Description
Object description
British chief engine room artificer served aboard HMS Belfast, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic, Arctic, English Channel during Normandy Landings and Far East, 1943-1948
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Portsmouth and Denmead, GB, 1923-1938: family; father's service with Royal Navy and loss of leg; education. Aspects of period as schoolchild at Royal Hospital School, Ipswich, GB, 1935-1938: arrival at school; pattern of education; swimming instruction; 'boxing' the compass; climbing the mast; rifle shooting; Sunday Divisions; examination for naval artificer apprenticeship; discipline; organisation of school. Recollections of period as artificer apprentice at HMS Fisgard, Chatham, Portsmouth Dockyard and at HMS Fisgard, Torpoint, 1938-1942: problems with trade test and assignment as coppersmith; accommodation; uniform worn; documentation work during Munich Crisis, 9/1938; dispersal of apprentices to Portsmouth Dockyard, 9/1939.
REEL 2 Continues: initial impressions of coppersmith shop; breakfasting in coppersmith shop; apprentice work; move to HMS Fisfgard, Torpoint, 1940; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; work during invasion scares, 1940; belief that Germans could not invade GB; sight of German Air Force attacks on Plymouth; siblings role during Second World War. Recollections of operations as Chief Engine Room Artificer aboard HMS Belfast, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic, Arctic and English Channel during Normandy Landings, 1943-1944: drafting to cruiser, 1/1943; initial impressions of ship; messing arrangements in engineering shop; overcrowded nature of ship; duties as coppersmith; use of sketches to trace ship's pipework; work in coppersmiths shop; types of pipes in ship; character of coppersmiths shop; water leakage problems.
REEL 3 Continues: nature of work in engine room; watch system in engine room; methods of maintaining concentration in engine rooms; degree of noise in engine rooms; duties looking after air conditioning and steering gear; problems looking after ship's fog horn/siren; working in arctic; organisation of engineering department including memories of Engineering Officer Charles Simpson and Bill Slade; role of stokers in engine room artificers' mess; status of artificers; promotion to chief petty officer; use of hammock; his action station; patrolling in North Atlantic; character of bad storm in North Atlantic.
REEL 4 Continues: effects of melting condensation ice in messes; atmosphere in engine rooms; conditions in Arctic; wearing of hat; communications with lanterns; method of starting boat engines in Murmansk, Soviet Union; convoy escort duties in Arctic; commander's announcement of impending clash with German battleship Scharnhorst; atmosphere aboard ship during Battle of North Cape, 26/12/1943; watching gyrocompass during action; sight of German battleship Scharnhorst burning on horizon, 26/12/1943; aftermath of action; nature of ship's refit in South Shields, GB, 4/1944-5/1944; working up in Scapa Flow, GB; provisions carried at action stations; use of anti-flash gear; atmosphere aboard ship prior to D-Day landings; delay to Operation Neptune, 5/6/1944; sight of landing craft in English Channel; homing in on midget submarine beacon off Sword Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; arrival off Sword Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; bombardment of coast of Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944.
REEL 5 Continues: character of shore bombardment; sight of landings on Sword Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; accuracy of shore bombardment; aiding in repairs to smaller ships; casualties; damage to Mulberry Harbour in storm; sight of massed Allied bombing raid. Recollections of period as chief engine room artificer aboard HMS Belfast, 10th Cruiser Sqdn in Far East, 1945-1948: preparations for commission with British Pacific Fleet, 1/1945-6/1945; voyage from GB to Indian Ocean, 7/1945; reaction to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; drinking regulations in Sydney, Australia; acceptance of Japanese surrender on Okinawa Island, Japan, 8/1945; entering Shanghai, China; state of former internees of Japanese; problems with rice wine in Shanghai, China; visit to Hong Kong; use of German submariner prisoners of war aboard ship in Singapore, Malaya; problem of cockroaches; dealing with humid climate; running coppersmith classes; reasons for making specialised ash trays for ship.
REEL 6 Continues: visit to New Zealand; quarantine period in Hong Kong; making pin for crewman's broken leg; conversion of float from Japanese seaplane to sailing boat; Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1945; recreational activities on board; use of United States Navy amenity ships; shore leave in Australia; visit to Peking, China; move to Malaya, 1947; cleaning bottom of ship in Singapore, Malaya; return to GB, 1948; arrival of mail from GB; importance of privacy on board; method of sending mail from ship; lack of censorship in Pacific Theatre of Operations; sitting examination in Tokyo Harbour, Japan; memories of friends Roy Fenton, Steve Barker and Victor Paine; discipline aboard; reasons for ship being a happy ship; sporting activities.
REEL 7 Continues: number of crew aboard ship in Pacific; conversion of ship's hangars; advantages of billeting in mess; ship's laundry facilities; messing arrangements; issue of rum ration; opinion and character of rations; cooking in engine room in middle watch; provisions available in Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI); attending Sunday Divisions; 'Crossing the Line' ceremony; attitude to naval routine of entering harbour; story of working on propeller in Iceland, 1943. Aspects of period as instructor with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in Newhaven, GB, 1948-1950: volunteering for instructional duties.
REEL 8 Continues: conditions in GB on return, 1948; meeting future wife; living in civilian billet; instructional duties; use of motor minesweeper. Aspects of period as chief engine room artificer aboard HMS Kenya in Indian Ocean, 1950-1952: attitude to drafting; showing the flag in Mombasa, Kenya; contrast of service aboard HMS Kenya and HMS Belfast. Aspects of leaving Royal Navy and post-service career: father's attitude to his leaving Royal Navy, 1/1954; last duties prior to leaving Royal Navy; demobilisation procedure; items kept after leaving Royal Navy; employment at National Gas Turbine Establishment, Farnborough; problems adjusting to civilian life.
REEL 9 Continues: subsequent civilian engineering work on naval submarine and minesweeper engines; work during Cod Wars. Reflections on service aboard HMS Belfast, 10th Cruiser Sqdn, 1943-1948: problems of moving swiftly through ship; Admiral Robert Burnett trips to dentist; boiler cleaning; importance of tidiness, economy of space and tolerance aboard ship; effect of Royal Navy service; impressions of visit to New Zealand.
