大象传媒

The voyage, which started on the 22nd August, did in fact finish at Gibraltar. The whole journey was without any problems and as we sailed directly westwards as convoys did to avoid air attack we could feel the climate gradually change to pleasantly warm. The actual route took in a wide diversion almost to the Azores and I saw my first flying fish and huge turtles in seas wonderfully calm. That was the time that I got my sea legs and banished any more seasickness. The voyage took maybe two weeks or so and we arrived in Gibraltar quite refreshed to a sunny hot welcome. In the circumstances of our departure, those of us who were H O ratings had only our woollen uniforms. The regular sailors had their tropical gear and that was soon the 鈥� dress of the day 鈥� for them. A photograph taken while at Gib., (we always referred to Gibraltar as Gib), shows me the only one in serge uniform (see page 8), but this was a minor item in the events at that time. The first duty at Gib that I can recall was to go with the working party to take on board provisions. We had transport provided and found ourselves at the stores, which were situated halfway up the Rock with the entrance giving access to the famous tunnels. These dated back many years to the days of sail. The general atmosphere was relaxed since there was no blackout of lights at night and there was no rationing in force, except where supplies were delayed. The most important supply to get interrupted that I can remember was India Pale Ale, but food and confections and whisky and wine were plentiful.
The next main event followed, which was described by general usage as a 鈥淐lub Run鈥�. On the 30th of August or thereabouts the fleet known as 鈥淔orce H鈥� set out to escort an important convoy. The Force H consisted of the Renown, a battle cruiser, and the Ark Royal, aircraft carrier, together with the flotilla of destroyers (Eighth Flotilla). The convoy of merchant ships was to be passed through the Sicilian channel to go on to Alexandria in the Eastern Mediterranean together with the Valiant and the Illustrious, which had arrived at Gibraltar for that purpose.
The operation was successful and with little interference by the enemy. Again I experienced something quite new and impressive especially as we faced no direct challenge. The ship, the Firedrake, like the others was at a high state of alert for the last part of the voyage and the crew were then on a two watch duty. Guns crews were on station and I experienced my first duties in the wheelhouse on the wheel or telegraphs. I have no special memory this time maybe because of having to adjust to so much that was new, but I shared the general relief that all was quiet this time.

At this point of my narrative and before continuing, it would be helpful to refer to the position of France and its Navy. Marshal Petain in conjunction with Admiral Darlan had sent the French Fleet to various ports. Many were sent to the North African harbours at Oran and Dakar. On the 15th September three further cruisers were sent from Toulon to Dakar. On September 24th General De Gaulle, who was the senior officer of the Free French Forces in Britain, decided to invade Dakar in the expectation that the French forces there would take this opportunity to join the Allies. This would remove the threat that the naval ships posed if Germany exerted pressure on the Vichy Government. The invasion was repelled and after a short bombardment by Force H ships the sortie was aborted and the ships of Force H returned to Gib.
The Firedrake did not go with the ships to Dakar. We were on patrol out in the seas to the east of Gib. During that patrol I was on watch as lookout on the multiple Machine Gun platform, which was amidships. I stress the point that I believed I was on lookout duties because I had had no training whatsoever in firing these particular guns. The weather was very good with excellent visibility and all seemed quiet. Then I saw an airplane approach, with the outline of a fighter plane. It made a circle round us then made an approach down the port side. I was aware that no Italian planes had made the trip to our end of the Mediterranean for some time and yet the approach was menacing. Just then the buzzer sounded on the gun platform and I answered it. The order came to open fire and this left me totally numb. The realisation that we were expecting to be attacked gave me a cold feeling in my stomach. Thankfully and almost immediately the plane turned away and soon vanished in a westerly direction.
There was an immediate sequel to this strange episode. I was ordered to appear before the Captain on a disciplinary charge that I had disobeyed orders etc. When I was allowed eventually to explain my position, that I was a seaman and not a trained gunner, then the charges were dismissed. It appeared that the plane was a French one, from Dakar I suppose, and it was obvious afterwards that the bombardment referred to earlier had stirred up a hornet鈥檚 nest. This incident was not referred to in the book Destroyers War perhaps for political reasons (the book was published in 1942), but does on page 72 continue with the conflict. There it states that 鈥淗.M.S. Wrestler, which had relieved the Firedrake on patrol, sent this message, 鈥� When we left, our late Allies had been bombing Gibraltar for two hours.鈥�
We made our way back to Gib. on the 24th September and we berthed at the main wharf near the tower, the Headquarters building. This I remember very clearly as it was unusual to berth there. Normally we berthed in the 鈥淧ens 鈥� in the north sector of the harbour, a series of small berths suitable for destroyers. I was able to view all these places quite recently when I enjoyed a nostalgic holiday on Gibraltar in company with my granddaughter Jennifer.
All the main ships of the Force H had left during the bombing the day before. I saw no obvious signs of damage and the night passed quietly. However the next day was far from quiet. About lunchtime we had the 鈥測ellow warning鈥� flag for air raid warning. The experience with the French was most unsettling, as we had no reassurance that it would not reoccur and the sight of the air-raid warning signal after that was taken more seriously.

Then began another attack by French planes. The raid lasted 5 hours and there were near misses on us The most vivid memory I have is when I became a member of the 鈥� Q 鈥� gun ammunition supply, carrying shells to the guns crew who were serving gunners. Details of the raid are described on pages 73 to 79 of A D Divines book. Suffice to say that I finished that episode with a permanent hearing disability. Some 4 years ago I was awarded a small disability pension, thanks in part to the evidence in the book. I had a hearing aid prescribed around 1970 but did not then relate the problem to my experience at Gib.
It was at this time that I changed my duties. Because of the loss of my personal records when the Princess Victoria sank I was still classified as an ordinary seaman. In fact I was given a new Pay Number. However at some time my records were forwarded from Chatham Depot and I was made able seaman and given my back pay. It may have been about the time my records were updated that I was made a quartermaster. That meant I was an official watch-keeper with duties in harbour as messenger and piped all orders as directed by the officer of the watch. As a watch-keeper this meant I performed duties by the designated Watch System. This is as follows鈥�

First Watch 8 p.m. to 12 midnight.
Middle Watch. 12 midnight to 4 a.m.
Morning Watch 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Forenoon Watch. 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
Afternoon Watch 12 noon to 4 p.m.
First Dog Watch 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Second Dog Watch 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This Dog Watch provides seven periods per 24 hours that ensures that watches stagger each day so that a watch-keeper changes his routine.

This change in my duties turned out to be quite an important factor in my service life. For the first time since I joined up, I took a great interest in all that I had to do as I had specific regular duties to do, and carried defined responsibilities.

Some of the better times at Gibraltar were spent at Catalina Bay where safe bathing could be enjoyed. The occasions when we were having extensive repairs done gave us many opportunities to enjoy this welcome break. As a watch keeper, I had a long break in duties every 2 days. With other watch keepers we either walked round the Rock to the bay, or were given a lift in the frequent Army Trucks that supported the army defenses. I have since been to Catalina Bay, with my Granddaughter Jennie Bendowitz, In fact the hotel we stayed at overlooked this very spot near the distinctive rock at the back of the picture.
The role of the Quartermaster is quite clearly defined in the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship, and I have compiled these notes combining these definitions with my own duties on the Firedrake,
The Manual describes Duty Men in two categories. i.e. harbour duties and sea duties. The sea duties are carried out following the Watch system as tabulated earlier. The harbour duties consist of day routines, forenoon and afternoon, with the exception of selected watch keepers of which quartermasters are an important part.

Thus in the case of my duties at sea I was concerned with manning the steering wheel and engine room communications under the control of the officer of the watch. In addition I carried out piping messages as required. The piped messages were made using a Bosun鈥檚 pipe a small brass-piping instrument with a high piercing note. The Manual mentioned above includes a list of pipes appropriate to the required messages. The routines in harbour were those relevant to the Bosun i.e., as responsible for the conduct of the ship. These included calling the duty watches out for daily maintenance, and manning the gangways etc.
This change to quartermaster gave me for the first time, a role that I found very satisfying. I had clearly defined responsibilities and was better informed as to what was happening. This was particularly the case when I did wheelhouse watch.

My first spell of quartermaster at sea was the occasion we sailed out to the Azores in company with Force H battleships. The object of this sortie was to counter a possible sortie by the German battleship Admiral Hipper.. In the event this did not materialise. The real excitement became our encounter with gale force winds, which for a destroyer keeping up with the larger ships was very uncomfortable. As it turned out I was witness to the awesome power of the sea and an insight into the seamanship required countering this. The Fleet was steaming with a following sea and controlling the ship on course was very difficult. Then suddenly into the wheelhouse stormed the Coxswain, who took over the wheel and called up the voice-pipe to the officer of the watch. His message was that in his opinion we were in danger of hazarding the ship as the huge following waves were in danger of breaking over the quarter-deck, traversing the deck and entering the fore-castle. This could lead, I found out later, to a massive ingress of water into the mess-decks and lower decks and in naval terms we would be 鈥� pooped鈥�. That meant we would be in danger of foundering.
In the event the Captain who was on the bridge rejected the advice and on we sailed. I took a great interest hence forth in looking out at the storm and watched with concern the passage of these huge seas. We were sailing before the wind and waves at nearly full speed (30 knots), and the following seas would curl over us at times.. Since the freeboard on a destroyer is less than 10 feet or so it made for a very impressive experience. The practical lesson I learned was that not all hazards were confined to enemy action.

The date was October 7th. We resumed our anti-submarine patrols on our return to Gib. The next incident I remember was some 10 days later, when we engaged an Italian submarine (the Dubro) in company with the destroyers Wrestler and Vidette and eventually sunk the submarine. . The original sighting was by the air patrol from Gib. The aircraft dropped bombs and caused the sub. to dive. The destroyers then were called in and we then engaged in a combined operation dropping depth charges in relay. I was in the wheelhouse on duty at action stations and was able to follow the action at first hand. The submarine suddenly surfaced and a short exchange of gunfire ensued. Very soon it was apparent that the Italian crew were abandoning ship. A boarding party was dispatched by one of the destroyers and some papers were recovered before the submarine sank. The next action to involve us was the receipt of a dozen or so of prisoners in our mess deck. A very strange feeling to have them amongst us but very soon we were made aware that they were much relieved to be out of the war They were singing songs to us later in the mess deck and making it so obvious they were no longer a threat. I have in my possession a drawing in pencil made by one of them showing his impressions of the sinking.

Some of my time on the Firedrake was also described in a book published by an accredited war correspondent. The title of the book is DESTROYERS WAR BY A.D DIVINE. It was published December 1942. This book was dedicated 鈥� To the Officers and Men of H.M.S. FIREDRAKE and The Eighth Flotilla.

A.D.Divine lived on board for about 4 or 5 months during the Mediterranean period when Force 鈥淗鈥� was based on Gibraltar. I have my own personal copy bought during the war, and I have been able to refer to it for confirmation of dates etc, as I continued with my personal reactions. For example, on page 162 is described my personal involvement as a quartermaster. This features a misunderstanding between the Engineer Officer and the Captain as to the time before steam could be restored after the bombing near miss en route to Malta.. Later I describe in more detail this event, as I was the messenger.
I knew A.D Divine as a shipmate but not very well because he was classified as an officer and messed in the wardroom as an officer.
A D Divine neatly describes the chronicle of events from the 27 October in chronological order. He was a professional, appointed by presumably the Admiralty, to record for publication an account of naval action in the Western Mediterranean. He was briefed to cover the war at sea in the Mediterranean with particular regard to Force H, as a celebration of 1 million miles of service of the Eighth Flotilla. My aim is to reflect my personal day-to-day role.
For instance his account of night training 鈥渟hoot鈥� brought back vivid images. The new experience was the way the guns were trained on an off target line as a safety precaution. From my position in the wheelhouse I could follow the action. We used sometimes a Swordfish plane from the Ark Royal to tow a target, which meant off line aim was essential.

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