大象传媒

I joined the RNVR East Scottish Division in 1936. When war broke out I was called in September 1939. I was based in Portsmouth. I was drafted to HMS Canton which is a armed merchant cruiser with 8 x 6 inch guns. We were sent up on the northern patrol with our sister ship HMS California. HMS California was lost. On our way home once during bad weather we couldn't take a sight because we couldn't see the sun, so we ran aground on the north coast of Scotland. We couldn't put the lifeboats down because the rocks were underneath us. We had to pull away and found when we got home that we had 125 foot tear along the bottom, and we came home stern first.

I went to Dunoon to learn Asdic which was the method of finding submarines. I was sent to HMS Hydra which was a fleet mine sweeper. When we were sweeping the channel, the coastal guns opened up on us and we were getting battered by red hot shrapnel. We cut the sweep, signalled Dover to let us in, but they refused so we went onto Harwich for repairs.

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