Interview with Ronald Knight

British non-commissioned officer served aboard HMS Belfast during the Korean War, 1950-1953 and served with 45 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines during the Malayan Emergency.

REEL 1 Born 25/12/1930 Loughton, Essex; family history; childhood memories. Education during SWW; experience in bomb shelters; reasons for not being evacuated. Question of fear and excitement during SWW. Memories of local anti-invasion measures. Interest in sport and mathematics at school; ambitions on leaving school age 14. Employment with London Northeastern Railways (LNER), nature of role as footplateman. Threat of V1 and V2 flying bombs, witnessing fatalities after V2 attack. Memories of VE-Day. Impact of rationing. Sources of news and information. Motivation for enlisting with Royal marines, signing up for 7-years’ service; family reaction. Determination to serve; start of basic training at Deal Barracks, Kent. REEL 2 continues: memories of basic training, nature of food, arrangements to accommodate personal commitment to vegetarianism, reaction of fellow cadets. Organisation of training and drills. Requirement to learn to swim, overcoming fear of water. Adjusting to military discipline, contact with home; nature of accommodation, inspections; issue of weapons and uniform. Attending naval gunnery course at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth. Ambition to proceed to commando combat operations; question of nature of role as sailor or soldier; experience of Royal Marines commando training, instances of injury and fatal accidents. Lack of ceremony on attaining RM beret; acceptable casualty rate during training. Posting to HMS Belfast (10/1950), lack of basic naval knowledge; difficulty of sleeping due to motor and machinery noise on board ship; initial impressions of HMS Belfast, difficulty of crowded conditions, extent of ship’s company, nature of accommodation, slinging hammock above starboard torpedo tubes; impressions of ship. Disappointment over being posted to ship instead of commando unit. Organisation of onboard training. Discomfort of overcrowded conditions on board HMS Belfast. REEL 3 continues: memories of first night on board HMS Belfast (16/10/1950); learning method for slinging hammock; learning to sleep in noisy environment, importance of tidiness and stowing of equipment; discomfort of seasickness; difficulty of HMS Belfast’s ‘top heaviness’ due to weight of 6-inch guns. Working-up and drills at Malta; routine of stowing hammock; overcrowding of RM messdeck, preference of sleeping on upper deck; getting used to motion of ship during passage, reference to Typhoon Ruth (detailed later). Impressions of Malta. Description and organisation of working-up. Extent of crew, impressions of over-crowding. Assigned to ‘P2’ 4-inch gun turret operation; description and location of gun turrets; primary anti-aircraft role of 4-inch guns; difficulty of intercepting Mig fighter jets at sea, protocols of radar control of guns; detail of gun operation and shell loading, risks of loading, possible injury, and loss of fingers; winning Captain’s loading competition. Destruction of US target aircraft en route from Japanese ports. Manual replenishment of ammunition in port by all hands. Character of Captain Sir Aubrey St Clair-Ford, his rivalry with United States Navy, his navigational skills. Description of Suez transit; going ashore at Aden for dental surgery. Opportunity of sea swimming mid-Indian Ocean. Cpt. St Clair-Ford’s relationship with crew, lack of knowledge of his nickname. Tribal nature of departments. Nature of role as Corporal-of-the-Gangway, impressions of the bridge, command structure amongst Royal Marines. Replenishment at Singapore (4/12/1950); standard of catering on board; explanation of, and memories of rum ration; organisation of distribution of rum ration to mess decks; question of ship’s butcher diverting extra rum ration; use of rum as currency; sharing rum on birthday; issue of extra ration to RMs held in punishment cells. Description of taste of rum, feelings of hunger after consuming rum ration; receiving message ‘up spirits’ at time of rum ration. REEL 4 continues: working-up at Hong Kong during Christmas 1950; impressions of Sasebo port, Japan; legacy of SWW; activities during shore leave; contrasts with Singapore. Reflections on US General Douglas MacArthur, fear that he might order nuclear tactics in Korean theatre; legacy of SWW atomic bombing; possibility of visiting atomic site when calling at Yokosuka port. Sending portion of Royal Navy pay home. Difficulty of sexual infections on board ship following shore leave; memories of welcoming ceremony by geisha girls at Japanese ports. Reflections on role during Korean War, sources of information on progress of the war. Memories of coastal bombardment at Inchon et al, contrasts with US Navy tactics; method of ranging targets, nature of targets, use of onshore spotters; memories of spotting railway target. Memories of using 4-inch guns only for anti-aircraft operations; no memories of close enemy contact. Recollection of operations in islands off north-west Korea; difficulties of freezing conditions, threat of ice fields; cabin and mess conditions during winter weather; length of watch during periods of ‘defence stations’; state of readiness; organisation and extent of gun crews, roles not interchangeable. High rate of fire of HMS Belfast. Reflection on nature of fighting Korean War. Entering dry dock at Singapore (12/5/1951); drills and exercises at Singapore Naval Barracks; de-rusting areas of the ship. Story of man-overboard emergency while ship at 22-knots in the Yellow Sea (18/8/1951), method of navigation during recovery of the canteen manager. Description of Typhoon Ruth (14/10/1951), putting to open sea from Sasebo; internal damage to ship, risks during recovery and stowing loose shells in shell room; condition of crew during storm; damage to ship. REEL 5 continues: contrasts in character between Cpt. St Clair-Ford and Cpt. Duckworth. Explanation of transfer to 45-commando brigade; joining jungle combat operations during Malayan Emergency. Posting to HMS Victory, Portsmouth; nature of role; visits to ship by HM Queen Elizabeth II, meeting her later in life during voluntary service at West Suffolk Hospital, and at Windsor Castle. Nature of role with 45-commando during Malayan Emergency; description of jungle combat conditions; difficulty of water purification. Contrasts with service on board HMS Belfast; preference for commando operations. Explanation of courtship and marriage, loss of wife to Alzheimer’s disease, taking up voluntary role in local hospital in wife’s memory. Irony of fact that both HMS Belfast and HMS Victory are extant; membership of HMS Belfast Association, difficulty of getting lost when on board HMS Belfast in modern era, impressions of the ship now. Rank attained by end of commission. Employment and domestic arrangements on return to civilian life. Reflections of life in Royal Navy and legacy of Korean War.