大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Bernie Hawkins and has been added to the website on behalf of John Atkinson with his permission and he fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

On the 5th of September 1933, at the age of 15 and weighing only 97 lbs., I had joined the RAF at Halton, the smallest boy ever to join up. Later, while I was serving on the North-West Frontier I came across a local soothsayer. First he told me I was an orphan, which was true, and some other things about my early life that only I could know. Then he said, 鈥淭he sea will not have you,鈥� (remember I was in the RAF at the time!) and told me I would be wearing a different uniform.

In 1938 the Fleet Air Arm was formed and when they asked for volunteers, I joined them. When the War started I was with HMS Daedalus at Lee-on-Solent and in early 1940 I joined HMS Resolution Air Division.

I write these words in tribute to one of the bravest ships that ever sailed the seas: HMS Resolution, a solid, steadfast, hard-working HAPPY ship, excellent in gunnery and all functions of a fighting ship. It had escorted the first convoy to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1939. Strangely, Resolution, a battleship, was much more aircraft-minded and helpful than the aircraft carriers Ark Royal or Illustrious, on which I served later. No 鈥淏attleship Brigade鈥� mentality here. Everyone on board Resolution, from the Captain downwards, pulled together, looked upon the aircraft people as friends, and assisted in every way to make our Swordfish floatplane (call-sign EBF) welcome and useful. It was certainly that 鈥� in many ways that have probably gone unrecorded.

I was part of the team which looked after the Swordfish, piloted by Lieutenant Watson, a keen motorist who used to drive at Brooklands. I believe he may have been a member of the Watson family of Rockingham Castle who looked after Mary Queen of Scots. He was certainly an officer and a gentleman of the old school, and a damned good pilot. (Later in the War, he landed the Swordfish twice on the deck of the Ark Royal in the Med without damaging the floats.) Sadly he lost his wife when the Caf茅 de Paris in London was bombed, when many celebrities also lost their lives. Everyone called him Rupert 鈥� I don鈥檛 know why, it wasn鈥檛 his name. He was finally shot down by his own ship, then HMS Illustrious, by a trigger-happy sailor as he was coming into land. (Another reason I wasn鈥檛 keen on Illustrious.)

Resolution was based at Portland, and the aircraft on the slipway at Lee-on-Solent when not at sea. On board, the plane was launched from its trolley on the turret with a catapult. Two stirrups locking the trolley to the catapult had to be removed before take-off to allow the trolley to collapse at each end of the catapult. We always had to wave to the pilot before take-off to let him know this had been done. When landing on the open sea, the ship would make a wide sweep to port to form a slick of calmer water for the aircraft to land. Then, to get the plane on board, at the end of the crane cable was a special device called a Thomas Grab Handle. The Midshipman Observer would take a cable out of the top centre section of the aircraft and connect the two together. The aircraft was then lifted on board to the catapult 鈥� all this whilst the ship was underway, a fine art that all on Resolution were competent in. Timing between the aircraft and ship was essential. Mistakes were just not allowed. All the tools had to be tied down with string 鈥� you couldn鈥檛 drop them in the drink.

In the first week of April 1940, the Swordfish flew into Portsmouth Harbour and was lifted on board the Ark Royal, to have some work done on communications systems and other work necessary to convert a normal aircraft for work on board, before joining up with Resolution at Portland. Picture Post magazine turned up to take some photographs which were later published.

Then we sailed to Narvik, Norway. Resolution went right up the fjord, to act as anti-aircraft defence for the airfields ashore at Narvik and Harstad. The ship stayed put, shelling German positions ashore, repairing destroyers and feeding the fleet from our bakery. The Swordfish was scouting and taking care of any German U-boats. It was always daylight in those latitudes, so we were bombed constantly. The German bombers didn鈥檛 have far to come, and they had also a gun coming in and out of a tunnel until Resolution dropped one right in the mouth.

During Resolution鈥檚 time in the fjords, Lt Watson did more than his fair share of flying as the aircraft of the other two light cruisers, Enterprise and Emerald, could not get airborne. Their two aircraft were sea foxes, underpowered and on the calm flat waters of the fjords they could not break from the surface tension under the floats, even with our 鈥渟kimming disc鈥� criss-crossing in front of them to make a wave (a tricky exercise). Lt Watson flew nearly every day 鈥� looking for submarines, ferrying VIPs and spotting for gunnery.

HMS Eskimo had her bow blown off. Our shipwrights filled her up with concrete and she was towed home stern first. I believe every ship was hit except Ark Royal, who had a very near miss. Our guns were constantly in action. The barrels shone red-hot for the first three feet, the rifling stuck out four to six inches and the boat deck was littered with empty shells, so often were we firing. At one point during the action, the Marines went ashore and captured 17 Germans, which I think were the first German prisoners of the War. After many days of this, we were finally hit. The bomb passed through the quarterdeck and exploded in the marines mess deck, killing seven.

After Narvik, we sailed up to Tromso and had a run ashore for just four hours 鈥� with the CPO and PO in a whaler, two men on each oar. Then we sailed to Scapa Floe, where we refuelled. Resolution was the only ship not to get shore leave after the Norway operations, for then it was on to Gibraltar, from where we escorted the aircraft carrier HMS Argus with 12 replenishment American fighters to Malta. (The Argus was the first aircraft carrier to be build by the Royal Navy, and co-incidentally, was worked on by my father-in-law at the Beardmores, Dalmuir, Scotland.)

Then it was back to Gibraltar, where we were joined by the HMS Hood and HMS Valiant. (The Duke of Edinburgh was then a Midshipman on Valiant.) With them we attacked the French fleet at Oran (Mers-el-Kebir). I assisted in Y Turret on the 15 inch gun and on the starboard 6 inch battery. Resolution obtained direct hits on the French fleet. HMS Hood landed a couple in the town, much to their annoyance.

While we were based at Gibraltar and not at sea, the Air Division went ashore every day to the jetty to service the aircraft that shared the jetty with two RAF London Flying Boats. These twin-engined flying boats were built at Cowes, Isle of Wight. They didn鈥檛 seem to do a lot of flying. Every evening, Lt Watson flew to Casablanca, Dakar, Oran and other North African ports and towns dropping leaflets 鈥� a four-and-a-half hour trip, with the ground crew waiting for his return in Alermina Gardens. Lt Watson would put his aircraft lights on as he flew over the harbour so we were ready to hoist him back on to the jetty.

There were three music halls in the town, The Royal, The Universal and The Trocadero. The latter was Spanish, with very good dancers. At the Royal, Nat Gonella played his trumpet. In the Universal it was mainly women. The drummer was Miss Harris of Rev. Stiffkey fame.

It was at the Universal that I first met 鈥淒avy鈥� Crocket from the Valiant. He was a Yeoman and spent a lot of time on the bridge with the Duke of Edinburgh. He died of TB soon after the War, but his wife was invited inside the church at the Queen and Duke鈥檚 wedding.

Finally we went to Dakar, where the Resolution was torpedoed in September 1940. I remember a large bang on the port side below decks and the smell of cordite. Listing 15 degrees, we were towed to Freetown by HMS Barham. In October, we 鈥� complete with the Swordfish - got a passage home on the Ark Royal from Freetown to Gladstone Dock, Liverpool.

I then had a weeks leave to get married at St Stephen鈥檚 Church, Portsmouth. The following evening the church was completely destroyed by a German bomb and was never rebuilt.

An account of my time during the War after this can be read in another story, but here I want to say a few more things about my comrades from the Resolution Air Division.

The Leading Artificer Ordnance 鈥淟ofty鈥� Lyster was a huge man. I remember him saving the boy Air Mechanic Jan Curnow while they were loading a bomb on the Swordfish. When it was on the turret, the plane overhung the sea on the port side. When loading the bomb, Jan Curnow had to scramble on planks laid across the floats. One day he slipped, but Lofty grabbed him as he fell. If he hadn鈥檛 got him, Janner would have hit the quarterdeck below or gone overboard.

Jan Curnow, the youngest on the ship, was useful beyond his years, as he had been a sea cadet and was excellent at semaphore. We kept two flags with the aircraft, so when we were moored out in the fjords (or on the jetty in Gibraltar) we were in touch with the ship 鈥� signalling PSB (Please Send Boat) at tot time etc.

ABS Nat Gould was an experienced 3 badge seaman. Resolution was the third catapult ship that he had worked on. The ship鈥檚 Commander was always looking to give him jobs, but he preferred to work with us, so I tried to keep finding him things to do to keep him out of the way of the Commander. I remember him telling me about the time he had served with Casper John, son of the artist Augustus John, when he was a young pilot. He told me that he was the sort who would go on to become a sea lord 鈥� and he turned out to be right. Casper John was the first Pilot to make Admiral of the Fleet.

I remember Rupert, the Swordfish pilot, one day landing in thick mist at Lee-on-Solent. When the aircraft was operating, there was always a crash dinghy on hand with tools such as bolt cutters on board for use in emergency. We could just about see the Swordfish, but I don鈥檛 think Rupert could see us and he needed to be guided to the slipway. He got a bell passed to him from the rear cockpit and we could hear him shouting, 鈥淒inghy you bds! Dinghy you bds!鈥� (There was always an extra tot of rum for the waders who went into the water to fit the trolley to the aircraft鈥檚 floats. This had to be done before it went up on the slipway.)

When we went to Norway, a second Swordfish was rigged aboard HMS Ark Royal in case the C-in-C wanted to fly again. This was 鈥淕inger鈥� Paddy Boyle, Admiral of the Fleet, Earl of Cork and Orrery. He was a tough little nut. We shot him off the catapult at Narvik. He had to climb a ladder to get into the rear cockpit it was so high up. Not bad for a 66 year old man.

We in the Air Division worked as a team. There was no 鈥淲eakest Link鈥�, no-one was 鈥渧oted off鈥� 鈥� and we finished with maximum points! Although 1940 was a critical year, when Churchill promised us blood, sweat and tears, Resolution was the finest and happiest ship I ever sailed with. There was never any thought of us losing the War.

John Atkinson's account of his service with HMS Illustrious can be read at A7619510 and his story of the bombing of Seaforth Town Hall while serving at Woodvale at 7619637.

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