Interview with Harry Cliffe

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Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
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Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
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© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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Description

Object description

British seaman served aboard HMS Fame, 8th Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, 1940-1942, served aboard HMS Hecla in North and South Atlantic 1941-1942 including sinking, 11/11/1942; served on shore duties in GB, 1943-1944; served aboard HMS Shah, 1st Aircraft Carrier Sqdn and 21st Aircraft Carrier Sqdn, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 3/1944-8/1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Warrington, GB, 1920-1940: family; education. Aspects of training and service as seaman with Royal Navy in GB, 1940: training at HMS Raleigh, Torpoint; duties on board HMBV 7 at Plymouth. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Fame, 1940-1941: drafting to ship at Rosyth; initial job in crow's nest; acting as escort on east coast convoys; running aground on rocks off east coast; work salvaging material from ship after accident. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Hecla in North and South Atlantic, 1941-1942: drafting to destroyer depot ship at Gourock; role of destroyer depot ship; his jobs on board; German Air Force attacks on Greenock; ship's role servicing convoy escorts in Iceland; sight of captured German submarine U-570 in Iceland, 9/1941; leave in GB; in Convoy WS18 to South Africa; mining of ship off South Africa in South Atlantic, 15/5/1942. REEL 2 Continues: period ashore in South Africa whilst ship was being repaired. Aspects of torpedoing and sinking of HMS Hecla by German submarine U-515 in North Atlantic, 12/11/1942: torpedoing of ship on route to Gibraltar, 12/11/1942; period in sea after torpedoing; rescue by HMS Venomous; putting in to Casablanca, French Morocco and treatment aboard heavy cruiser USS Augusta, 13/12/1942; problems with medical treatment in Gibraltar; further details of sinking. Aspects of period on shore duties with Royal Navy in GB, 1943-1944: job as postman at HMS Blackcap, Royal Naval Air Station Stretton. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Shah, 1st Aircraft Carrier Sqdn and 21st Aircraft Carrier Sqdn, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 3/1944-8/1945: voyage aboard HMT Queen Elizabeth from GB to United States of America; standing-by HMS Shah under construction in Vancouver, Canada, 10/1943-1/1944; conditions on board; ferrying aircraft to Cochin in India, 1/1944-2/1944. REEL 3 Continues: in action against Japanese Kamikaze pilots; question of acts of sabotage in India; sighting by carrier's aircraft of Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser Haguro, 16/5/1945; reaction to serving at Trincomalee, Ceylon; refusal of Japanese forces on Andaman Islands to accept Japanese surrender, 15/8/1945; prior recollection of state of Casablanca, French Morocco, 11/1942; attitude to having served with Royal Navy during Second World War.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Cliffe, Harry (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2001-05-01
Dimensions: whole: Duration 75, Number Of Items 3
Catalogue number: 21294

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Interview with Harry Cliffe

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