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Swept Overboard

I was resident ‘Sparks’ on board His Majesty's Escort Trawler ‘BRIMNES’....

My Story (HMS Speaker)

MY STORY Freedom In 1945 I was a Petty Officer serving on the aircraft-carrier H.M.S. Speaker with the...

The Inspections

A raw, early morning in Gladstone Dock at Liverpool when the half-dozen or so of us who were looking after...

A Passage to Ceylon

When we got to Trinchinopoly, we had great trouble getting out of the train because the whole platform was...

The Loss of a Ship: Ramming of HMS Curacao by the Queen Mary

The date was the 2nd October 1942,I was serving on the H.M.S.Saladin,one of the very old British destroyers...

Landing on Utah Beach in Normandy

After training with the Royal Navy's Forty Fourth LCT Flotilla in Exercise Tiger along Lyme Bay and the...

Sailor's Odyssey

On completion of training I joined the Royal Naval Patrol Service base at H.M.S. Europa, and then in...

On Minesweeping Patrol

We were minesweeping along the Kent coast in November 1944 when all ships' companies were called to the...

Life in the Mediterranean Summer 1944: Onboard HMS Copra

Life in the Mediterranean Summer 1944: Onboard HMS Copra...

Life After..... Tail End Charlie

Ted Power has written a book — waiting to be published at the moment — about his experiences...

Getting Back in Condition: HMS Ceylon's Visit to South Africa

So it was that with a new Captain, Captain Harkness, DSC, RN in command, she sailed on the 9th December...

The Death Camps

I joined several other lads at the Recruiting Office in Reading, from there we went to Kings Cross Station...

Murmansk

My Uncle Josh was a crew member on an escort on the Murmansk convoy's. My uncle, not able to wait until...

From Schoolboy to Sailor!

I then did a gunnery course at HMS Excellent and my first ship was a newly-built corvette, HMS Banborough...

They Were Not All Bad: Memories of a Survivor from HMS 'Repulse'

My father-in-law, Ted Smith ,was a survivor from HMS Repulse which was sunk in December 1941. In later...

The Admiralty Regrets

Peter was sunk three more times before the war ended and John received a medal for bravery after being sunk...

HMS Boreas and HMS Sphinx

The Sphinx had been taken in tow by HMS Skipjack and on arrival the Boreas and Brazen undertook a/s...

Kit Tanner: A Hero of the Battle of Crete

John Cookson was serving on the Fiji when it was sunk and witnessed Kit Tanner's bravery and wanted to...

War Baby

All the husbands were either away fighting, or POWs - my father's elder brother had already been killed...

HMS Cape Sable

In June 1941 my father reached Liverpool on the SS Empress of Australia as a survivor from the sinking of...

The Mystery of the East

I am sure that we, the British, could only watch with feeling akin to amazement, at possibly the happiest...

An Able Seaman

In 1943, I joined the HMS Exe, named after the River Exe and it was my job, as part of a two...

VE Day

Each crew member also got a present- Geoffrey was given a beautiful sports jacket- black and white...

Destroyer Blew Enemy Out Of Water.

This was a night whenenemy ships were sunk by two British destroyer's in action the night before the...

Horrie (Horrace David Herbert) Osbourne - Leigh Cockle Boats.

Horrie Osbourne - Leigh Cockle Boats. Horrie Osbourne, was my "Uncle" by marriage to my...

Fred Bailey-From Teacher to Mine Sweeper.

Fred Bailey-From Teacher to Mine Sweeper. From Teacher to Mine Sweeper....