大象传媒

I was called up to the Navy at 17 and trained as a coder and cipher. My first major voyage was on HMS Godetia, a Belgium Corvette. We set off from Liverpool and headed to St John's in Newfoundland. About 3 days out from Liverpool the Asdic (a machine which detected objects between the ships and the sea floor using ultra sound) detected a submarine was below us. We calculated as close as we could at what the depth the sub was likely to be and sent down the depth charges - bombs which dropped straight down and went off at a designated depth. It was a nerve wracking experience as if we didn't get the sub it was going to get us. But although we heard nothing after a few minutes we saw oil on the surface of the water - a silent sign the sub had been hit. After that we made it back to Liverpool without further incident.

Once back I was posted to another ship - a troop ship called the Orion and sailed to Alexandria. In Alexandria we moved again, this time to a Greek Destroyer called Ierax. This ship was manned - believe it or not - by boys! 12-16 year old boys who'd escaped from Greece.

After some time docked in Alexandria on the Ierax once more we moved - to a net laying cruiser called the Guardian. We sailed on HMS Guardian down the Suez and into the Pacific where we stayed for two years. At this stage the war had finished in Europe but still continued with Japan. Sailing the Pacific, our role was to act as target practice for allied air forces! We towed a target which the pilots would practice hitting - and sometimes they got a bit too close for comfort!

I witnessed the Japanese surrender of Hong Kong and the war came to an end. We had to steal some oil from a Japanese tanker - but we let the crew board our ship and watch a Betty Grable film 鈥淧in Up Girl鈥�. It was projected onto a wall on deck. They brought with them little bamboo chairs which they perched on as they enjoyed the film. We didn't blame them for the war and what had happened and they were very grateful to us for the treat of watching a film.

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