Interview with William Harris Douglass

Sound: © IWM (21644)

305824188
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (21644)

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80020484&media_id=102876" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
701545906
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (21644)

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80020484&media_id=102877" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
450271840
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (21644)

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80020484&media_id=102878" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1846673916
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (21644)

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80020484&media_id=102879" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Object description

British stoker served aboard submarines HMS Tudor, HMS Seraph and HMS Taku in Mediterranean, 1943; served aboard submarine HMS Truculent in GB coastal waters, 1950

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Sunderland, GB, 1925-1942: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; employment; reasons for wanting to join Royal Navy; German Air Force attacks on Sunderland area. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy, 1942: volunteering for and call-up to Royal Navy, 16/8/1942; basic training at HMS Duke, Great Malvern; coping with Royal Navy discipline; stoker's training at HMS Kabul at Wetherby; his attitude towards steam ships; competing for rations at Chatham Naval Barracks; punishment for walking across parade ground; volunteering for Submarine Service; submarine training at HMS Dolphin at Gosport including use of Davis Escape Apparatus; period as spare crew at Dunoon. Recollections of operations as stoker with submarine HMS Tudor in Mediterranean, 1943: character of submarine; his duties on board; procedure for getting underway; role of coxswain; different jobs aboard during a patrol. REEL 2 Continues: use of non-floating grease; role of outside engine-room artificer; work of shallow water diver in case of emergency; patrolling within grid square; fear of depth charging; replacing rivets with wooden cones; story of obtaining his nickname 'Boots'; recoil of submarine when torpedo fired; lack of lack of overt enthusiasm if ship sunk. Recollections of operations as stoker with submarine HMS Taku in Mediterranean, 1943: running aground and how boat was rocked off bank; forty hour depth charging by Italian Navy destroyers after torpedoing of tanker; relief of obtaining fresh air after diving; morale in submarine on patrol; dispersing of submarines during German Air Force attacks on Malta; contact with Maltese civilians; targets selected in convoys and tactics employed by submarine commanders. REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of operations with Submarine Service during Second World War: memories of service aboard HMS Otway; memories of period aboard HMS Seraph during Operation Mincemeat, 4/1943; air attacks on submarines. Recollections of service aboard HMS Truculent in GB coastal waters, 1950: drafting to submarine; accident which prevented his sailing on submarine during fatal voyage; fate of submarine. Reflections on service with Submarine Service: attitude to having served with Submarine Service in Second World War; comradeship amongst submarine veterans and conduct of submarine veterans reunions. REEL 4 Continues: story of drinking half-a-pint of pusser's rum with Captain Norman Jewell.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), 1945-1989 (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Douglass, William Harris (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2001-06-30
Dimensions: whole: Duration 95, Number Of Items 4
Catalogue number: 21644

Object associations

Our collections information

We have over 1.7 million object records online, and we are adding to this all the time. Our records are never finished. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it. Sometimes we change how an object is interpreted. We sometimes make mistakes in our spelling, transcription or categorisation, or miss information out of our records.

Read more about our collections and the information we hold. Developing our collections information

If you have concerns about the language in this record, or you have information to improve it, please share your feedback.

We receive a lot of comments and can't respond to each one, but we do read them all and will respond where we can.

Interview with William Harris Douglass

Description

Object description

Content description

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Associated subjects

Associated themes

Our collections information

Related content

The Medics Who kept Duxford's Pilots in the Air During the Second World War