Interview with Kenneth Arthur Etheridge

British cabin boy served with Merchant Navy aboard SS Uffington Court in North Atlantic, 1939; served abord SS Kensington Court in North Atlantic, 9/1939 including sinking off Ireland, 18/9/1939; boy seaman on shore duties in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942 and aboard HMS Wuchang during voyage from Singapore, Malaya to Colombo, Ceylon, 2/1942- 3/1942; served aboard HMS Lucia at Ceylon, 1942-1944; seaman and petty officer served with Regulating Branch in GB and Malta, 1944-1960; petty officer served as Master at Arms aboard HMS Belfast in Far East, 1960-1962; served with Royal Navy Detention Quarters, Portsmouth, GB, 1962-1982; served with Royal Navy Families Information Centre during Falklands War at Portsmouth, GB, 4/1982-6/1982

REEL 1 Background in Bognor Regis, GB, 1923-1939: family; education; period at Gravesend Sea School, 1938-1939; reasons for wanting to join Merchant Navy. Aspects of period as cabin boy aboard SS Uffington Court in North Atlantic, 1939: joining ship at Cardiff, GB; work and conditions on board; jumping ship in Canada and loss of friend. Aspects of period as cabin boy aboard SS Kensington Court in North Atlantic, 9/1939 including sinking, 18/9/1939: story of sinking of ship by German submarine U-32 off Ireland, 18/9/1939; aid given to survivors from The Mission for Seafarers. Aspects of enlistment and training as boy seaman with Royal Navy in GB, 1940-1941: background to enlistment in Royal Navy, 5/1940; nature and opinion of basic training on Isle of Man; drafting to HMS Pollux. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Athlone Castle and HMT City of Canterbury from GB to Singapore, Malaya via South Africa, 12/1941-2/1942: embarkation aboard HMT Athlone Castle; German Air Force attack on ship; reception in South Africa; mutiny of British Army and Royal Air Force conscripts over conditions on board HMT City of Canterbury at Durban, South Africa, 1/1942; Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attack on convoy off Singapore, 5/2/1942; bomb damage to ship's stern on entering Keppel Harbour, Singapore, Malaya. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as boy seaman aboard HMS Wu Chang on voyage from Singapore, Malaya to Colombo, Ceylon, 2/1942-3/1942: background to drafting to ship after shore duties in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942; job scrounging supplies prior to sailing; personnel serving on board; taking on board Australian Imperial Force troops; encounter with Imperial Japanese Navy invasion force off Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies; character of voyage from Java, Dutch East Indies to Colombo, Ceylon; discovery that he had been reported dead at St Joseph Barracks, Colombo, Ceylon. Aspects of period as signalman aboard submarine depot ship, HMS Lucia at Ceylon, 1942-1944: Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service bombing of ship, Easter 1942; attitude towards two trips with submarines; return to GB, 1944; story of mining of landing craft off Ostend, Belgium, 10/1944. REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as seaman and petty officer with Regulating Branch, Royal Navy in GB and Malta, 1944-1960: background to becoming a member of Leading Patrolman Branch, 1944; drafting to HMS Nelson and duties on board; role as acting Master of Arms on board HMS Theseus; qualifying as Master at Arms, 1950; role of Master at Arms in Royal Navy; duties at Fort Sant Angelo, Malta, 1950-1955; move to Portsmouth, GB; story of Peaches Page's trial at hands of midshipmen from HMS Bulwark in Portsmouth Coliseum; story of stoker's gallantry on behalf of contralto attempting to edify audience at Portsmouth Coliseum; story of murder of Royal Canadian Navy seaman; his job at Boy's Training Establishment, HMS St Vincent, Gosport, 1957-1958. Recollections of period as Master at Arms aboard HMS Belfast in Far East, 1960-1962: accommodation on board. REEL 4 Continues: how Royal Australian Navy personnel painted kangaroo in bitumastic on side of ship during Exercise Jet 61; retaliation against Australian ships; memories of visit to Tanzania; story of dealing with drug smuggling by Chinese ratings on board ship, 1962; showing flag in United States of America and Canada. Aspects of period as Master at Arms at Royal Navy Detention Quarters, Portsmouth, GB, 1964-1982: nature of regime; character of recidivists in 53 Class; nature of food available; effect of television programme made about detention centre. Aspects of period as petty officer with Families Information Centre, Royal Navy during Falklands War, 4/1982-6/1982: work of centre; problems caused by delay in announcing sinking of HMS Sheffield. REEL 5 Continues: report written on lessons to be learnt for his experience; presents he received on leaving job; leaving Royal Navy, 9/1982. Reflections on service with Royal Navy, 1940-1982: attitude to having served with Royal Navy; why HMS Belfast was his happiest ship; story of 'counselling' he received after HMT City of Canterbury was bombed, 5/2/1942; time aboard HMS Wu Chang in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942.