大象传媒

Working at the Humber in Coventry when he volunteered for the R.N. in June 1942 at 19 years of age..
Went to Chatham then to Shotley near Ipswich for general training. On his first ship 'Ajax' he went to the Mediterranean helping to defend Malta sailing between Malta and North Africa, Alexandria mostly. He was wounded there, shrapnel in the foot. He saw a lot of action there. death and destruction he called it, and he refused to go anywhere in the Mediterranean for the rest of his life.
The ship was ordered to leave that sector and when they put in at Gibraltar they even thought they were going home. However the ship sailed to Belfast staying for 2-3 days then left to join a convoy in the Atlantic. After only a few days the ship was attacked and sunk. This happened very quickly and he was in the water for several hours. He was one of only seven men saved who were taken to Bermuda as 'survivors' they were called.
After hospital and convalesence he went to the U.S.A. travelling right across America from Boston to Seattle. It took five days on the train without much sleep , stopping for food at stations given out by women volunteers. The Americans were very hospitable. He was to be one of the crew of 84 men on H.M.S. Pique, a minesweeper which was supplied under the lease/lens programme where by the U.S.A. lent Great Britain re-conditioned ships.
The Pique sailed down the West Coast from Seattle calling at San Diego then through the Panama Canal and up the East Coast to New York where they spent 3 days over Christmas 1943. Here he went sightseeing in New York, The Statue of Liberty and enjoying the hospitality given to the Armed Forces.
The Pique sailed home to the Clyde Estuary to prepare for D-Day and June 6th 1944.
They led the troop carriers in their sector on to the beaches then patrolled clearing mines. Nearly half the flotilla was lost.
During the rest of his service the Pique sailed around the coast of Great Britain clearing mines, operating from different bases , Ryde,Isle of Wight, Sheerness, Hull, Edinburgh (Leith), Aberdeen etc. Another duty was to escort the King and Government of Norway who had spent the war in England, back to Oslo. This was seen as a special privilege by Ted because his father was Norwegian and he had family living in Norway. Ted finished his war service in March 1946 and returned to the Humber.

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