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As told to Rutland Library Service by Mr. Mellor.

Joining the Navy

I was called up when I was 18. Of my group of teenage friends, all except myself wished to join the RAF as Air Crew, but in fact only 2 were accepted. The others were assigned to other duties which suited the Ministry rather than themselves.

I however decided to join the Navy and was the first to be called up, as the Navy was recruiting to a different pattern. I signed up on my 18th birthday in 1941 and was called up in the November. I had volunteered to become a radio mechanic in the Navy and as I already had 2 years' experience as a radio service mechanic I was surprised to find myself posted as a radar mechanic.

I came from a religious family in Huddersfield. My posting to the Gosport naval barracks with a group of young men (mainly Geordies) was something of an eye opener - I was quite distraught about the company I was having to keep and there was no question of finding a bosom pal there.

HMS Sirius

I was soon called up to do radio jobs around the barracks so I had less than 1 week of basic training. Following a radar training course in Brighton I was told to report to the Sirius in Portsmouth dockyard. I had never been on a boat before and found to my horror that the first time at sea in all but calm conditions I was sick - in fact I was sick every time the ship rolled. The Navy took no account of sickness so we just had to carry on.

Norway

We had scarcely finished running-up trials when the ship was ordered to active duty in the Home Fleet, based on Scapa Flow. The Germans had 2 large battle cruisers based in the fjords. The first task we undertook was to act as a decoy by sailing about 20 miles off the Norwegian coast to entice the Germans out to attack us - then we would turn away and our big ships would come out in return. In the event the Germans didn't attack that time.

Gibraltar

After 3 or 4 tasks of that nature over about 3 months we were sent to Gibraltar to join a Malta convoy and on the way strengthen the defences of a convoy transporting spitfires, bombs and so on for Malta. We passed a mine lying on the surface and the crew did their best to get rid of it with army rifles. The convoy was special because it had 5 aircraft carriers in the escort. One was sunk by a submarine and within 20 minutes of that another was hit by a torpedo. A third, HMS Illustrious, was carrying spitfires which were the defensive shield for the military part of the convoy - she was hit by a bomb and had to limp back home. My ship didn't lose anyone or anything. I remember we had lovely weather in 1942.

Roaring 40s

Via Gibraltar we were then sent to the UK naval port at Port Elizabeth in S. Africa. We were scheduled to carry out sweeps of the sea between Australia and S. Africa as the Japanese had infiltrated some service vessels through a screen of cruisers across the Pacific Ocean. We spent over 2 months in the Roaring 40s (notoriously heavy seas) - those were the most awful months of my life.

North Africa and Sicily

By November 1942 we were back in Gibraltar where we joined another convoy carrying an invasion fleet to Algiers. Again we acted as decoy. On 17th November 1942 a large Anglo-American military organisation put ashore near Algiers.

The next big thing was in Egypt where the 8th Army had broken Rommel's forces and our people were putting a big plan into operation to clear the Germans out of N. Africa. The invasion went very well because many of the French in N. Africa were prepared to fight the Germans.

We had bases at Bone and also the harbour at Algiers. We took turns with one of our sister ships marauding in the seas around Sicily sinking anything we could. Our routine task for about 3 months was to go out at night to areas where there were land facilities and bombard them. This was the background to the invasion of Sicily.

When we first joined the ship we were given a long harangue by the commanding officer to say that if we kept diaries or wrote any letters giving our location we would face the firing squad — that’s why it’s difficult to recall all this precisely as I don’t have anything written down and all the dates and places are just in my head.

Italy

Next was Italy. There were a series of invasions along the coast as the aim was to open up an extra front on the heel of Italy. We were on bombarding duties along the western coast of Italy for several months, providing cover for this. One day our commanding officer told us that we would cross paths with an Italian grand fleet and this would be the Italian Navy surrendering. We were the lead ship and as we passed their lead ship all our crew stood on deck and saluted as the Italians went by.

Aegean Sea

Now we were sent to the Aegean Sea. The purpose was to sink any ships helping the Germans, including the fishing vessels which the Germans used. A German Heinkel III was passing overhead. It dropped a large bomb on the quarterdeck of Sirius and killed 17. We held a naval funeral — the bodies were wrapped up in a sail, stitched up and a shell was put at the feet, then they were pushed overboard.

Back to England

We were able to keep on sailing with minor leaks but it put us out of the running for further serious activity. Repairs were carried out at Massawa where half of the crew moved into an Italian recreation camp and the other half stayed with the ship. On completion of repairs the ship was sent to provide AA and bombardment support to our invasion forces in NW Italy, only to be recalled to Portsmouth to join the forces collecting to invade Normandy. Once again we found ourselves acting as decoy for the German coastal defences, but survived.

Some of the crew were within 10 miles of their own homes but they still weren’t allowed to go home. The padre told the commander that if he didn’t do something there would be a mutiny. So they exchanged the crew on the ship although I stayed with Sirius.

The crew exchange came about because a sister ship to the Sirius had been severely damaged by a mine, without loss of life, and its full crew took over the Sirius whilst the near-mutinous crew could be dealt with as convenient for the authorities.

Then I was drafted to HMS Victory in Portsmouth, but I wasn’t there for more than 24 hours when I found myself a member of Portsmouth Port Radar which was manned by about 40 people. We repaired radar for different ships. I spent the rest of the war there and also met the WREN (a PO Radar Mechanic) who was later to become my wife.

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