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in Aegean Sea, 7/1944-9/1944: appointment to ship after hospitalisation aboard HMMS Maine; role of ship; German Air Force attacks; German Air Force use of radio controlled bombs and specialist torpedoes; return to GB, via Egypt, 9/1944. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as officer aboard HMS Zenith in Mediterranean and North Sea, 1945: working up on voyage to Malta; standard of equipment; recall from voyage to Far East, 8/1945; passage through Kiel Canal; handing over German Navy minesweepers to Soviet Navy; demobilisation, 1946. Reflection of service with Royal Navy, 1939-1945: reasons for initial choice of destroyer service; advantages and disadvantages of Hunt Class destroyers; attitude to having served with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during Second World War; post-war role of Humber Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.