Description
Object description
British boy seaman served aboard HMS Belfast in GB coastal waters, Atlantic, Arctic and during Normandy landings, 1942-1944; seaman served aboard HMS Maximus in Mediterranean, 1944-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in the Ryde area, Isle of Wight, 1926-1939: family's naval service. Aspects of period as schoolboy at Royal Hospital School, 1939-1942: reasons for joining Royal Navy; character of education at Royal Hospital School, 1939-1942 including naval training; uniform worn; discipline; degree of food available; recreational activities; wartime restrictions on Isle of Wight. Aspects of period as boy seaman during training at HMS St George, Isle of Man, 1942: issue of kit and uniform; recreational activities; sleeping arrangements; availability of rations; pay; effect of being allowed to smoke; character of training.
REEL 2 Continues: seamanship training; house system; discipline and punishments; contact with home; attitude to enlisting into Royal Navy. Recollections of operations as boy seaman aboard HMS Belfast, 1942-1944: drafting to ship, 12/1942; initial impressions of ship; character of boy seaman's mess deck; sleeping in hammock; eating arrangements in mess; adjusting to life on board; duties as boy seaman; action station in A Turret; explanation of term 'setting the pointers'; method of reaching cruising station during bad weather; patrolling in Atlantic and off Norway; role escorting Queen Mary; weather conditions and clothing worn during Russian convoys, 1943; icing of ship in Arctic; seasickness.
REEL 3 Continues: start of Battle of North Cape, 26/12/1943; use of star shell to illuminate Scharnhorst; hearing of B Turret's hit on Scharnhorst; atmosphere in turret; lack of knowledge of battle plan; fate of Scharnhorst; conditions in turret in Arctic; ashore in Iceland; loss of Marine officer in Faroe Islands; lack of contact with officers on board; steering ship; recreation ashore in Scapa Flow; washing facilities; religious services; discipline and punishments; Belfast's nickname 'The Tiddly B'; reasons why ship was a happy ship; memories of Lieutenant Ronald Howard; contact with family; censorship of letters.
REEL 4 Continues: sailing from Scotland to Isle of Wight, 6/1944; reaction to hearing of objective; sight of invasion armada dawn, 6/6/1944; taking up position of beaches and start of bombardment; sight of landing craft going in to beaches; duties at action station during D-Day; direction of fire from shore; sight of rocket firing landing craft firing inland; shell hit in church spire; German Air Force attack; overnight leave during re-arming at Ryde during Normandy campaign; return to Rosyth and leaving ship, 8/1944; drafting to Headquarters at Fort Southwick in GB. Aspects of operations as able seaman aboard HMS Maximus in Mediterranean, 1944-1946: drafting to ship, late 1944; firing on railway line between France and Italy; picking up body Supermarine Spitfire pilot in Gulf of Genoa; character of Medlock Run from Naples; ashore in Naples and Malta; VE celebrations; memories of Captain Sir Standish-Roach and his interests in volcanoes; role of ship as junior ship; canteen messing on board; action station on Number 2 gun in A Turret; role intercepting Jewish illegal immigrant ships to Palestine; precautions against limpet mines in Haifa harbour.
REEL 5 Continues: Royal Navy's patrolling Palestine coastline; return to Portsmouth, 1946. Aspects of period as leading seaman aboard HMS Sirius, 1946-1947: duties; contrast between wartime and peacetime navy; living conditions on board; promotion to leading seaman; role looking after mess; messing facilities; rum ration; reasons for discharge from Royal Navy, 1948. Demobilisation process, 1948. Adjusting to civilian life and post war career as barber. Protective gear issued during service with Royal Navy. Reinstatement of pension. Attitude to having served in Royal Navy.