大象传媒

I volunteered for the Navy on 10th May 1943. Royal Navy V.R PJX 516928.
I did my training at HMS. Collingwood 10th. May 1943 until 8th. August 1943. Transferred to HMS. Victory 9th. August 1943 until 23rd. August. Transferred to Destroyer HMS. Southdown until 29th August 1945. HMS. Victory until 27th. September 1945. Torpedoe man training 28th September 1945.HMS. Victory 6th February 1946.HMS. Zodiac, Destroyer 7th February -13th September 1946. HMS. Victory 14th. September. Released 14th. November 1946.

During my time on HMS.Southdown, (Hunt class destroyer) we escorted convoys along the East coast of England and through the English Channel. One time we were shelled from the French coast. We were one of the few ships hit by the shells. A piece of shrapnel landed on the deck, but it did no harm or injures anyone.

We saw very little action. When D-Day came we were anchored. There were hundreds of destroyers, cruisers and battleships with us. The night before D-Day they all up anchored and left us. We thought there must be a big exercise and the next day we sailed to Deal to pick up a convoy to take down to the beach head. When we got there the next morning, the sea was full of ships. I had never seen so many in such a small area. We went back to Deal to pick up another convoy, and escorted parts of the Mulberry Dock to the beach head. They looked like big lumps of concrete, 40 or 50 ft square and we could not guess what they were for.
This we did many times and then took convoys through the channel during daylight, laying smoke screens the whole length of the convoy. The whole sky was lit up with exploding shells from the beach head.
As the allies advanced through France we patrolled off the French coast. Our captain was the youngest in the flotilla and we were sent to patrol nearest to the enemy. It was an awful job as the war was coming to an end.

One time we were escorting mine sweepers off the German coast when we were ordered to go to Kiel. We went to Brunbukel? and sailed up the length of the Kiel canal. Kiel city was just a heap of rubble with few buildings standing because of the many bombing raids. Wilmshaven was the same. At this time we knew nothing about the atrocities the Germans had done.
Many of the German soldiers were wandering about starving. We asked our Captain if we could get them aboard to work. One of them spoke good English and he said he knew where there was a shed full of paint, enough to paint the ship. Our Captain gave permission and the German soldiers painted the whole ship white with a blue stripe down the length of the hull. (The ship had been in camouflage). We were very proud of it and when we arrived back in Harwich, every ship there blew their horns and the crews lined the decks cheering. Even before we had let down the anchor, a signal came from the Commanding Officer ashore "PAINT SHIP". We had to paint it back to the original colours.

Shortly after the war finished I was transferred to another destroyer The Zodiac (6th Feb. 1946). We did a cruise around every main seaside resort, starting at Deal, along the south coast to Wales. This was our first time ashore in Deal. Before joining the Zodiac I went on a course for seaman torpedo man on the Battleships Ramilies and Malaya. They were anchored in Portsmouth harbour. Both ships were full of rats and cockroaches- this was my worst time in the Navy.

My time spent on HMS. Southdown had some odd moments. Once I remember we were anchored in Harwich harbour. When we were in harbour, the firing pin that sent the depth charge high into the air, was taken out. I was showing an officer cadet around the quarterdeck where the depth charge stalks were kept. He asked me how they worked. A Petty officer came over and said that a bell rings from the bridge and when you hear the bell you pull this lever and that makes sure it will fire. To his horror when he pulled the lever it took of into the harbour. There was complete panic and I rushed to the officer鈥檚 mess to tell them. The whole ships company was ordered on deck. The panic calmed when a Petty Officer Torpedo man reported that he had removed the pistol from the depth charge. If it had gone off it would have been a different story!

The pistils in the depth charges were filled with strips of cordite; they were like pieces of spaghetti. I took some of these strips and experimented with one. I broke a piece off and lit it, it went of like a sparkler. (I was very lucky). I broke the rest into pieces about 3 inches long and bound them together, then wrapped them in a cloth leaving one piece sticking out. I lit it and threw it into the mess where 10 mess and 9 mess were sitting at their tables. I waited a few minutes but nothing happened, but as I got up to get it, it went off like a rocket, belching smoke as it flew about. Panic set in and everyone ran to the ladder to get out. For some reason they never found out it was me!

When in harbour we had to take the detonators out of the pistils in the depth charges. They were like pill capsules and we would throw them to each other to play catch. Only recently did I find out how dangerous they were!

While on the Southdown we visited Copenhagen. It was not long after the war and at that time cigarettes was the main currency. You could get almost anything for tobacco and cigarettes.
We tied up alongside the monument of The Mermaid. Two men were talking to my friend asking him if we could get any tobacco. They would pay us "a very good price". We bought as many tins of tobacco as we could from the crew and arranged to meet these good fellows in a block of offices in town. One of the men said he would take the tobacco up to his boss. The other man waited with us but as his friend was taking his time, he said he would go and see what was happening. We waited for a while and then went to the top of the office block-----they had vanished!!! We searched Copenhagen but never found them, WE LEARNT A GOOD LESSON THOUGH.

Every time we sailed to Germany we would get tins of tobacco and unsolder the lids and refill them with tea leaves. We would sell them to the Germans as souvenirs.

Another time my friend and I were in the workshop behind 9 and 10 mess at the stern of the ship. Opposite the workshop was a large cage locked with a padlock. This was where all the stock from the shop was kept. My friend said that if you gave the padlock a sharp knock with a hammer, it would open. I tried it again and again and it worked. I took cartons of cigarettes (about 200 in each) and glued them together in the shape of a castle. I painted it grey and put in windows; bricks etc. As I was going on leave I wrapped the castle in paper. Customs were very thorough at Harwich and they took off some of the paper and wanted to know what it was and what it was for. I told them I had made a castle for my two nephews in Newcastle, as their father had been killed in the war. They said they were very sorry to hear that and let me pass straight through!
We had some fun in those days.

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