Interview with John Arthur Carteret Maule

British signalman served aboard HMS Cornwall, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 2/1942-4/1942 including sinking 5/4/1942; served aboard HMS Hursley, 5th Destroyer Flotilla, Mediterranean Fleet in Mediterranean, 8/1942-1/1943; served with Royal Navy on shore duties on Malta, 2/1943-12/1943; served aboard HMS Dido, 12th Cruiser Sqdn, Mediterranean Fleet in Mediterranean, 1/1944-3/1944; served aboard HMS Oribi, 17th Destroyer Flotilla in Arctic, 1944-1945; served aboard HMS Pevensey Castle in North Atlantic, 1945

REEL 1 Background in East Bergholt, GB and New Zealand, 1923-1939: family; education. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1939-1941: reasons for joining Royal Navy, 1939; training as boy signalman with HMS St George at Douglas, Isle of Man, 1939-1941. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Athlone Castle from GB to Singapore, Malaya, 1941-1942: chance meeting with civilian from East Bergholt in Bombay, India, 1941; brief period in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942. Recollections of operations as signalman with HMS Cornwall, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 4/1942-4/1942: drafting to cruiser at Colombo, Ceylon, 2/1942; duties on board; memories of Chief Yeoman of Signals Sam Langford; action stations; retrieving a piece of bunting from masts; accident he had with plate glass in Perth, Australia; decoy role of cruiser, 4/1942. Recollections of sinking of HMS Cornwall, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942: Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attack on ship. REEL 2 Continues: fate of survivors in sea; lack of shark attacks on survivors; clinging to aircraft wheel in sea; use of tinned fruit; ban imposed on singing; rescue by Royal Navy destroyers HMS Paladin and HMS Panther; removal of survivors to Adu Atoll; hospitality shown to survivors in South Africa; physical state he was in with scorpion bite and oil burns; further details of hospitality shown to survivors in South Africa. Recollections of operations as signalman aboard HMS Hursley, 5th Destroyer Flotilla, Mediterranean Fleet in Mediterranean, 8/1942-1/1943: drafting to destroyer; high-level Italian Air Force attack in Alexandria, Egypt; Malta convoy escort duties. Aspects of period as signalman on shore duties on Malta, 2/1943-12/1943: drafting to signal station at St Paul's Bay; sight of surrender of Italian Navy in Malta, 10/9/1943; Axis air raids on Valletta; narrow escape from submarine sinking. REEL 3 Continues: story of mining in HMS Speedy, 14th Minesweeper Flotilla off Malta, 5/1943. Recollections of operations as signalman aboard HMS Dido, 12th Cruiser Sqdn, Mediterranean Fleet in Mediterranean, 1/1944-3/1944: operating off Anzio, Italy, 1/1944; collecting survivors from HMS Spartan, 29/1/1944; question of deflection of radio controlled bombs from HMS Dido onto HMS Spartan; circling-torpedo menace at Naples and Sorrento, Italy; reaction to collision of ship with United States Navy tank landing craft in Naples Harbour, 2/1944; story of volunteering to drive bus during strike in Portsmouth, GB, 1944. Aspects of operations as signalman aboard HMS Oribi, 17th Destroyer Flotilla in Arctic, 1944-1945: drafting to destroyer at Scapa Flow; weather conditions during convoys; impressions of Murmansk; conditions on board ship; later escort duties aboard HMS Pevensey Castle in North Atlantic, 1945. Aspects of period on shore duties with Royal Navy in GB, 1945-1946: preference for sea service to time in naval barracks; selection for commission; removal from selection course for medical reasons. REEL 4 Continues: discovery that he was dyslexic and consequent transfer to Royal Naval Patrol Service; story of escorting naval prisoner from Glasgow to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London; role with skeleton crew taking HMS Nelson to HMNB Rosyth; name changing ceremony at HMS Victory Royal Naval Barracks, Portmouth; effects of naval service during Second World War. Reflections on service with Royal Navy during Second World War: dive-bombing of HMS Hursley during evacuation of Tobruk, 9/1942; Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attack on HMS Cornwall in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942; reasons why HMS Cornwall was his happiest ship; attitude to having served with Royal Navy in Second World War.