大象传媒

As a 15 year old youngster, I saw my village of Grayshott being surrounded by new military camps, e.g. on Ludshott and Bramshott Commons. Bordon and Aldershot permanent military camps were not far distant. About this time my sister Audrey and myself, quite by accident, discovered a six foot deep reasonably camouflaged pit in the Golden Valley woods near Grayshott. We later found out that it was one of several used by agents to shine signal lights to guide German aircraft to Aldershot. This, plus the fact that our house had recently been peppered with stray bullets from an aerial dogfight, made me think I should get involved in the conflict. I had always thought of joining the Royal Navy but I was too young. I was however able to leave Churchers College in Petersfield at 16 years of age because I had already signed a contract with a shipping company as an apprenticed Merchant Navy officer and joined my first cargo boat at Avonmouth.

There was no time for 鈥榥ew boy鈥� niceties 鈥� you were expected to learn and learn fast. My memories of her on Atlantic convoys were mixed. Very rough weather, carrying war cargoes for starters. An American tracked army vehicle lashed on a hatch by bottle screws broke loose in 30ft. waves, partially slipped down on the deck, inches from crushing me against a bulkhead. While sailing east up the English channel by Lyme Bay one night, I remember being called up on deck, virtually naked, to assist the Navy D.E.M.S gunners with our one twelve pounder gun. German E boats had been reported lying in wait for shipping inside Lyme Bay. I had gone through a course using machine guns but they were never fitted to our ship. Instead we had two P.C.A. rockets which when fired trailed a steel cable. The idea was the cables could get entangled in the propellers of low flying Focke-Wulf Kondor aircraft. As we steamed towards the Isle of Wight by daylight, we had an engine room fire and were making so much smoke, we were lucky not to attract the German bombers who were being attacked in the sky above us. We had some near misses though, when moored in London鈥檚 dockland.

I was next on a tanker bound for New Jersey. We were amazed at the normality of the U.S.A. and made a quick trip to New York for 鈥榞oodies鈥� to take home. I also rescued a pathetic, badly treated kitten in the dockyard. I smuggled it aboard and luckily secreted it ashore in my uniform jacket when we docked in the UK. We called it 鈥楬appy鈥� and it lived at home long after the war years. I preferred the life on a tanker but thoughts of ending in a fire-ball were always there.

Having seen the carnage U boats caused and an aged tanker take a large wave full on the 鈥榳ell deck鈥� in a force 9 gale in the Bay of Biscay and disappear with all hands, I decided to have a change. The Merchant Navy never received the accolades they deserved and without them the UK would have been in serious trouble. My original intention had been to join the Royal Navy and I was now old enough to do so. I did some training at HMS Ganges, where I was awarded a silver boatswain鈥檚 (bosun鈥檚) whistle, which I have retained to this day. Following this I trained at Chatham on electrics, torpedoes and mining. From then on I served mostly on destroyers in the Mediterranean, East Indies and Pacific fleet. I felt more at home on destroyers, it was much easier to get to know your fellow crew. In those days destroyers had what was called 鈥榗anteen messing鈥�. Each member of the various mess decks had to draw provisions and quickly learn to devise meals for their mess over a set period They were then taken to the galley for cooking. Initially we sieved out weevils from the flour but eventually we just left them in! A favourite meal, meat if possible plus any leftovers from the previous day including jam would be flavoured, dumplings placed on top and sent up to the galley. It was called 鈥榖oily bakes鈥�! The ingenuity of the crews menu one Christmas Day was amazing. Whatever the weather conditions, you left your mess deck clean and shipshape. Your Captain or First Lieutenant鈥檚 鈥榬ounds鈥� saw to that.

I was lucky enough to have had few injuries but was glad to go ashore in N. Africa to find an American field dressing station under a tent but with superb equipment, to treat me where a piece of steel had gone through my foot. Anaesthetics and doctors aboard ships were becoming rare. While on HMS Jervis I had a tropical ulcer in my groin cut open without painkillers. The S.B.A. said the first cut is the worst, yell if you want to but after this you will feel nothing. He was right but the contents sprayed all over his shoulders, unfortunately!! Strangely it was after the war that I was accidentally shot in the leg by a 17th century duelling pistol ball, but that鈥檚 another story.

While moored at Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) two amusing things happened. We took a boat to the jungle side of the anchorage to relax in the cool. Without warning we were bombarded by coconuts by members of a large ape family and departed at high speed. On the other side of the anchorage a young whale had partly beached itself. A few natives had fixed a rope round it鈥檚 tail and tried to pull it offshore with two outrigger canoes. It did not work, so then some 12 outriggers with 8 natives in each tried. That worked well until, in the deeper water the whale woke up, dived and took the boats under with it, leaving some 96 natives in the water. We later saw canoes bobbing to the surface, so presumed the whale would be O.K.

While on HMS Penn, East Indies fleet, we had a shortage of a different kind, to do with fresh water. One mug a day to use how you liked such as shaving, washing or drinking. We drank it and washed in salt water. The heat at times was unbearable, you dared not touch exposed metal. The slow towing of a damaged submarine from Java to Freemantle did not help matters.

What impressed me most were such things as sailing past Christmas Island on East Day, rounding Cape York and sailing through the Coral Sea and the length of the Great Barrier Reef where we put ashore an injured man at Townsville.

My meeting people, when least expected, was great. While in for damage repair in Belfast, we had to billet on a nearby aircraft carrier. On going aboard and up one darkish 鈥榝lat鈥� i.e. passage, a voice said 鈥淲ell blow me, it鈥檚 young Graham鈥�. It was the CPO Yeoman of Signals, who was once my father鈥檚 errand boy. While walking down Stirling Street in Sydney, a Petty Officer passing said 鈥淗ello鈥�. I returned the greeting. Within seconds, we both stopped in amazement, he was the son of a local tradesman in my village. Incidentally, I continue to correspond with Australian friends from those past years. Many year鈥檚 later I invited a photographer to give a talk to the Youth Club I was running. He was an Australian and I asked where he came from, he said Kellerberrin in the Bush Area. Unbelievably, he was the man that arranged for a small party from our destroyer to go there on rest leave all those year鈥檚 ago.

A short spell on HMS Belfast and a return trip to the UK on the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable were the only other vessels I served on. As we approached Suez on the Indefatigable, a large proportion of the ship鈥檚 complement of all ranks, were, as was the custom when entering harbour fallen in to attention on the flight deck, in their Number One rig. Without warning we were hit by an enormous cloud of locusts. They of course did not distinguish between officers or ratings and in seconds caps were knocked flying, uniforms were messed up and the entering harbour ceremony was dispersed quicker than with enemy action. On the quiet we thought it hilarious! We arrived back in Portsmouth feeling rather flat except for, of course, being met by our families, months after VJ Day.

However, the war worked strange wonders as follows:- when rescuing a dog from kennels owned and run by a senior lady called Mrs. Clemons. It was a very hot day and she said it reminded her of Singapore, where she got on the last boat out with her young daughter, but her husband a major, was captured and went into Changi Jail. Unbelievable, her daughter Susan was a classmate of my wife Sonia some 50 year鈥檚 ago at Christ鈥檚 Hospital School for Girls in Hertfordshire. Sonia鈥檚 father was shot down and killed in the Med. in 1941. The squadron report said it was 19 RAF aircraft, of which only l returned, against 50 of the enemy. Sometime after this their home was bombed, the remaining furniture put in to store which was also bombed! Sonia and her mother had to move from London to stay with relatives, which happened to be near my home in Hampshire. If it had not been for the war, I would never have met Sonia. We married in l955 (3rd September!), have a family of two Felicia and Adrian, married to Catherine, and a grand-daughter Sophie. We are very happy and still rescue dogs! From joining the family in the fishing industry for 28 years, I changed to a subsidiary of Associated Engineering, a national company, until my retirement to Liss in Hampshire. On one of our holidays in the NW of Scotland, we visited Loch Ewe where our convoys and escorts assembled during the war. I swore then I would one day return to visit the country of my ancestors and to paint the stunning views. It was 55 years before I did just that.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.