Interview with Ronald William Charles Apps

British engine room artificer served aboard HMS Tyne in GB coastal waters, 1940-1941; served aboard HMS Inglefield, 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters off Norway, 1941-1942; served aboard HMS Fury in Arctic, 1942; chief engine room artificer served aboard HMS Wayland in Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 1942-1945; served aboard HMS Renown, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, 1945

REEL 1 Background in East Ham and Ilford, GB, 1919-1939: family; education; period with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 1937-1939; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment and period with Royal Navy, 1939-1940: call-up to Royal Navy, 11/1939; his work as engine room artificer at HMNB Chatham, 1940; drafting to HMS Grenade at Sheerness, 1940; work at HMNB Sheerness, 1940; differences between engines of Royal Navy and Merchant Navy ships; abortive Operation Lucid a plan to attack German invasion fleets in Boulogne, France. Aspects of period as engine room artificer aboard depot ship HMS Tyne in GB coastal waters, 1940-1941: standing by ship on River Clyde; role of depot ships; threat of German submarines around Outer Hebrides; relations between regulars and Hostilities Only personnel; attitude towards submarine crews. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Inglefield, 3rd Flotilla Destroyer in GB coastal waters and off Norway, 1941-1942: drafting to destroyer at Scapa Flow; Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1941; plans to attack whale oil factory in Norway, 1/1942; successful execution of Operation Kitbag, 1/1942; clothing worn on destroyers. Recollections of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Fury, 8th Destroyer Flotilla during Convoy PQ 13 in Arctic, 3/1942: sailing for Iceland; assembling of convoy in Seydisfjordur, Iceland; conditions on board destroyers as low speed; danger of capsizing from icing of superstructure; role of German Air Force Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor reconnaissance aircraft; sight of loss of Merchant Navy tanker; course taken by convoy; German attacks and going to aid of HMS Trinidad; penetration of cold into engine room; technique for snatching sleep; smell of bodies on board; behaviour of Soviets in Murmansk, Soviet Union and lack of help to repair damaged Royal Navy ships; regatta held in Murmansk, Soviet Union. REEL 3 Continues: question of repair capability at Murmansk, Soviet Union. Aspects of operations as engine room artificer aboard HMS Wayland in Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 1942-1945: work of auxiliary fleet repair ship at Mombasa, Kenya, 1942; move to Mediterranean, 1942-1943; contrast between British and American landing craft; conditions at Trincomalee, Ceylon; rest camp at Diyatalawa; work at Trincomalee, Ceylon; security from attack at Trincomalee, Ceylon. Aspects of period as engine room artificer aboard HMS Renown, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, 1945: drafting to ship; voyage from Ceylon to GB, 4/1945; surrender of German fleet at Rosyth, 5/1945; meeting with brother on arrival in GB; job he had after leaving HMS Renown. Reflections on service in Royal Navy in Second World World: comparison of life in different types of Royal Navy ships during Second World War. REEL 4 Continues: attitude to having served with Royal Navy in Second World War; question of effects of service in Second World War.