大象传媒

In service we weren't always battling against mines and torpedos, sometimes it was the conditions that we found ourselves in. Early in the war, I joined the LDV. We used to practice with broomsticks as we had no guns. Later, I was evacuated to the Forest of Dean where I continued with the local Home Guard in Parkend. On one occasion, we had instructions to go to the local station for duty. We had word that we were going to be invaded. We had one rifle for four people, so four went to the station with one rifle and one clip of ammunition. It was a false alarm and we went home at daybreak. These things happened and were accepted as part of the service. It was in Parkend that we received a request from a parent of three of our children to arrange for them to be baptised which she thought advisable under the existing circumstances - a ceremony which Molly, my wife, arranged with the Coleford billeting officer.

When we had a refit or any repairs involving the dockyard we had longer leave. On one occasion we had to have a test to see if the ship would capsize. New fittings to the superstructure made this necessary. It was conducted by a man from the Admiralty. All crew were taken off the ship while it was tilted. A message came from London that the scientist was wanted on the phone, so the test had to be halted and the ship righted. The message was to get some peanut butter on his return - bureaucracy gone mad!
A refit had to be done in six weeks, first one half of the crew went on leave, then the other. The ship was stripped out the first week. Then the labourers waited for bits to come back from the service sheds on shore. They were laying about idly but by the fifth week it was a mad rush to finish by the six week deadline. They were paid on cost plus profit so overtime didn't matter.

Cigarette lighters were made in ammunition factories. Officers were sometimes given cigarette boxes as a gift. At the end of one refit we had an ashtray from Harland and Wolff. It was a perk we shouldn't have had as they were made in the time when they should have been fitting out ships, but it was the custom.

In the wardroom the allowance for drinks for a sublieutenant was 拢2.00 very generously per month. It was 2d halfpenny for a gin. There was no kitty, an invitation to a fellow officer to join you for a drink was on the understanding that the item would be a claim for his drink on his, not your bill so nobody could overstep the mark - when the allowance was gone, no more drinks!

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