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This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Don and Betty Tempest of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Charles Day and added to the site with his permission.

In February 1942, at the age of 18years I was ‘called up’ and enlisted into the Royal Artillery, Heavy Anti-Aircraft, Group. Prior to being called up I was in the Local defence Volunteers and then the Home guard.

I joined the Artillery at Arbour field, Reading and then, subsequently, went to Waterloo Unit near Portsmouth and then to various stations right across the South Coast.

We were in private billets at Paignton and then we moved to South Raglan Barracks at Devon port, where I became an Instructor in small arms, taking in recruits and training them as soldiers.

All of a sudden an Adjutant took over the barracks and decided that he would not have Artillerymen training Infantry. Consequently I was sent to Dartmouth, opposite the Castle, manning two 6inch Coastal Guns, which were embedded in the cliffs and had been used during the First World War.

We could only get away off duty for one day each fortnight, and on that day I would go to Portsmouth to see my wife who was in the ATS at South Raglan Barracks.

I kept volunteering for anything that came along; two man Submarines, Parachutist, anything that would get me away from that dull life.

Eventually I was accepted for the Royal Navy and did my training on board HMS Ganges at Shotley, Ipswich. Then, after training, I went to Chatham Barracks and then after only a short time I was drafted to HMS Swift Sure.

Not long after that posting we sailed to the Far East, where we spent the rest of the war. We sailed to Australia, the Philippines and several Islands in the Pacific.

We were involved in numerous fights with the Japanese, the most frightening of which was with the Kami Kazi planes. They attacked knowing that they were going to die and all the time they were aiming for the Aircraft Carriers, and we had to shoot them down.

HMS Swift Sure was the first ship into Hong Kong to take it over from the Japanese, and as we arrived there we had a very severe Dock Yard fight with them and lost three of our ‘ship mates’.

Finally the war ended and we finished up in Tokyo Bay where we were able to see the Peace Treaty being signed on the American Battleship Missouri.

Eventually my demob number came up and I was drafted to the Golden Hind Shore Base in Sidney, Australia, to await transport home. Shortly afterwards I was drafted to a destroyer, HMS Undaunted. We left Sidney and sailed to Melbourne where we unloaded our ammunition and took on board foodstuff and gold bullion for the United Kingdom.

We set off for home, escorting an Aircraft Carrier. On the way we were diverted to St Helena to pick up mail and we rejoined the Aircraft Carrier at Gibraltar. Whilst there we painted up our ship for the journey home.

On reaching the U.K. the carrier had to dock at Southampton and we escorted her until she had to fly her Aircraft off so that she could dock.

We then received a signal from Plymouth, our base, to do some speed trials before coming in. By now the ship was looking a bit worse for wear, and during the speed trials I have to say that she looked very much like a rust bucket.

As we finally entered the Plymouth Sound, we encountered a snowstorm and due to this there were only a few people to meet us.

I was demobbed at Chatham in March 1946.

I have to say that, although we had a number of frightening experiences, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

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