Interview with Dennis Alfred Frank Packham

British boy seaman trained as HMS St George, Isle of Man, GB, 1939-1940; boy seaman and seaman served aboard HMS Suffolk, 1st Cruiser Sqdn, Home Fleet in North Atlantic and Arctic, 2/1941-4/1943; seaman served aboard HMS Suffolk, 4th and 5th Cruiser Sqdns, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 5/1943-7/1945

REEL 1 Background in Wrottersley, GB, 1923-1937: family; early education. Aspects of period as schoolboy at training ship TS Mercury at Hamble, GB, 1937-1939: character of educational; daily routine; discipline; accommodation; opinion of education; visits to home; signing on with Royal Navy, 8/1939; attitude towards prospect of war; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of training as boy seaman with HMS St George, Douglas, Isle of Man, GB, 1939-1940: accommodation and daily routine; membership of advanced class; issue of uniform; recreational activities; letters home; pay. Recollections of operations as boy seaman and seaman aboard HMS Suffolk, 1st Cruiser Sqdn, Home Fleet in North Atlantic and Arctic, 2/1941-4/1943: drafting to cruiser, 2/1941; role as captain's messenger and watch system worked; character of patrolling in Denmark Strait; action station in A Turret shell room. REEL 2 Continues: communication between shell room and turret; promotion to seaman; chain of command; character of mess and sleeping arrangements; use of leisure time; religious service; importance of mail; discipline on board; hostilities only nature of crew; reasons for not becoming officer candidate; use of canteen in Hvalfjord, Iceland; use of 'make and mend' time; language and ditties used; start of pursuit of German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941; sighting of German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, 5/1941; actions on bridge on sighting of German battleship Bismarck, 23/11/1941; taking up action station in shell room during shadowing of German battleship Bismarck; reaction to sinking of HMS Hood in North Atlantic, 24/5/1941; atmosphere in shell room; continuing shadowing of German battleship Bismarck. REEL 3 Continues: length of time spent at action stations; incident of being in heads during salvo of shells fired from German battleship Bismarck; losing radar contact with German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 25/5/1941; refuelling in Iceland, 5/1941; escorting convoy in North Atlantic; ship's participation in early Arctic Convoy PQ 1, 9/1941-10/1941; escorting HMS Furious on Fleet Arm Arm raids on Norway, 26/7/1941-30/7/1941; capture of Finnish blockade runner SS Pluto in Denmark Strait, 28/6/1941; weather conditions on Arctic convoys and clothing worn; near accidental shelling of merchant vessel mistaken for German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper; shooting down German Air Force aircraft off Bear Island, Norway, 8/1941; number of Arctic convoys participated in; attitude to serving in Arctic; refitting of ship, 1942-1943. Recollections of operations as seaman aboard HMS Suffolk, 4th and 5th Cruiser Sqdns, Eastern Fleet in Indian Ocean, 5/1943-7/1945: voyage to Indian Ocean, 5/1943; Crossing the Line ceremony; joining Eastern Fleet in Kilindini, Kenya, 7/1943; action station; duties as torpedoman. REEL 4 Continues: ship's duties in Indian Ocean; leave in South Africa; shore leave in Ceylon and Maldives; advice against venereal dissease; meeting with relatives in Western Australia; attitude to length of overseas service; return to GB, 7/1945; reaction to VE Day celebrations, 8/5/1945; adjusting to return to GB. Aspects of service with Royal Navy, 1945-1953: drafting to HMS Zephyr; attitude to serving in navy after marriage and birth of children; drafting to HMS Jutland, 1949-1950; drafting to minesweeping squadron in Singapore, Federation of Malaya; service aboard minesweepers; searching Chinese junks; playing cricket in Far East. REEL 5 Continues: leaving Royal Navy, 1953.