Description
Object description
British stoker trained at HMS Pembroke, Chatham, GB, 1933-1934; served aboard HMS Colombo on East Indies Station, 1934-1935; served aboard HMS Fortune in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1936-1938; served aboard HMS Hostile, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, Norway and Mediterranean, 1939-1940, including mining and sinking in Mediterranean off Cape Bon, Tunisia, 23/8/1940
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Ramsgate, GB, 1915-1933: family; education; employment; membership of British Sailors Society; uniform worn by British Sailors Society. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy at HMS Pembroke, Chatham in GB, 1933: enlistment and recruitment procedure; character of family home; reception on arrival at HMS Pembroke, Chatham; character of mess.
REEL 2 Continues: slinging hammock; issue of uniform; pattern of basic training; training as stoker; examination at end of course; degree of leave entitlement and incident when his shirt was used for mopping floor; further details of stoker training; operations of boilers; further details of final examination; method of drafting to ships; passing out parade; character of parents; further details of passing out parade; reasons for not being a drinking man; embarkation leave.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of taking passage on board HMS Calcutta from GB to Port Tewfik, Egypt; 1934; messing arrangements on board HMS Calcutta; ship biscuits; dealing with seasickness; method of providing chewing tobacco; supplies of cigarettes and tobacco. Recollections of period as stoker aboard HMS Colombo on East Indies Station, 1934-1935: joining ship and sailing for Ceylon; attending regattas; relations between officers and ratings; daily routine in boiler rooms; watch system; other duties; captains' inspections; disciplinary measures; ashore in Colombo, Ceylon; duties in Indian Ocean; recreational activities; characteristics of ship's forecastle; make and mend; drinking 'Kai'.
REEL 4 Continues: quality of rations; further details of duties in Indian Ocean; attending dance interrupted by dacoits; return to GB. Aspects of period as stoker aboard HMS Fortune in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1936-1938: process of applying for promotion; contrast between destroyer and light cruiser service; ship's armament; patrols off coast of Spain; aftermath of sinking of Spanish Republican Navy warship; examination for leading stoker on leaving ship and joining submarine depot ship, HMS Maidstone. Aspects of period as leading stoker aboard HMS Hostile, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in GB coastal waters, Mediterranean and Norway, 1939-1940: character of fleet destroyers; duties as furnace repairman and motor boat driver; duties on board motor boat; reaction to start of Second World War, 3/9/1939; journey to Malta to join ship.
REEL 5 Continues: duties on board ship; character of destroyer; shadowing Italian troopship towards Suez Canal, Egypt, 9/1939; search for German Navy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, 11/1939-12/1939; story of attempts to pick up airman prior to sinking of HMS Barham, 1941, his action station with repair party; clothing worn in repair parties; move to Narvik, Norway, 4/1940; memories of First Battle of Narvik, 4/1940; reaction to being in action; description of term 'flat'.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of mining and sinking of HMS Hostile, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in Mediterranean off Cape Bon, Tunisia, 23/8/1940: mining of ship; settling of ship in water and preparing to abandoning ship; reasons for guarding mess decks; abandoning ship; reaction to sinking of ship; period in sea; rescue by Royal Navy destroyer; reaction to captain Lieutenant Commander Frank Burnell-Nugent's speech in Malta after sinking. Aspects of various draftings with Royal Navy, 1942-1945: joining HMS Jervis, 1941; duties with British Army tank recovery unit in North Africa, 1942; duties as stoker aboard HMS Medway in Alexandria, Egypt, c1942-1943: character of submarine repair ship; duties; drafting to HMS Urchin; promotion to petty officer, 1943.
REEL 7 Continues: return to GB from Ceylon, 1945; duties collecting German V1 Flying Bomb launching ramps in France, 1945; duties in occupied Germany, 1945; demobilisation in HMNB Chatham, 1945; adjusting to civilian life and Territorial Army and Royal Naval Reserve duties after 1945; decorations awarded for service with Royal Navy; nature of war service.