Description
Object description
British boy seaman trained at HMS Wildfire, Sheerness, GB, 4/1938- 7/1938; signalman trained at Royal Naval Signal School, HMS Pembroke, Chatham, GB, 1938-1939; served aboard HMS Mashona, 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, Norway and in North Atlantic, 9/1939-5/1941, including bombing and sinking off Ireland in North Atlantic, 28/5/1941; served as signalman and Yeoman of Signals yeoman aboard HMS Ashanti, 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, Arctic and Mediterranean, 8/1941-5/1943; served with Beach Signals Section, Combined Operations in GB, during Normandy Landings and in Far East, 1943-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Linwood, GB, 1921-1938: family; father's employment and military service in First World War; family home in tenement block including sanitary and utility arrangements; neighbours; leisure and religious activities; education; joining Boys' Brigade and Salvation Army bands.
REEL 2 Continues: activities with Boys' Brigade and uniform worn; annual camps; family discipline; visit to juvenile court for stealing potatoes and turnips; employment as bank boy in carpet factory; pay; impressions of Royal Navy warship at Largs; employment as cabin boy with London Midland Scottish Railway.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of enlistment as boy seaman with Royal Navy in GB, 1938: reasons for joining Royal Navy; parents' reaction to enlistment; medical. Aspects of training as boy seaman at HMS Wildfire, Sheerness, GB, 4/1938-7/1938: reception; uniform and hammock issue; allocation of class leader and room; importance of hygiene; accommodation and messing arrangements; cleaning room and captain's rounds; kit inspection; relations between classmates; punishments; daily routine.
REEL 4 Continues: seamanship classes; education; drill and basic gunnery training; physical training; climbing the mast and role of button boy; contribution made for present for senior instructor as end of course; treatment by instructors; ashore in Sheerness; homesickness; difficulty of buying out of service; contact with home; church services.
REEL 5 Continues: age range of boy seamen; evening activities; pay parade; Sunday Divisions. Aspects of period as signalman with Royal Naval Signal School, HMS Pembroke, Chatham, 1938-1939: move to Chatham; accommodation; kit inspections; doubling up over parade ground; description of signals school; signals instruction; drilling to signal commands; training with Aldis Lamp and flags; principles of signalling; training on Morse Code.
REEL 6 Continues: flag signals; further details of Morse Code training; nature of signals training; difference between telegraphist and signalman; duration of course and contents of seaman's book. Recollections of period as signalman aboard HMS Mashona. 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic and Norway, 1939-1941, including sinking, 5/1941: drafting to ship; preference for destroyer service; character of destroyer; description of mess; messing arrangements; rum ration.
REEL 7 Continues: further details of messing arrangements; ship's officers; responsibilities of captain; size of mess deck and importance of getting on with each other; daily routine; watch system; signal staff and duties; uniform and insignia; issue of bottle of beer on Christmas Day.
REEL 8 Continues: tea breaks; weekend break for cooks; punishments; use of bells in Tiller Flat; raising flags; boats on destroyer; mail and censorship; piping on board; day and night exercises; awareness of approaching war; flotilla size and composition; introduction of radar to destroyer; preparations for war; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; joining Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, GB, 9/1939; searching for German submarine U-47 after sinking of HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, GB, 14/10/1939; lobbing grenades over side of ship.
REEL 9 Continues: Christmas dinner, 25/12/1939; influence of traditions; escort duties in North Atlantic; order of precedence for oiling and supplying; signalman's duties; role of destroyers and method of escorting aircraft carriers; escorting troopships to Norway; landing troops in Norway; German aircraft attacks during Norwegian campaign; bombardment duties; character of crew; duties of signalmen on bridge; changing of ship's numbers and membership of 6th Destroyer Flotilla; personnel on bridge in action; depth charging and firing of torpedo by orders from bridge; control of guns.
REEL 10 Continues: effect of war on ships' routine; action stations/cruising stations; next of kin on record sheet; rivalry between ships; cleaning ship; clothing worn at sea; patrolling off Norwegian coast; transporting troops to Norway; evacuation of Norway, 6/1940; move to Iceland; relations with Icelandic civilians; reaction to seeing Royal Navy ships being sunk; in collision with HMS Sikh, 6/1/1940 and subsequent leave; facilities for naval personnel at Scapa Flow, GB; reputation of HMS Ashanti; modifications to ship and camouflage changes; lack of homosexuality.
REEL 11 Continues: escorting HMS Rodney during action against German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941; reaction to sinking of HMS Hood, 24/5/1941; bombing of HMS Mashona by German Air Force aircraft west of Ireland, 28/5/1941; abandoning ship and rescue; sinking of HMS Mashona by HMS Tartar; treatment of survivors. Recollections of operations as signalman and Yeoman of Signals aboard HMS Ashanti, 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, Arctic and Mediterranean, 8/1941-5/1943: drafting to destroyer at Wallsend, GB; number of crew from HMS Mashona who were drafted to destroyer; description of destroyer HMS Ashanti; signal personnel; move to Scapa Flow; participation in Operation Archery, the raid on Vaagso Island, Norway, 27/12/1941; promotion to Yeoman of Signals; duties and responsibilities.
REEL 12 Continues: memories of Captain Richard Onslow; opinion of officers and crew; ship and bridge layout; convoy escort duties in Arctic; convoy screens; role of convoy commodore; speed of convoy and difficulty of destroyer keeping to that speed; fire discipline when attacked by aircraft; staying aboard ship in Murmansk, Soviet Union; lack of help received from Soviet Navy; convoy losses; opinion of German Air Force aircrews; weather and seas; presence of Catapult Aircraft Merchant Ship (CAM) ships in convoys; signal duties during convoys and need to remain at action stations; incident of toilet door falling off when guns fired.
REEL 13 Continues: return to Iceland with empty convoy; reception on arrival at Scapa Flow, GB; meetings between ships' yeomen; participation in Convoy PQ17; convoy escort duties during Operation Pedestal in Mediterranean, 8/1942 and subsequent losses; return to Scapa Flow and Arctic convoys; attitude to convoy escort work; atmosphere on board; conditions during winter convoys; participation in Convoy PQ18; towing HMS Somali and her subsequent sinking.
REEL 14 Continues: rejoining fleet; convoy escort duties during Operation Torch, the landings in North Africa, 12/1942; attitude to participation in Operation Torch; comforts sent to ship by American civilian; uniform worn at sea; memories of Coxswain and Captain Richard Onslow; personal dress; reasons for being Mentioned in Despatches; question of importance placed on awards; impressions of Malta; paying off in GB, 5/1943; performance of Hostilities Only personnel. Recollections of period as Yeoman of Signals with Beach Signal Section, Combined Operations in GB, during Normandy Landings and in Far East, 1943-1945: reasons for joining Combined Operations; drafting to HMS Dundonald I, Scotland, GB; attending commando course; start of training for D-Day landings.
REEL 15 Continues: move to Poole, GB; role and duties with beachmaster; description of Landing Craft Assault (LCA); signals equipment carried; reasons for loss of good conduct stripe; in sealed camp at Poole, GB; exercises at Hayling Island, GB; preparations for D-Day landings; embarkation on Landing Ship Tank; issue of rations and rum; impressions of approaching coast and landings, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; uniform and insignia worn and armament carried; beach landing at Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy, France; role of beachmaster.
REEL 16 Continues: activities on beach at Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy, France; return to HMS Dundonald I, Scotland, GB, until 1/1945; preparations for sailing for Far East, 1/1945; voyage from GB to India, 1/1945-2/1945; impressions of Bombay, India; attachment to Royal Marine commando units; impressions of Gurkhas and Royal Marine commando units; end of Second World War; return to GB for demobilisation and period on reserve; membership of veteran associations.