Interview with Kenneth Leo Byrne

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Sound: © IWM (22583)

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.

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Description

Object description

British boy seaman served aboard HMS Prince of Wales in GB coastal waters and North Atlantic, 2/1941-11/1941; served aboard HMS Prince of Wales, Force Z in Far East, 12/1941, including sinking off Malaya, 10/12/1941

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Liverpool, GB, 1924-1940: family; education; reasons for wishing to join Royal Navy, 1938. Aspects of training as boy seaman with Royal Navy in GB, 1940: reporting to HMS St George, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1/1940; nature of training at HMS St George, Douglas, Isle of Man; reasons for electing Devonport Home Division; drafting to HMS Prince of Wales; memories of German Air Force bombing during leave in Liverpool, 12/1940. Recollections of operations as boy seaman aboard HMS Prince of Wales in GB coastal waters and North Atlantic, 2/1941-11/1941: joining ship at HMNB Rosyth, 2/1941; action station; role as commander's messenger; living conditions on board; question of ship's working up; in action against German battleship Bismarck, 5/1941. REEL 2 Continues: state of ship's bridge after action against German battleship Bismarck, 24/5/1941; burial of dead at sea; period of repair at HMNB Rosyth; visit from King George VI; voyage to Newfoundland during Atlantic Charter signing, 8/1941; memories of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D Roosevelt. Recollections of operations as boy seaman aboard HMS Prince of Wales, Force Z in Far East, 12/1941, including sinking off Malaya, 10/12/1941: voyage to Singapore, Malaya, 11/1941-12/1941; use of anti-aircraft guns in Singapore, Malaya, 7/12/1941; opinion of Imperial Japanese Navy sailors, 12/1941; relations with HMS Repulse's crew; role in gun house as sight setter; Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service torpedo and bomb hits on ship, 10/12/1941; approach of HMS Express to collect wounded; belief that ship was unsinkable; reasons why he escaped from port side; rescue by HMS Express; reaction to entering water; lack of panic during abandoning of ship; how HMS Express disconnected from sinking HMS Prince of Wales; arrival of Royal Air Force aircraft overhead; sight of crew who did not try to save themselves. REEL 3 Continues: sight of shipmate dying from burns. Aspects of period on shore duties with Royal Navy in Singapore, Malaya and escape to Ceylon, 12/1941-2/1942: reception on arrival in Singapore; duties in Singapore, 12/1941-2/1942; advice from his officer to escape from Keppel Harbour; boarding HMS Kedah in Keppel Harbour, 2/1942; boarding USS West Point from HMS Kedah; conditions on board USS West Point; disembarking in Ceylon. Aspects of service as seaman with Royal Navy, 1942-1945: joining HMS Royal Sovereign, 4/1942; communications on board HMS Royal Sovereign; background to joining HMS Valiant; attitude to serving on board HMS Valiant; period at Royal Naval Torpedo School, HMS Defiance, Devonport; joining corvette, HMS Stonecrop, 1943; convoy duties off West Africa, 1943-1945; attitude to having served in Royal Navy during Second World War; formation of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse Survivors Association.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Byrne, Kenneth Leo (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2002-01-18
Dimensions: whole: Duration 90, Number Of Items 3
Catalogue number: 22583

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Interview with Kenneth Leo Byrne

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