Description
Object description
British boy seaman trained aboard HMS Caledonia, Rosyth and HMS Pembroke, Chatham, GB, 1937-1939; served aboard HMS Royal Sovereign, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, 1939-1940; seaman served aboard HMS Woolston, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters and North Atlantic, 1940-1941; served aboard HMS Fortune, 19th Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, 11/1941-1/1943; petty officer served aboard HMS Balfour, 1st Escort Group in United States of America, North Atlantic and in English Channel during landings in Normandy, France, 10/1943-5/1945; served aboard HMS Sussex in Far East, 1946-1947; petty officer electrician served aboard HMS Kenya in Mediterranean, Far East and during Korean War, 1949-1952; served as Electrician Instructor at Electrical School, Chatham, GB, 1952-1953
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Glasgow, GB, 1922-1937: family; living conditions; education; religion and recreational activities. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy at HMS Caledonia at Rosyth, GB, 1937-1939: background to enlistment; initial training period; uniform issued; use of hammocks; accommodation on board; pattern of initial training; training routine after initial training period; reasons for punishments; instructors; messing arrangements.
REEL 2 Continues: drafting to HMS Pembroke, Chatham at end of training; pattern of training at HMS Pembroke, Chatham, 1938-1939. Aspects of period as boy seaman aboard HMS Royal Sovereign, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters, 1939-1940: drafting to battleship, 6/1939; attitude to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; attempts to intercept German ships in North Sea, 9/1939. Aspects of operations as seaman aboard HMS Woolston, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters and North Atlantic, 1940-1941: drafting to destroyer; picking up survivors; question of effect of depth charging German Navy submarines; duties on board; watch system worked by quartermaster; description of depth charges; responsibilities of Torpedo Branch; character of mess and canteen messing arrangements; off duty activities.
REEL 3 Continues: receiving portion of prize money; frequency of submarine alerts; conditions in North Atlantic; lack of disciplinary problems; frequency of drafts; reasons why ship was a happy ship; leaving ship, 8/1941. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Fortune, 19th Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, 11/1941-1/1943: drafting to destroyer, 11/1941; duties as torpedoman; move to Gibraltar, 12/1941; effects of poor weather conditions during run to Malta; captain Lieutenant Commander Richard Pankhurst's method of avoiding Axis bombing; attitude to being under attack; inspecting damage at Valletta, Malta and subsequent repairs; three days of continuous attacks on route to Alexandria, Egypt 13/2/1942-15/2/1942; escorting fast convoy to Malta, 3/1942.
REEL 4 Continues: memories of captain Lieutenant Commander Richard Pankhurst; his action station on bridge; rescuing survivors of merchant vessel sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy submarine. Aspects of period on shore duties at HMS Marlborough, Eastbourne, GB, 1943: drafting to course; German Air Force hit and run raids. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Balfour, 1st Escort Group in United States of America, North Atlantic and in English Channel during landings in Normandy, France, 10/1943-5/1945: drafting to frigate in United States of America; relations with American service personnel and civilians; contrast in electrical layout of British and American constructed ships; proposed role of American built frigates; accommodation; description of Hedgehog Mortar; role and duties; boarding surrendered German Navy submarines, 5/1945.
REEL 5 Continues: question of survival during wartime; role of ship during landings in Normandy, France, 6/1944; sight of Allied armada and shore bombardment on Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; reaction to participating in action; leaving ship, 7/1945; role of escorting captured German Navy submarines, 5/1945. Aspects of period as petty officer aboard HMS Sussex in Far East, 1946-1947: work in dock yard in Singapore, Malaya; changing role of Torpedo Branch and electing to become an electrician. Recollections of operations as petty officer electrician aboard HMS Kenya in Mediterranean, Far East and during Korean War, 1949-1952: meeting with Princess Elizabeth in Malta; transporting Ernest Bevin and Lord Louis Mountbatten to India; duties in Burma; move to Hong Kong, 1950; start of Korean War, 6/1950; coastal bombardment near Pusan, South Korea, 8/1950; action station.
REEL 6 Continues: organisation of damage control parties; duration of bombardments; discovery of area of operation on return to Sasebo, Japan; picking up Chinese fishermen; participation in landings at Inchon, South Korea, 15/9/1950; sight of troop landings at Inchon, South Korea, 15/9/1950; role during action; visits from British Army NCOs to petty officers' mess; problems in typhoon; coping with cold weather conditions.
REEL 7 Continues: visit to Japanese home in Japan; escorting landing craft to pick up crashed Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 aircraft on River Yalu, North Korea; messing arrangements in petty officers' mess; presence of Chinese laundry men on board; number of electricians on board; electrical duties; discipline; cinema showings; recreational activities on ship and ashore in Japan; contact with home. Aspects of period as Electrician Instructor with Electrical School at Chatham, GB, 1952-1953: duties training National Service conscripts.
REEL 8 Continues: married quarters; domestic arrangements; background to leaving Royal Navy and return to civilian employment, 1953; attitude to leaving Royal Navy and adjusting to civilian life. Reflections on service with Royal Navy, 1937-1953: comradeship in Royal Navy; naval traditions; going ashore in uniform; contracting pleurisy; attitude to naval service; regret about not taking commission.