Description
Object description
British civilian schoolchild with Marine Society training ship Warspite at Grays on River Thames, GB, 1938-1939; boy seaman trained at HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1939-1940; boy seaman and seaman served aboard HMS Dorsetshire,5th and 1st Cruiser Sqdns in North and South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 6/1940-4/1942, including sinking in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942; served aboard HMS Valiant, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 1943; seaman and petty officer served aboard HMS Teazer, 24th Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean, 1943-1944; served as instructor at Royal Naval Torpedo School, HMS Defiance, Devonport, GB, 1945-1946; served aboard HMS St James in GB coastal waters, 1946-1949; served aboard HMS Gambia in Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, 1950-1952; served as chief electrician with Royal Naval Electrical School, Chatham, in GB, 1953-1954
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Cumberland and Broughton in Furness, GB, 1923-1939: family; education; childhood activities. Aspects of period with Marine Society training ship TS Warspite at Grays on River Thames, GB, 1938-1939: background to selection to join TS Warspite, 2/1938; character of training ship; accommodation; daily routine and training; use of free time; uniform and sports; discipline; adjusting to life on training ship; home leave; summer concert parties. Aspects of period as boy seaman with HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1939-1940: selection process; reaction of family to joining Royal Navy; origins of boy seamen.
REEL 2 Continues: kitting out with uniform; induction process; allocation of mess; advanced training; selection as leading boy; daily routine; seamanship and gunnery training; incident of collective punishment of mess; climbing mast; pay; swimming instruction; inspections; Sunday activities; contact with family; use of recreational time; washing clothes; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; continuation of training; duties as instructor boy. Recollection of operations as boy seaman and seaman aboard HMS Dorsetshire, 5th and 1st Cruiser Sqdns in North and South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 6/1940-4/1942: drafting to ship, 6/1940; initial impressions of ship; boy's mess; allocation to job of captain's messenger.
REEL 3 Continues: nature of duties as captain's messenger; messing arrangements in boys mess; question of status as captain's messenger; washing facilities; education for boy seamen; film shows; long periods away from home; physical training on deck; conditions on board; patrolling duties in South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; mail supply; Captain Benjamin Martin's decision to leave convoy and join hunt for German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941; formidable character of German battleship Bismarck; firing on German battleship Bismarck, 27/5/1941; witnessing torpedo hits on German battleship Bismarck, 27/5/1941; sight of German battleship Bismarck turning over, 27/5/1941; atmosphere on bridge during action; sight of survivors being picked up; effects of submarine alarm.
REEL 4 Continues: attitude to sinking of German battleship Bismarck, 27/5/1941; return to GB and disposal of German survivors; atmosphere on board after sinking of German battleship Bismarck; promotion to ordinary seaman; duties in defence station in magazine and action station in A Turret; anti- flash gear worn and reasons for wearing clean overalls; duration of time at action station; return to South Atlantic to hunt for German commerce raiders; interception and sinking of German Navy supply ship, MV Python in South Atlantic, 1/12/1941; shore leave in South Africa; escorting troop ships to Bombay, India, 12/1941; duties in Indian Ocean, 1/1942-3/1942. Aspects of sinking of HMS Dorsetshire in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942: orders to rejoin ship; awareness of proximity of Imperial Japanese Navy fleet; hearing order to abandon ship after Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service air attack; abandoning ship; machine gunning of survivors in water.
REEL 5 Continues: period in sea after sinking; rescue from sea; state of survivors in water; transfer to Mombasa, Kenya; removal to South Africa. Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Valiant, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 1942-1943: drafting to ship in Durban, South Africa; qualifying as torpedoman; return to GB. Recollections of operations as seaman and petty officer aboard HMS Teazer, 24th Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean, 10/1943-12/1944: drafting to destroyer after qualifying as leading torpedo operator at Royal Naval Torpedo School, HMS Defiance, Devonport, GB, 10/1943; responsibilities as leading torpedo operator; duties in Mediterranean and Aegean Sea; qualifying as petty officer; sinking German Navy submarine chaser Heidleberg, 15/9/1944; return to GB, 12/1944; visit to the ship's adoptive town, Macclesfield, GB; attitude towards service aboard destroyer; canteen messing; living conditions on board; conditions for petty officers.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as torpedo instructor with Royal Naval Torpedo School, HMS Defiance, Devonport, GB, 1945-1946: attending torpedo; VE Day celebrations, 5/1945; attitude of personnel awaiting demobilisation. Aspects of period as petty officer aboard HMS St James in GB coastal waters, 1946-1949: standing by during construction of ship in Glasgow, 1946; opinion of captain and his methods; fleet review, 7/1947; visit to Brighton; effects of service on family life; various duties of ship; attending Royal Tournament, London, GB, 1948-1949. Aspects of period as petty officer electrician aboard training ship HMS Alaunia at Devonport, GB, 1949-1950: drafting to training ship; duties as attempt to obtain leave at time of birth of daughter, 1950. Aspects of period as petty officer aboard HMS Gambia in Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, 1950-1952: drafting to cruiser; various duties of ship; return to GB, 1952; drafting to Reserve Fleet in Harwich on return to GB, 1952. Aspects of period as Chief Electrician at Royal Naval Electrical School, Chatham, 1953-1954: drafting to school; change in depot; process of leaving Royal Navy.
REEL 7 Continues: last days in Royal Navy at Chatham. Reflections on service with Royal Navy, 1939-1954: attitude to serving in Royal Navy; lack of problems adjusting to civilian life; civilian employment as electrical engineer on leaving Royal Navy; petty officers' mess on HMS Gambia; question of what makes a happy ship; service aboard HMS Tezser in Mediterranean, 10/1943-12/1944; entertainments on board HMS Dorsetshire; sight of Camel Corps in North Africa; attending regatta during service on HMS Gambia.
