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I was in the Northamptonshire Air Traing Corps as a boy. As cadets we had lots of opportunities to fly. So all during 1940, 1941 and 1942 I had the opportunity to fly, mainly in Hawker Hind aircraft and we saw some of the gliders that the military were using. My mother had to sign what was called a ‘blood chit’ to say that the RAF were not responsible for me. However, the effect of being up in the air mad me realise what a long way it was to step out onto the ground.
So at the age of 16, I decided to volunteer for the Navy. In August 1942 I was sent to Skegness and after basic training on to HMS Scotia in Ayre. WE had to do a number of exams and as a result I was sent on a telegraphists course. At Douglas on the Isle of Mann I learnt Morse plus how to signal with flags and lamps. As a telegraphist I could send at 26 worlds per minute but I only had to send and receive at half speed with flags and lamps.
I was set to HMS Royal Sovereign, a massive ship which was sailing to New Jersey in America. It took me so long find the central receiving room on this massive ship which is where I was supposed to be working that I end up getting punished. I found myself on the high seas up in the crows nest polishing the insulators
Back home I lined up for pay parade and was handed the ten shillings I had earned. I was not impressed. By the time one had bought some of the essentials there was almost nothing left. The experienced hands advised me to watch the notice board and volunteer to do relief work which eared an extra 6d (six pence) a day.
I soon found myself on HMS Snowdrop then some convoy duty on HMS Sharpshooter where we joined in the hunt for U-Boats. My next job as a relief telegraphist took me to the Mediterranean. It was while I was here that I saw a notice asking for volunteers for a special unit that was being formed. It brought another six pence bonus. First there was a test. This involved taking us out to see then telling us to jump over the side and swim to a distant island. I was a good swimmer and so I sound myself in the Combined Operations Unit (Navy) based at Kabrit on the Suez Canal.
I spent about 3 month working with the landing craft at Kabrit before being sent to Gibraltar. Here I found myself in trouble again. With some mates, we bundled our clothes on our head and swam over to Algeciras that was in neutral Spain. It was a good night out and reckon somebody must have squealed on us.
From there we went to Sicily where the landing had taken place. This was all rehearsing for D Day. Once again the call went out for volunteers with that 6 pence a day supplement. I found myself working with the Navy’s beachhead operation on Anzio beach for a few days until we were withdrawn. This was another test for D Day. We landed on Anzio without a shot being fired but I am glad we were pulled out when we were.
We were taken back to Crown Hill camp near Plymouth where we sat in the woods waiting with thousands of Americans. Volunteers were sought who would train Americans in the use of British voice procedure. They used the radio much more and we tried to teach them to use it much less. We did this at Stonehouse. I don’t think the training was very successful because after D Day I listened to them and they were still using their own radio language.
When D Day came, I landed with the second wave as part of 7th Armoured Division and stayed with them until they had taken Caen. I remember the ramp going down but the next thing I recall is reaching the dunes with my radio. By the time I left France, I looked just like a soldier, except that my battle dress was blue.
I was nearly transferred to the army. Back at Crown Hill the man we called Tiger Williams lined us up and sent one half to the army and turned to the other half and told them they were now in the army as well. Because I was a volunteer, know as an HO or Hostilities Only, I could not be transferred like the conscripts. Instead, I was sent to the holiday camp used by Coleman’s mustard in Lowestoft. It was so boring that I asked to be sent to sea again.
This time I was on an armed trawler. I remember that the doodle bugs started to fly over the coast and one morning we discovered that the coast had become the base for a massive anti air battery that tried to shoot the flying bombs down before they reach the population centres.
After that I went on a High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) course at Cookham camp, right beside the borstal. From there I was dispatched to Losimouth in charge of a team of navy ratings. We were not expected and spent 3 weeks doing nothing until the Navy turned up to check on our progress. They were furious as we were supposed to have taken over all of the direction finding.
Anyway, that brought my war to an end. It seemed that I had started out flying and at Losimouth we also had plenty of chances to fly in the plane.
This story was submitted to the people’s War site by a volunteer from CSV Oxford on behalf of Peter Watts. It is the edited transcript of a taped interview and he gave written permission for the material to be edited and published.

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