Description
Object description
British civilian and member of Headquarters Coy, 27th Hampshire (Farnborough) Home Guard in Fleet, GB, 9/1939-5/1942 seaman trained at HMS Collingwood, Fareham, 6/1942-7/1942; trained as Asdic operator at HMS Nimrod, Campbeltown, GB, 8/1942-9/1942; served as Asdic operator aboard L'Comprise, Free French Navy in North Altantic and Arctic, 9/1942-11/1942; served aboard HMS Belfast in GB coastal waters, Arctic, English Channel during Normandy Landings and Far East, 11/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Fleet, GB, 1925-1939: family; character of Fleet; parent's employment; education; sporting activities; character of Empire Day; early interest in Royal Navy; presence of retired service officers in area; membership of Boy Scouts Movement; father's interest in motorcycling; anticipation of outbreak of Second World War; memories of Munich Crisis, 9/1938. Recollections of period as civilian in Fleet, GB, 1939-1940: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; introduction of flag days; hoarding of supplies; fitting blackout curtains; precautions against air raids; community spirit.
REEL 2 Continues: leaving school, 9/1939; employment in engineering firm; fire watching duties; amusing story of driving Universal Carrier into factory press; atmosphere in factory; lack of air raid shelters in factory; delay in receiving war news; attitude towards Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini; conditions during winter, 1939-1940; adapting to rationing; following events of the Battle of River Plate, 12/1939; role of Boy Scout Movement in aiding Home Guard; attitude of troops returning from Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940; importance of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's voice on radio; community feeling towards war; case of retired officer who marked up map of defences; strength of Home Guard; draining of Fleet pond; German Air Force attacks on Fleet area; attitude towards Germans.
REEL 3 Continues: further details of items found during draining of Fleet Pond; supplementing rations; governmental nutritional advice; need for adaptability amongst civilians; employment in factory; atmosphere in factory. Aspects of period as private with Headquarters Coy, 27th Hampshire (Farnborough) Bn, Home Guard in Fleet, GB, 1940-1942: role as grenade thrower; drill for operating grenade thrower; training exercises; initial equipment in Home Guard; strength of his company; training exercise which involved raid on RAF Odiham; estimation of projected role of Home Guard; training with and cleaning rifles; bayonet practice; Home Guard equipment.
REEL 4 Continues: grenade practice; anti-gas training; uniform worn; visit by senior officer. Recollections of period as civilian in Fleet, GB, 1941-1942: civilian reaction to loss of HMS Hood, 24/5/1941; listening to William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw'; visits to cinema; military units based in Fleet area; civilian relations with troops based in area; effect on schoolmaster of loss of his son aboard HMS Barham, 25/11/1941; growing realisation that battleships were not unsinkable. Recollections of enlistment and training as seaman with HMS Collingwood, Fareham, GB, 6/1942-7/1942: volunteering for Royal Navy in Reading; mother's reaction to his joining Royal Navy; character of medical; awareness of recruitment officer that he was taking an underage volunteer.
REEL 5 Continues: reporting to HMS Collingwood, Fareham; character of CW candidates; issue of uniform and equipment; question of how some recruits not prepared for basic training; daily routine; assessment of recruits; physical training; training with knots; boat training; testing reactions; weapons training; unarmed combat training; character of instructors and treatment of recruits; layout of camp; accommodation in Nissen Hut; emphasis of cleanliness; structure of command; learning naval insignia; lack of anti-gas training; relations with fellow recruits; rations available.
REEL 6 Continues: guard duties; sporting activities; boxing activities; method used by instructors to settle disputes amongst recruits; method of administering inoculations. Recollections of period training as Asdic operator at Asdic Training School, HMS Nimrod, Campbeltown, GB, 8/1942-9/1942: drafting to HMS Nimrod, 8/1942; ablution facilities; character of accommodation; use of trawlers and yachts for Asdic training; lectures prior to sea training; interpreting underwater sound; recording of underwater sounds; operation of Asdic equipment; meeting with schoolfriend, Reg Squires.
REEL 7 Continues: Asdic training on board trawlers in Irish Sea; distinguishing between different engine noises; range of Asdic; dealing with underwater obstacles; use of Asdic for echo sounding; crew of the trawlers; length of training and degree of confidence; importance of physical co-ordination and fitness; brief drafting to HMS Osprey, Portland, 9/1942. Recollections of operations as asdic operator aboard destroyer, L'Incomprise, Free French Naval Forces in North Atlantic and Arctic, 10/1942-11/1942: initial role fitting Asdic; division of crew between French and British personnel; initial state of cleanliness on board ship; attitude of French seaman to war; character of the ship; reaction of crew to instillation of Asdic equipment and Asdic operators; convoy duties from GB to Soviet Union via Iceland; degree of preparations for Arctic service; evading German reconnaissance aircraft; fatigue experienced during first convoy.
REEL 8 Continues: dealing with fatigue; results of Asdic during first convoy; use of asdic during attacks on submarines; method of regaining contact with submarine after loss of contact; role of ship off Bear Rock; return to Portsmouth and drafting to HMS Belfast. Recollections of operations as asdic operator aboard HMS Belfast, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, Arctic,
English Channel during Normandy Landings and Far East, 11/1942-8/1945: arrival on board and familiarisation with cruiser; actions station and watch duties; opinion of officers; character of the ship; ship's camouflage; organisation of crew on board ship.
REEL 9 Continues: presence of Admiral's Staff on board ship; relations between admiral and captain of ship; role of midshipmen; naval ratings; adjusting to hierarchy of ship; reasons for ship being a happy one; role of Royal Marines; relations between seaman and marines; naval branches on board; organisation of branches; personal responsibilities; use of daily roster.
REEL 10 Continues: watch system worked; state of readiness; accommodation on board ship; his mess deck; use of hammocks; personal hygiene; character of showers; central messing; rum ration; rations available; items available from Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI); rations available to officers; medical personnel on board; occasion when he was sent to sickbay.
REEL 11 Continues: coping with cold weather conditions; fitting arctic steam pipes; role of Masters-at-Arms; naval discipline on board ship; Sunday Divisions; religious facilities; rum ration; traditions of 'make and mend', 'All hands to clean ship' and 'Crossing the Line'; activities whilst off duty; communication with family and need for security; question of what makes a happy ship.
REEL 12 Continues: convoy duties to Arctic; forming screen to intercept German battleship Scharnhorst; sight of Scharnhorst by light of star shell during Battle of North Cape, 26/12/1943; Scharnhorst's turning away from action with squadron, 26/12/1943; tracking Scharnhorst by radar; role of ship during action against Scharnhorst; procedure for reporting sight of Scharnhorst; arrival of the Home Fleet; sight of Scharnhorst sinking, 26/12/1943; reaction of ship's crew to sinking of Scharnhorst; realisation of importance of sinking of Scharnhorst; sight of German prisoners of on board ship; realisation of vulnerability of capital ships; reaction to lack of sinkings during convoy; arrival back in Scapa Flow; return to convoy escort duties; dealing with boredom at sea; method of refitting ships; care and maintenance parties.
REEL 13 Continues: updating Asdic equipment and other modifications to ship at South Shields, 1944; process of decommissioning; adjusting to leave; arrival of new crew and working up period; loading up with ammunition, rations and medical supplies; orders to escort landing craft to Normandy, France, 4/6/1944; Captain Frederick Parham's method of calming rough seas around landing craft; opening fire on German positions at Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; accuracy of ship's gunnery; sight of D-Day landings, 6/6/1944; sight of monitor HMS Roberts; importance of ships' maintaining their station; technique for dealing with German submarines; duties on D-Day, 6/6/1944; Allied air activity, 6/6/1944; reaction to lull in fighting four days after landings, 10/6/1944; role of ship off Normandy, France, 6/1944; return to Portsmouth and Scapa Flow, GB, 7/1944; sinking of HMS Swift by acoustic mine off Normandy, France, 24/6/1944; dealing with infantry casualties; role of ship as flag ship; sailing for Far East, 5/1945.
REEL 14 Continues: change in personnel for Far East commission; shipping in Mediterranean, 1945; arrival in Indian Ocean, 7/1945; convoy protection in Pacific, 7/1945-8/1945; Imperial Japanese Navy experience of submarine warfare; detecting Imperial Japanese Navy submarines; story of drinking with Fiji Police; contact with United States Navy; reaction of crew to end of war in Europe, 8/5/1945; reaction to dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; move to Shanghai, China, 8/1945; conditions in Shanghai, China; contracting tropical disease from Japanese prisoners of war in Singapore, Malaya, 9/1945; story of hospitalisation, return to GB and reasons for medical release, 1945; demobilisation process, 1945.
REEL 15 Continues: attitude to having served with HMS Belfast during Second World War; post-war formation of HMS Belfast Association and preservation of HMS Belfast.