- Contributed by听
- CovWarkCSVActionDesk
- People in story:听
- MRS GRETA SINDALL
- Location of story:听
- NAPLES
- Article ID:听
- A7041566
- Contributed on:听
- 17 November 2005
MISHAP IN NAPLES
Derrick Sindall鈥檚 (my late husband鈥檚) war.
My husband lived in Coundon but was bombed out and eventually lived in Canley. He was a cyclist messenger with the ARP during the raids. When he was seventeen and a half he volunteered for the Navy and joined on May 6th 1943. He reported to Collingwood, Portsmouth. Shortly after arriving there was an air raid and several of his new companions were killed. He was sent to the Isle of Man (HMS Valkyrie) for radar training. After more training and a journey by sea he finally arrived in Malta and picked up his boat in December 1943. He was assigned to HMS Saltarelo, a trawler converted to a mine sweeper; one of the last coal-burning minesweepers in the Navy. From there he was on Asdic patrol at Salerno and then Anzio, returning to Naples periodically for supplies.
On one of the patrols, in 1944, he witnessed Vesuvius erupting. On another occasion, while docked in Naples he managed to fall off the boat. He was rescued by the crew but he smelled so awful they put the hosepipe on him!
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