Interview with George Alfred Gardner

British boy seaman served aboard HMS Warspite in United States of America, Canada and Pacific, 11/1941-3/1942; boy seaman and seaman served aboard HMS Warspite, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 3/1942-5/1943; seaman served aboard HMS Warspite, Mediterranean Fleet in Mediterranean, 6/1943-10/1944; served aboard HMS Dittany in North Atlantic, 1/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Preston, GB, 1923-1941: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; membership of 8th (Preston City) Bn Lancashire Home Guard; presence of Italian prisoners of war in area. Aspects of enlistment and training as boy seaman at HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1941: volunteering for service with Royal Navy, 8/1941; opinion of training and discipline; attractions of China Station; reasons for turning down opportunity to become officer. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Ile de France from GB to Canada, 11/1941: role as mast head lookout; sight of fisherman off Grand Banks; desertions in Canada. Recollections of period as boy seaman aboard HMS Warspite in United States of America, Canada and Pacific, 11/1941-3/1942: food available in Seattle, United States of America; state of ship; hospitality of American civilians and film stars; American civilians reaction to Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Seattle, United States of America, 7/12/1941; working up off Territory of Alaska and Canada, 1/1942; nature of voyage from United States of America across Pacific to Australia, 23/1/1942-20/2/1942; arrival in Sydney, Australia, 20/2/1942; dangerous state of ammunition; living conditions. REEL 2 Continues: effect of showering in salt water; sleeping in hammocks; serving food in mess; rum ration; use of upper deck; fatigue caused by watch system; difference between action and battle stations; lectures available to boy seamen; scheme for sending money home to his parents. Recollections of operations as boy seaman and seaman aboard HMS Warspite, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 3/1942-5/1943: composition of Eastern Fleet in Mombasa, Kenya, 1942; arrival in Trincolmalee, Ceylon, 22/3/1942; impressions of Bombay, India; day out arranged for boy seamen in Bombay, India; reception in Durban, South Africa; period of leave on maize farm at Newcastle, South Africa; behaviour of Zulus workers on farm; racial segregation in Durban, South Africa and effect of arrival of American service personnel; work of Perla Siedle Gibson 'The Lady in White' at Durban, South Africa. Recollections of operations as seaman with HMS Warspite, Mediterranean Fleet in Mediterranean, 6/1943-10/1944: arrival in Malta; duties in Mediterranean; condition of Maltese civilians; precautions against Italian Navy midget submarine attacks and accident which occurred with depth charges. REEL 3 Continues: bombardment of German forces at Salerno, Italy, 9/1943; German Air Force radio-controlled glider bomb attack on ship at Salerno, Italy, 16/9/1944; voyage of crew aboard HMT Strathmore from Malta to GB, 10/1943; how crew were kept incommunicado on arrival in GB, 10/1943; how petty officer dealt with bureaucratic Women's Royal Naval Service officer in HMNB Chatham. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Dittany in North Atlantic, 1/1944-5/1945: drafting to corvette on River Clyde, GB, 1/1943; memories of Vice-Admiral Gilbert Stephenson at Tobermory, GB, 2/1944; visit to dentist at Tobermory, GB; reasons for sleeping on deck; convoy work off West Africa; state of harbour at Freetown, Sierra Leone; role as ship's postman; bout of malaria. REEL 4 Continues: treatment for malaria; story of period in charge of ship at Gillingham, GB, 12/1945; demobilisation, 1946; opening fire on German Navy submarine which surfaced in convoy; pursuing log mistaken for submarine; problems of attacking German Navy submarines; losses inflicted on convoys by German Navy submarines, 1944-1945; use of harbour at Vigo, Spain to land seaman with yellow fever; escorting German ship from Vigo, Spain to Falmouth, GB; watch kept on sailors by Guardia Civil in Vigo, Spain; relations between sailors and Spanish civilians in Vigo, Spain; attitude to having served with Royal Navy during Second World War.