大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by a volunteer from 大象传媒 Radio Berkshire on behalf of Owen Cooper and has been added to the site with his permission. Owen fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

My year to remember is 1943. I had volunteered to join the Royal Navy 18 Months before at the age of 17 录 years. I did my training at HMS Collingwood near Fareham Hants then went on various courses on land and at sea, all part of becoming an able seaman. During that time I met with Frank Hargreaves and Lofty Lloyd, we became very close shipmates. I was very pleased when all three of us were detailed to become part of the crew of a newly commissioned boat MTB 639.

After sea trials and a few operational activities around British shores we set sail for the Mediterranean via the Bay of Biscay in January 1943. The weather could not have been worse, freezing cold with mountainous seas, the crews being mostly rookies like us young and green to these conditions. We became very scared and ill, most of us thought we would never make Gibralter.

After a few repairs and refuelling and the topping up of vitals we arrived at Bone in North Africa. When we were not at sea we went ashore at Gib, Algeiers and various other stop offs. None of us had been to foreign parts before. We visited places and experienced things we were unaccustomed to. We were allowed to wear shorts and sleeveless shirts because the temperatures were very high, in all we were having a great time.

Then the serious business started, after all there was a war on. One particular night, the 26th April (Easter Sunday) 1943 we were patrolling off Scilly at about midnight. My action station was a twin gun turret along side of the bridge, it enabled me to hear the radar. I had picked up two large objects a few miles ahead. We crept up steadily and quietly on them. They turned out to be two large enemy ships laden with 100 octane petrol tanks and German special SS troops standing shoulder to shoulder on deck. They were waiting for an escort to take them across to North Africa, and when they saw us approach they saw us approach they thought we were that escort. We fired a torpedo at each and hit them both amid ships. There was an almighty explosion, it became daylight, and hundreds of bodies were thrown into the air along with other debris. The sea became ablaze, we had to retreat because the flames were spreading quickly. It is a sight I will never forget, the sky and sea were lit up all the colours of the rainbow, all hell was let loose.

There were hundreds of tracer bullets flying in every direction, gun shells splashing all around us being fired from the high gun platforms of the Nazi ships. As the flames reached them they stopped firing, we then spotted a lifeboat with about sixteen survivors on board. As they were well away from the burning sea we went alongside and picked them up, apparently they were wanted for interrogation. I was detailed to be one of the guards over them on the mess deck below.

One of the German Officers spoke English he had been a student at Reading University which was my hometown. Before they embarked the Germans gave us their life jackets for a souvenir, they were far superior to our own. Little did we know that two days later we would be using them ourselves, as we were then sent on a mission.

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During the day of the 27th April 1943 we were all busy disguising anything that looked British. A chosen few of us, together with the Officers were cutting up black and red pendants into strips and sowing them together. When we asked what they were doing we were told not to ask questions, but it was obvious that they were making up German navy ensigns with the swastikas in the middle. We were told not to wear anything that could identify us with the Royal Navy. We set sail at midnight from Sousse, which had been in enemy hands only four days earlier.

As we crept along the coast towards the enemy lines, which were not far away, we witnessed the biggest gun barrage in any war up to that time. Apparently the German army had dug in and ordered not to surrender or retreat at any cost. Special re-enforcements would be arriving, unaware that we had destroyed that plan. As it was getting light we were told of our mission, we now had a German flag unfurled where the British ensign had been flying and another was at the masthead.

As daylight broke we could see people were engaged in all sorts of activities, men in tanks, big gun emplacements and men building temporary airstrip. This was all being documented to help decide where the Germans would be most likely to evacuate their army back to Italy. As the day wore on we got more brave and daring. We were taking it in turns to go below for refreshments. There was about eight of us on the mess deck including Frank Hargreaves, Lofty and Franks brother John. Most of them were saying that they didn鈥檛 think we would survive the situation and I said that we definitely would! I was asked why I was so adamant and I said I would show them. I then knelt down and prayed. My parents had bought our family of eight up as Christians. We attended church twice on Sundays and went to Sunday school in the afternoon. The last thing my mother had made me promise before I left home, was in times of difficulty not to be afraid, to pray where ever I was.

After that lot of things happened we were attacked by enemy sea and air forces. The bombardment we received was devastating and the boat was set ablaze. There were dead and wounded bodies lying everywhere and all the guns were out of action as the hydraulic power had stopped due to the engines having stopped. Everyone on the bridge, bar myself and two Officers was killed. One of the Officers had the side of his jaw blown away and the other had blood pouring out of a neck wound. Before dying he asked me to ring abandon ship, which I did. John then arrived on the bridge and asked if I had seen his brother, and I had to tell him that he was dead and lying by the wheelhouse, he replied 鈥渢hat鈥檚 Lofty because Frank looked taller lying down鈥�. I replied that Lofty was down aft riddled with bullets. We both then tried to lower the dingy to put some of the wounded in, unfortunately it sank because it was riddled with bullet holes. As the other two boats that were engaged in the operation came along side we tossed the wounded and the dying to them. I then went back to help a mate (Slinger Woods) get a carley float over the side into the sea, when another plane came over and raked the deck with machine guns blazing. As Slinger stood in front of me he shielded me from the bullets an as he fell back into my arms he said 鈥渢he bastards got me鈥�. I patted his face and cried 鈥渄on鈥檛 die鈥�. I could only lower him to the deck and leave him there.

By then I was alone, the boat well ablaze, there was a lot of creaking and banging and an awful stench. I then panicked and jumped over board. I was eventually picked up by one of our boats. I had only been on board a short while when another flight of planes could be seen coming out of the sun diving towards us. When the markings under the wings could be identified we realised they were ours and they soon drove off the enemy and returning for a victory roll. They escorted us back to Sousse where we buried the dead. Tunisia was a neutral country. They re-buried all the bodies of all nationality in a memorial cemetery near Hammamet, named Envidaville. I believe John and myself to be the only two people living from MTB639 Crew. Although MTB639 did not have a long life and lost nearly all of its crew, it is unknown how many thousands of lives it saved by sinking those troop carriers and providing valuable information to help prevent any Germans escaping. MTB639 has gone down in records for carrying out one of the most brazen attacks in Royal Navy history. John and I agree that 1943 was a very sad year, however, we are both glad that we lived it and survived.

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