Interview with John Anthony Rowland Swainson

British officer served with Combined Operations in GB and Normandy, France, 1942-1944; officer served HMS Bleasdale in GB coastal waters, North Sea and Mediterranean, 1947-1948; served on shore duties with Royal Navy in GB and South Africa, 1948-1956; served aboard HMS Theseus in Mediterranean, 1956; served aboard HMS Ocean in Mediterranean, GB coastal waters, North Sea and Baltic Sea, 1956-1958; served aboard HMS Scarborough in North Sea, North Atlantic and Pacific, 1958-1959; served on shore duties with Royal Navy in GB and Malta, 1960-1971

REEL 1 Background in London, GB, 1921-1941: family; education; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1941-1944: call-up for service with Royal Navy, 7/1941; pattern of training at HMS Raleigh, Torpoint; origins of recruits; background to missing drafting to HMS Edinburgh; role as messenger. Aspects of period as officer with Combined Operations in GB, 1942-1944: training as coxwain with Combined Operations at HMS St Christopher, Fort William, 1942; initial duties as cook aboard rescue motor launch; commissioning and training with landing crafts. Aspects of operations as officer with rocket firing landing craft Combined Operations in GB coastal waters, English Channel during landings in Normandy, France and North Sea, 1944-1945: abortive plans for mine destruction on beaches; landing on beaches, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944. Aspects of period as officer aboard HMS Bleasdale in GB coastal waters, North Sea and Mediterranean, 1947-1948: winter spent in harbour at Sheerness, 1947-1948; acting as firing ship for destruction of munitions in North Sea off Heligoland, Germany; duties escorting merchant ships in Mediterranean to Palestine, 1948; burial of admiral at sea of admiral. Aspects of period as officer on shore duties with Royal Navy in GB and South Africa, 1948-1956: role as physical training officer at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth. REEL 2 Continues: selection to Royal Navy colour party during King George IV's funeral in London, 15/2/1952; story of crashing car whilst asleep and subsequent trial; posting to Admiral's Staff in South Africa; cruising African coast; relations with Captain George Peters of HMS Urania; appointment to physical training job at HMS Drake, Devonport; cricketing activities. Aspects of period as officer aboard HMS Theseus in Mediterranean, 1956: appointment to HMS Theseus, 1956; mutiny of seamen aboard HMS Theseus at time of Suez Crisis, 1956. Recollections of period as officer aboard HMS Ocean in Mediterranean, GB coastal waters, North Sea and Baltic Sea, 1956-1958: duties on board HMS Ocean; nature of troops and equipment carried by HMS Ocean in Mediterranean during Operation Musketeer, 10/1956-11/1956, including landings at Port Said, Egypt, 11/1956; loss of officer during homosexual inquiry; loss of Royal Marine overboard. REEL 3 Continues: damage to merchant vessel during visit to Hamburg, West Germany; cruising in northern waters and Scandinavia; Queen's Birthday Dinner on board HMS Ocean, 1957. Recollections of period as officer aboard HMS Scarborough in North Sea, North Atlantic and Pacific, 1958-1959: appointment to HMS Scarborough, 1958; characteristics of HMS Scarborough; voyage from GB to Christmas Island via Azores, Caribbean and Pacific, 1958; duties prior Operation Grapple hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island, 1958; dropping of hydrogen bombs; duties in Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, 1958; voyage from Australia to GB via Suez Canal, Egypt, 11/1958; participation in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) exercises in North Atlantic; role during First Cod War off Iceland in North Atlantic, 1959. REEL 4 Continues: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) exercises in North Atlantic and North Sea; participation in Exercise Riptide; visits to Bermuda; visit to Halifax, Canada, 1959; opinion of Royal Canadian Navy ships and crews; relations with French Canadians in Quebec, Canada; relations with Lord Louis Mountbatten and Countess Edwina Mountbatten in wardroom during visit to Canada; transiting through St Lawrence Seaway, Canada; visits to Buffalo, United States of America; return to GB, 9/1959; decommissioning of ship, 9/1959. Recollections of period as officer on shore duties with Royal Navy in GB and Malta, 1960-1971: physical training officer at HMS Pembroke, Chatham, 1960-1961; attending Royal Air Force Staff College, Bracknell; attitude to sea service; international character of staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in France; American attitude towards naval planning; taking announcers test for British Broadcasting Corporation radio, 1963; recruitment duties in London and with British Army of the Rhine. REEL 5 Continues: role in naming of ships; commanding HMS St Angelo, Birgu, Malta; discharge of Maltese seamen; memories of heading naval mission during revolution in Libya, 1969-1971; adjusting to civilian life and employment with Lord Taverners, 1971; story of returning Lend-Lease equipment back to United States of America, 1945.