大象传媒

I was in the Royal Navy from November 1939 to the end of the war in 1945. I received medical training there and decided one day to volunteer for the Special Service.
It started as a joke. Two of us volunteered for Special Service, each accusing the other of being too frightened to join. We'd been ashore, the night duty men told us to sign these chits, have our coffee and get to bed. Next morning the Chief Petty Officer came to say "I'll destroy these". I asked him if my mate had called it off as I did not want to be the first. He said "I'm asking you". He turned to the Doctor and said "He's married with one child and he's volunteered". At lunchtime I asked my mates if they'd been asked. They said No. They laughed and said the CPO would forget. It was us who forgot about it! Six weeks later when I was on night duty, I was awoken and told my relief had arrived and I had to get the night train back to barracks. From the barracks I was transferred to the Isle of Arran. I was there for three nights. There were volunteers from the Army, Navy and Air Force. We had to fall in the next morning, they put a 28 lb pack on our backs and told to run a mile and walk a mile for 7 miles. There were 30 of us in a group. There were 2 groups and I was in the second. The first group set of 10 minutes in front of us. We set off at 4 abreast with three commandoes on each side of us. At the end of the 7th mile we were all strung out, the fittest at the front. We were rushed in and examined, the fittest were put in one group, the failed ones in another. I was in the first group, I'd passed!. We were kept there and trained like the SAS. It was very hard. They made us into trained killers. After training, I was posted to HMS Bulolo which was the HQ ship of Force G. We did 4 major landings. The first was Algiers N.Africa, the second one was Sicily (where I started the diary which is now in the Imperial War Museum), the third was with the 8th Army. We cleared the lower decks and General Montgomery spoke to us and told us that it was the first time he had conducted a battle from a ship. He wished us to take the 8th Army motto which was "Kill the Germans, kill the Italians". He repeated it twice. We were all volunteers made up of Australians, South Africans, Polish, Scottish and English lads. I was 22. At the end of his speech, we gave hin three cheers and told him we'd never let him down. We landed at Syracuse. After that we were sent to India. We got as far as Bombay. We were recalled to be sent back to England in time for the second front (D Day). We picked up Lord Mountbatten on the way and dropped him off at Gibralter where he flew home. On D day we landed on Gold beach. We were the first on the beach and we were fighting while other troops were still being landed. We were still there when the specially constructed floating harbour arrived but that only lasted about three weeks being damaged by severe weather.

After the War I qualified as a State Registered
Nurse. The above is only a tiny part of what I've seen and done. It would take too many hours to relate all my experiences and what it was really like.

This the history of the ship
HMS Bulolo Service Record

Atlantic, November Convoy and Patrol Duties

Algiers, November Under the Command of
1942 Admiral Burroughs

Casablanca,January Communications Ship
1943

Dates unknown Used for Churchill
Roosevelt Conference

Sicily, July 1943 Under the Command of
Admiral Troubridge

Anzio, January 1944 " "

Normandy, June 1944 Under the Command of
Admiral D Pennant

Malaya, September Under the Command of
1945 Admiral Martin

Singapore,September Used as the ship for the
1945 Japanese surrender

Naval Service terminated 5th December 1946

Sold for scrap and broken up in 1966

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