Interview with Lawrence Conlon

British seaman served aboard HMS Forester 4th Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, 1939; served aboard HMS Belfast, 18th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic and North Sea, 8/1939-11/1939 including mining in Firth of Forth, 21/11/1938; served aboard HMS Wrestler, 13th Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean, 1940-1941; served aboard HMS Indomitable in Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, 1941-1943; served aboard HMS Anguilla, 19th Escort Group in United States of America, North Atlantic and Arctic, 1943-1945

REEL 1 Background in Leeds and Featherstone, GB, 1920-1938: family; education; conditions in Featherstone during and after General Strike, 1926; employment in colliery; handling pit ponies. Aspects of enlistment and training as seaman at HMS Victory, Portsmouth, GB, 1938: decision to enlist in Royal Navy; medical in Manchester; arrival at HMS Victory; terms and conditions; accommodation in Anson Block; technique to getting into hammocks; issue of uniform including 'tiddlying' suits; messing arrangements; seamanship training; recruit who had a problem with drill; opinion of training; swimming instruction; lectures. REEL 2 Continues: formation of class band; instruction in knots; training in whaler; excitement at draft chits. Recollections of period as seaman aboard HMS Forester, 4th Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, 1939: collision with destroyer; courtesy visit to Bordeaux, France; messing arrangements; initial seasickness; duties including cleaning ship; washing facilities; role of cook of the mess; opinion of Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) personnel; character of rum ration; opinion of officers; watch system worked; action station; recreational activities; relations with mess mates; facilities for washing and drying clothes and hammock. REEL 3 Continues: duties looking after Greek naval observer; exercises. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Belfast, 18th Cruiser Sqdn in GB coastal waters, North Atlantic and North Sea, 1939: commissioning ship, 8/1939; initial impressions of cruiser; reaction to being drafted to cruiser; action station as loader with gun crew in Y Turret; stopping German liner SS Cap Norte in North West Approaches, 9/10/1939; sight of HMS Royal Oak exploding at Scapa Flow, 14/10/1939; hitting magnetic mine in Firth of Forth, 21/11/1939; effects of damage; story of how ship got it's mascot; reasons why ship was a happy ship; role of ship as German commerce raider during exercise in Pentland Forth and Captain George Scott's skill; memories of outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939. REEL 4 Continues: change in routine from peacetime to wartime; attitude to serving aboard HMS Belfast. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Wrestler, 13th Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean, 1940-1941: problems with cockroaches; joining destroyer and routine; patrol line; in action against French Navy fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, French Algeria, 3/7/1940; action station manning depth charges, torpedo tubes and searchlight; use of depth charges; opening fire on Italian aircraft with machine gun at Gibraltar; ashore in Gibraltar; encounter with French Navy destroyers off Gibraltar, 7/1940; opinion of French naval gunnery; sinking of Italian Navy submarine Durbo after recovery of confidential books off Gibraltar, 18/10/1940; clothing worn at sea. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as seaman aboard HMS Atherstone in GB coastal waters, 1941: escorting floating crane to Wales; evacuation from ship with appendicitis and subsequent hospitalisation in Newton Abbott; relations with civilians during wartime; role of ship; threat from German Navy surface vessels. Aspects of periods in Royal Navy Barracks, HMS Victory, Portsmouth, GB, 1940-1945: conditions in barracks; joining ship during air raid; use of air raid shelters. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Indomitable in Caribbean, Mediterranean and, Indian Ocean, 1941-1943: initial impressions of service on aircraft carrier; role as quartermaster and steering ship; steering points in ship; action station in intermediate steering position in engine room; steering on bridge; role as leading hand of mess; messing arrangements; washing facilities; recreational activities; Crossing the Line ceremony; use of locker spaces; use of hammock. REEL 6 Continues: technique used to free the carrier from grounding; duties as quartermaster at anchor and on jetty; role of carrier during landings on Madagascar, 5/1942, including narrow miss from torpedo fired by Vichy French submarine Monge; participation in Operation Pedestal in Mediterranean, 8/1942 including casualties; reaction to being below decks during action; burial of casualties; role of Royal Marines; return to GB. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Anguilla, 19th Escort Group in United States of America, North Atlantic and Arctic, 6/1943-5/1945: standing by frigate in Providence, United States of America, 6/1943-7/1943; altering ship to British specifications; voyage aboard HMT Queen Mary from GB to United States of America; conditions in United States of America and relations with Americans in Boston United States of America; role handling Hedgehog Depth Charge Thrower. REEL 7 Continues: chain of command in firing Hedgehog Depth Charge Thrower; 'sweeping' in North Atlantic; sight of HMS Goodall torpedoed off Kola Inlet, Soviet Union and subsequent attack on submarine U-286, 29/4/1945; clothing worn; sight of surrendered German Navy submarines in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 5/1945; demobilisation, 10/1945; attitude to having served in Royal Navy during Second World War.