大象传媒

In the year the war started I was working for I.C.I. at their Winnington plant. I was in the caustic plant and my job was to move when they had been filled and sealed, the drums of caustic. Putting them into storage while they cooled before despatch. Because of the threat of war production was up and we were working double shifts at the time. On the day war broke out I was at home in Barnton and my dad had the whole family gather in the living room of Balmoral to hear Neville Chamberlain the prime minister make the announcement that 鈥淲e are now at war with Germany鈥�. It was September 3rd 1939.

The next Monday back at work my best mate Walter Cross said to me 鈥淲hat are we going to do kid? Shall we go across to the labour office and see Jack Spruce the manager?鈥� Well we went across and were met by Mr Spruces鈥� secretary. A very officious man. He said 鈥淲hat do you want?鈥� and so we told him we wanted to see Mr Spruce. 鈥淲hat about?鈥� So we told him it was about the war. Eventually we got to see Mr Spruce and he wanted to know what 鈥淭his was all about?鈥� We told him we wanted to volunteer for the navy. 鈥淪it down鈥� he said 鈥渁nd listen to me.鈥� He explained to us that if we went and volunteered then when we left we would be off the books of the company. On the other hand if we waited until we were twenty, (which he knew was happening in the next six months for both of us) Then we would be called up. That would mean that our jobs would be saved for us and we would also get a retainer paid by the company. He finished by saying 鈥淕o back to work and when you get your call up papers come and see me again and I鈥檒l sort everything out for you.鈥� And he did. And the retainer came in very handy as I arranged for it to go to my mum and she saved some for me to have when I came on leave and the rest helped her towards managing the family budget

When my call up papers did arrive they ordered me to go for a medical at the Bethseda School in Stoke on Trent. Me and Walter travelled down together and at the end of the medical we were both declared fit. Then the recruiting officer said to me 鈥淵ou can go into the navy鈥� but to Walter he said 鈥淵ou I鈥檓 afraid will have to join the army鈥� Walter just stood there and said 鈥淲ell, I鈥檓 not coming if I can鈥檛 go with him! He鈥檚 my mate and I want to go with him!鈥� The man laughed and said 鈥淎lright, you can go with him!鈥� And that鈥檚 how both of us joined the navy.
A few days later I got the paperwork about joining up. I was expected to go to to a navy training base near Ipswich. Now until then I had never gone further than Stoke in my life! So Walter and me travelled to Stoke, then down to London, across London and then out to Ipswich. The base was in fact H.M.S.Ganges.
On arrival we were put into a mess and our basic training began.

Basic training took ten weeks and was mostly about basic seamanship. Knots and splices, a bit of navigation and we also learnt how to send SOS by Aldiss lamp and lots of marching! We also had to take a swimming test. Walter was a good swimmer and found the two lengths fully clothed no problem but I found it hard. But Walter shouted encouragement and I managed it. At the base we also had to do guard duty and this was just after Dunkirk when an invasion was expected at any time. We patrolled in pairs and one of us had the rifle and the other the ammunition! What a state to be in! Not enough weapons for all of us at the same time.
Towards the end of our time there we were given a weekend leave. This started on the Friday lunchtime with us being expected to be back at the base by 7:30 on the Monday morning. The navy had laid buses on and so Walter and I got the one going to Manchester. The driver dropped us off at Mere corner sometime late at night. Because of the blackout it was pitch black! We decided to walk to where we thought we might get a lift to Barnton as we stood there wondering what would happen next a policeman appeared from the darkness. 鈥淲here you going Jack?鈥� He asked. We showed him our papers and explained we were trying to get a lift to Barnton and that we were on a weekend leave. 鈥淲ait there鈥� he said and then he stopped the first car that appeared. 鈥淣ow then鈥� he said to the driver 鈥淭hese two lads are trying to get to Barnton near Northwich are you going anywhere near?鈥� The driver said he was going through Northwich so the policeman said 鈥淲ill you take them?鈥� and the driver had to agree! Any way, as we went along the driver said where is it your going? And we said Barnton and he then very kindly took us right into the village. To get back we had to be at Mere corner for midnight as the bus driver had told us that he would be there at that time, 鈥淢ind your on time鈥� He had said 鈥淏ecause I can鈥檛 wait for you.鈥� Luckily Walter had a relation who was a taxi driver and he arranged for him to drop us off at Mere corner in good time. The bus then arrived, we climbed on board and spent the rest of the night travelling back to H.M.S. Ganges.

Then the training finished and I passed out as Ordinary Seamen RB Houghton . My service number was PJX207956. When that happened you were allocated a base and we were given Portsmouth. So we went down to Portsmouth and when we arrived there I was given a draft that meant I had to go and pick up one of the first U.S. lend lease destroyers. It was at this time that Walter and I went our separate ways. Because when I got my draft Walter was unfortunately in the sick bay with tonsillitis. From then on we went out separate ways. I would perhaps see him when we were on leave, though I did meet up with him later in the war, but more of that later.
There were three lend lease destroyers to be collected, the Lewis, Ludlow and Leeds. The three crews needed for them all sailed in a troopship across to Nova Scotia. When we arrived we were billeted in a football stadium before we went to pick up the ships. I ended up on the HMS Leeds.
We spent about four days getting familiar with the ship with some American sailors doing the hand over. Then we set sail back to Britain. I was a bosun鈥檚 mate and spent my time as a watchman, two hours on and two hours off.
The destroyers were of course quite old having been mothballed at the end of the First World War. Also they were not designed for North Atlantic sailing and were very unhandy in a rough sea. That coupled with the galley being at the stern whilst the crews quarters were in the focsul meant that in rough weather no hot food could be got to the crew. The bridges were open as well with only a canvas awning to protect the crew. Despite that they lasted through the war, saw a lot of action and were finally returned to the Americans!
The weather coming back was very rough and of course, for nearly all of the crew this was our very first experience of being at sea in a destroyer. The weather was awful! To make things worse we were ordered by the Admiralty to divert off our course so as to avoid any chance of meeting up with a U boat pack that was sinking shipping in the North Atlantic. The terrible weather meant that the HMS Leeds was damaged by the waves. We had plates bent and stanchions ripped out, we also lost an anchor. So our first port of call was Belfast for repairs when we finally reached home waters. When the repairs were finished we sailed for Plymouth where the ship underwent a big refit. It was when we were there that the King and Queen came down to inspect the docks While we were based in there I had a short leave. Too short to get all the way back to Cheshire so I decided to go up to Bristol to see my sister Dill who lived there with Ray her husband. When I arrived in Bristol it was night and the Bristol Blitz had started it was November 24th 1940. I asked a railwayman if I could get to Combe Dingle from Templemeads. He said 鈥淣ot tonight mate! All the buses and trams have stopped running.鈥� Then he suggested that I went to the YMCA near by to get a bed and try in the morning. As I set off he warned me to watch my money as some people who stayed there had been known to steal from other guests. So I went up and booked in and spent the night with my money in my socks which I kept on! Next day I went out to Combe Dingle and met up with Dill. It is worth mentioning here that just a week later the YMCA I had stayed in was hit in another air raid and everyone sleeping there was killed.
It was when we were in Plymouth that the King and Queen came down to inspect the docks and we were all paraded for them. The Queen went to see the Wrens and the King came with Mountbatten, who was there with the Kelly , to inspect the men. As the King came round Mountbatten spotted a lad two away from me wearing a cap badge with a ships name on. He got very annoyed and wanted to know why the man hadn鈥檛 got the wartime regulation HMS on. The sailor talked his way out of it but Mountbatten insisted that then and there the ribbon was changed, and it was! That night, when the King and Queen had left Plymouth the Germans attacked, ringing the town with incenderies and then the bombers came and dropped high explosive. We had three nights of being blitzed like that. It was only after these attacks that our ship was fitted with anti aircraft guns! During the raids we couldn鈥檛 do anything to help as all we had were the three inch guns. I always suspected that the Germans knew that the King was there and were trying to get him.
Soon afterwards the ship joined a convoy and sailed to Rossyth and for the next year we escorted North Sea convoys as they travelled up and down from all the ports between London and Rossyth. The usual routine was to sail down towards London picking up ships as we went. Newcastle, Hull etc. Then we would arrive in London refuel and take on stores before repeating the journey north. Quite often the convoys were already assembled when we arrived and if they were we just turned round and set off again. This meant that during all of this time I got onto land very rarely. We saw quite a bit of action as off the Wash German E Boats would lie in wait, often lying at a buoy, then attack us in the night. You could hear there engines as they accelerated inot the attack. Then as we got into the Channel we would come under regular air attack. It was during this time that I met up with Walter again. We came into Rossyth and there was another destroyer tied up. I asked the bunting tosser what it was and he said it was HMS Southdown.
鈥漌ell! 鈥� I said 鈥� My best mate鈥檚 on her!鈥� The bunting tosser said 鈥淲ell I鈥檒l make contact and see if he鈥檚 about鈥� And he arranged a time for me to go over to meet Walter. When I got there I found Walter was the Captain鈥檚 steward and doing very nicely thank you. In fact he stayed with HMS Southdown for the entire war doing North Atlantic convoy work. We arranged to go ashore for a drink and Walter said to me 鈥淪it there and don鈥檛 move and be quiet!鈥� Then he disappeared. I soon found out why he didn鈥檛 want me to move because the ship鈥檚 mascot was in the cabin with me! It was a monkey! And not a very friendly one at that. Apparently the Skipper鈥檚 wife had presented it to the crew as a mascot when the ship had been commissioned. But it was a nasty little beast. Eventually some sailors took it ashore and sold it! I think they told the captain it had been stolen! Anyway, after a year of running these convoys HMS Leeds had to be taken out of commission for a complete overhaul. For one thing it needed the bulkheads lining with cork because in the cold waters condensation was always running down the steel walls and living conditions were often damp and miserable. On the last day the Skipper called the company together and thanked us for what we had done and then the ships company were paid off and we all returned to barracks. Before being paid off we were all asked to apply for courses and I put down for a gunnery course, then I was asked what sort of guns? I said A.A. thought being an anti aircraft gunner would be a useful job to do.
So I was sent to H.M.S. Excellent At that time it was said to be the best gunnery school in the world. We spent ten weeks learning about anti aircraft gunnery. This involved going from learning about aircraft recognition to live firing at drogues towed by aircraft across the Solent. With the live firing you learnt about leading the sight to allow for the movement of the target. I trained on Oerlikons Excellent a shore based gunnery school in Portsmouth

The oerlikon was effective up to a range of a thousand yards and fired sixty rounds per minute from pans containing sixty rounds each. To help you had a loader who would replace the pans as you fired. When I was in the Mediterranean my loader was a Canadian lad from Newfoundland who could barely read or write. I used to read him his letters from home. He had been a trapper back in Canada.

Following the gunnery course I went back into barracks and then got a draft to join the HMS Pakenham. But at that time I joined her in February 1942 she was brand new and we went up to Tyneside to take her from the shipyard. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie Co. Despite being brand new the four inch guns all had breech blocks that had the following written on them 鈥� For practice use only 1914. Despite being new we still hadn鈥檛 the equipment to fit out our ships! Nevertheless those guns ended up firing hundreds of rounds with no problems at all. We were also a brand new crew with this brand new ship and we did some working up trials in the North Sea before being sent up to Scapa Flow. We were still working the ship up in Scapa and it was there that I was being used as a 鈥渂uoy jumper鈥�. That is, someone who jumps onto the mooring buoy so that the mooring line can be passed to you. This went okay until one day when I jumped onto the mooring buoy and then a squall blew up! The ship had to sheer off and I was left on the buoy. The Petty Officer shouted to me to put my arm through the mooring ring and wait. We won鈥檛 be long he said. This was in January and after twenty minutes I was soaked and very, very cold. Then a motor boat arrived and the crew got me off and took me to the HMS Woolich the depot ship at Scapa.
When I got on board they gave me a tot of rum, stripped me off and gave me a hot shower, then the sick berth attendant gave me a massage. After that I got new clothes and waited for the ship to send a boat for me.
When I got back on board the Captain sent for me. Until then I had never set foot in the wardroom! The Skipper asked if I was alright and said he was sorry that I鈥檇 been left behind. A week later he checked up on me again because I think he wanted to make sure I hadn鈥檛 lost my nerve through it. One upshot was that the ship鈥檚 gunnery instructor tore the P.O. who had ordered me onto the buoy a real strip off. Because, as he said, I was a gunner and where I should be was at my proper station on the ship not jumping on buoys! So I never buoy jumped after that!

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