Description
Object description
British seaman trained at HMS Raleigh, Torpoint, GB, 1/1941-3/1941; served aboard HMS Edinburgh, 18th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, North and South Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean, 4/1941-10/1941; officer cadet with HMS King Alfred in GB, 11/1941-1/1942; officer served as navigation officer aboard HMS Vimy, 18th Destroyer Flotilla in North Atlantic and West Indies, 1/1942-10/1942; served aboard HMS Vimy, 2nd and 6th Escort Groups in North Atlantic, 10/1942-5/1944; served aboard HMS Vimy, 141st Escort Group in English Channel and North Sea, 5/1944-3/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Peterborough and Leicester, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; sporting activities; anticipation of Second World War. Aspects of period as student at University of Leicester, GB, 1938-1940: degree of political knowledge amongst students, 1938-1939; reasons for continuing studies after 3/9/1939; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; personal war aims; attitude to taking examinations; public morale and effect Prime Minister Winston Churchill had on it; attending tribunal in Peterborough to continue education. Recollections of enlistment and training as seaman at HMS Raleigh, Torpoint in GB, 1/1941-3/1941: background to call-up for naval service; medical examination at Cambridge; reception at Plymouth Railway Station; accommodation at HMS Raleigh; origins of recruits; rank.
REEL 2 Continues: character of petty officers instructors; rations; attitude towards drill; instruction on knots; gunnery drill; importance of sport especially rugby; method used to clear rubble in aftermath of German Air Force bombing in Plymouth; leave and rail travel. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Edinburgh in GB coastal waters, North and South Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean, 4/1941-10/1941: drafting to ship at Scapa Flow; character of Scapa Flow and HMS Edinburgh; treatment of ordinary seaman; duties with seaplane handling detachment; incident caused by his drying overalls over funnel; his action station.
REEL 3 Continues: relations between officers and men; rumours amongst crew; character of mess deck and rations; method of supplementing rations; rum ration; personal hygiene; clothing worn in Arctic and Mediterranean; encounter with Master-at-Arms; lack of problems of discipline on board; Sunday Divisions; issue of rum ration; Crossing the Line ceremony; question of what makes a happy ship; cleaning and painting ship; watches; reading amongst sailors.
REEL 4 Continues: first experience of Northern Patrol in North Atlantic and Arctic; duration of Northern Patrol operations; capture of German prisoners of war from scuttled vessel SS Lech in Bay of Biscay, 25/5/1941; discussion with German prisoners of war; sense of fellowship with naval prisoners of war; ship's movements during pursuit of Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941; memories of Ordinary Seaman Walter 'Spike' Hadow lost on board HMS Hood, 24/5/1941; leave in Gibraltar; size of Malta convoy from Gibraltar, 21/7/1941-25/7/1941; reaction to first Malta convoy; Axis torpedo bomber attacks on ship; behaviour of soldiers on board ship during Malta convoy; role interrogating captured Italian Air Force pilot; Italian Navy motor boat attacks on convoy; question of Italian pilots attacking Royal Navy ships rather than merchant vessels; reaction to being in action.
REEL 5 Continues: return to Gibraltar and use of zigzagging techniques; escorting Convoy WS 11 to Cape Town, South Africa, 8/1941-9/1941; importance of mail; behaviour of civilians in South Africa; memories of Great Dane dog 'Able Seaman Just Nuisance' in South Africa; reaction to going into action escorting second Malta convoy, 24/9/1941-30/9/1941; use of tannoy system; length of Italian torpedo bomber attacks; armament on board HMS Edinburgh; arrival back in Gibraltar, 30/9/1941; morale after successful convoys; importance of Malta convoys; adjusting to life in Royal Navy; return to GB, 10/1941; reaction of petty officer to prospect of his becoming officer.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as officer cadet with HMS Alfred, Hove, GB, 11/1941-1/1942: interview for officer training; importance of sporting activities to promotion; amusing story of sailor's exploits ashore; move to HMS King Alfred; character of officer training; opinion of Australian and New Zealand officer cadets; rugby playing; degree of navigational training; use of sextant; attending destroyer course; asdic training; degree of confidence after training; relations between regulars and Hostilities Only (HO) officers. Recollections of operations as navigation officer aboard HMS Vimy, 18th Destroyer Flotilla in North Atlantic and West Indies, 1/1942-10/1942: character of destroyer; joining ship at Falmouth, GB, 1/1942; refitting; degree of understanding of ship's role; ship's officers.
REEL 7 Continues: role of ship's officers; voyage to Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1/1942-2/1942; dinner with uncle in Freetown, Sierra Leone; additional duties as education officer; question of loss of supplies; hunt for German submarine in North Atlantic; ramming submarine U-162 and capture of prisoners of war, north east of Trinidad, 3/9/1942; techniques for interrogating German prisoners of war; amusing story of impersonating Adolf Hitler to German prisoners of war; reception in Trinidad; attitude towards captured submarine personnel; escorting oil tankers; use of box search to detect submarines; ship's armament and depth charges; plotting submarines using Asdic; development of Hedgehog and Squib Depth Chargers.
REEL 8 Continues: improvements in radar and signals detection; limitation of Asdic; routing of convoys; knowledge of capability of German submarines; role as submarine boarding officer. Aspects of operations as navigation officer aboard HMS Vimy, 2nd Escort Group in North Atlantic, 10/1942-3/1943: opinion of captain Lieutenant Commander Richard Stannard VC; sinking of submarine U-187, east of Newfoundland, 4/2/1943; contrast in ship's captain and crew members' attitude to sinking of submarine U-187; question of when to ram and not to ram a submarine; sinking of submarine U-187 by depth charges, 4/2/1942; reasons for Convoy SC 118 being mixed up; inability to pick up survivors; position of convoy escorts; question of being placed on wrong station during submarine attack on Convoy, SC 118; broadcast by Lieutenant Commander Richard Stannard VC after action. Aspects of operations as navigation officer aboard HMS Vimy, 6th Escort Group in North Atlantic, 4/1943-5/1944: opinion of new ship's captain Lieutenant Commander John Knight; nature of marriage in wartime; exercising with escort carriers off Gibraltar, 6/1943.
REEL 9 Continues: degree of knowledge of German developments; duties in GB coastal waters, 1943-1944; method of going ashore in congested Portsmouth, GB, 1944; character of his commanding officers. Aspects of operations as navigation officer aboard HMS Vimy, 141st Escort Group in English Channel and North Sea, 5/1944-3/1945: arrival off Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, 7/6/1944; escorting landing craft; Allied air superiority; refit in Liverpool, GB, summer 1944; rotation of crew leave whilst in port; anti-E-boat patrols off east coast of GB; threat of acoustic mines, 1944-1945; problems navigating into Schledt Estuary; behaviour of civilians in Antwerp, Belgium; leaving ship to attend Long Navigation Course, 3/1945; memories of VE Day in Liverpool, GB, 8/5/1945.
REEL 10 Continues: Aspects of period as navigation officer aboard minesweepers HMS Shippigan and HMS Tadoussac in GB coastal waters, 1945: reaction to appointment to minesweepers; method of navigating minesweepers; sweeping for mines; demobilisation, 1946; attitude to having served with Royal Navy during Second World War; story of rescuing survivors from raft in North Atlantic, 1943 and post-war aftermath.
