This is the first draft of
the notes written by Donald Hodges about his time in the Royal Navy
1935-1946. His official
Number was MX 52013.
Sent to us by his son.
After sitting and passing the written entrance exam
for the Supply and Writer (Accountant) branch of the Royal Navy I was
advised to report to HMS Drake - the Royal Navy barracks at Devonport on
the 4th November 1935. The
class for Devonport was transferred to HMS Victory at Portsmouth where
we were joined by the other classes due to belong to the other 2
divisions from Portsmouth and Chatham.
We were now Supply Probationers on a payment of 2
shillings and 6 pence per day (12.5 Pence) plus a clothing allowance of
3 pence and a Rum allowance of 3 pence, making a total allowance and pay
of 3 shillings (15 Pence) per day.
All Supply ratings were trained at Portsmouth and
after being issued with bedding and a basic uniform kit, and being
measured for, a tailor made a No. 1 Doeskin suit, we were first
instructed on assembling and slinging a hammock.
The three classes were then taken over by 3 Gunnery
instructors for basic training on the Parade Ground. This instruction was completed with a passing out parade and
was followed immediately by technical training in all aspects of Naval
Store keeping, Victualling, Clothing etc and in the Accounting
procedures connected with them. This
finished with a written exam which with a successful result we were
promoted to Supply Assistant with an accompanying rise in pay of one
shilling a day (5 Pence). Total
pay and allowances now became 4/= (shillings) (20 Pence) a day.
This promotion occurred on 25th March 1936 and the following days
all of these classes were returned to the depots to which they belonged
and were consigned to various duties within their ports.
On arrival at HMS Drake I was detailed to the Central Stores
department of the Naval Stores.
At the end of May 1936 I was drafted to HMS Exeter
which was due home shortly from the West Indies squadron to recommission
and return once more to the West Indies. In preparation for this I went
through the routine of having the necessary inoculations and
vaccinations and was sent on Draft Leave and then back to Devonport to
await the arrival of HMS Exeter.
Before this could happen HMS Adventure arrived back in Devonport
to recommission hurriedly and return once more to Haifa as soon as
possible. (She had been sent there from her usual base on the China
Station) As many of us had
already had leave, the new crew were transferred to Adventure on 17th
June 1936 and we sailed on 20th June, to return to Haifa in what was
then Palestine, with short calls at Gibraltar and Malta.
(The Adventure was built around 1928/29.
She had diesel engines and steam turbines.
in 1991 Mum and Dad later met a man who had worked on her during
building as an apprentice.)
I was consigned to the Naval Stores section, the
staff on this section being a Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer,
Leading Supply Assistant and 2 Supply Assistants.
We were responsible for issuing and accounting for all stores to
keep the ship in running condition including all cleansing materials and
also oil fuel. We were also responsible for oil burning Navigation
Lights which were placed on the bridge against a failure of the electric
ones in normal use.
The journey to Gibraltar was the first time I had
seen Dolphins swimming directly before the ship's bows for miles and
also being attracted from a fair distance to join the ship. Seeing
the Rock and Malta for the first time was extremely interesting though
these calls were of short duration.
Haifa was more eye opening.
The Jewish Quarter of the city was a hive of building activity -
not much going on in the Arab Quarter which was quite smelly and served
by open drains. It was also
surprising to see armed Palestine Police on every street corner trying
to stop some of the atrocities being carried out by the Jewish
extremists against British soldiers, some of whom had been abducted and
hanged in the orange groves. They
were trying to make Britain give up the Mandate and open up the country
to Jewish settlement.
After a few weeks we moved on to Alexandria, a very
interesting city. The main
thing I remember are the Flying Boats of BOAC landing in the harbour.
After a few days we moved on to Port Said and waiting foe clear passage,
journeyed through the Suez Canal, passing traffic in the Bitter Lakes.
Clearing the Canal we anchored a few hours outside
Aden at the end of the Red Sea. After
leaving, our next port of call was Colombo in Ceylon - my first view of
some of the Beauties of the East.
I thought Ceylon was very beautiful.
After a few days we set sail once again - this time it was for
Singapore about a weeks sail away.
The Island Singapore saw my first
and played my first game of cricket since leaving England.
I went as far as Johore and saw the site of the new dockyard for
Singapore. It was quite
hilly. I also had a look at
a rubber plantation. Everything
was quite beautiful and interesting.
Our stay here was quite short.
It was now early September and we were shortly rejoining the
China Fleet from which Adventure had to be sent to stabilise the
position in the Eastern Mediterranean.
HMS Adventure was a cruiser - Cruiser - Minelayer,
the first ship built specified as a Minelayer.
She carried 4.5 inch guns and also 320 mines carried on sinkers
on four sets of rails. She
was also powered with steam turbines and also main diesel engines. This combination allows the ship to get under way immediately
whilst working up the steam for the turbines which meant that she could
move towards an emergency at a much earlier time.
We joined the China Fleet in early September - it was
the rainy season and before this I didn't realise how it could rain, in
comparison, rain at home was more or less like drizzle.
The rain was also quite warm.
The Fleet was composed of cruisers some of which were
County Class ships of some 10 000 tons, carrying 8 inch guns and a
couple of older C and D class ships of about 5 000 tons. There was also a flotilla of destroyers.
They were D class of 9 - 3 manned from each depot.
There were also some older World War I destroyers some gunboats
with shallow draught. There was also the Submarine Depot ship HMS Forth and the
aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. When
we arrived most of these were either at Wei Hai Wei - the fleet's summer
station or "showing the flag" at other places in the area.
I was learning my trade. Naval Stores covered some 7-8000 items, all to be accounted
for, and stock taking was continuous throughout the year. The
Engineer Department advised weekly on the use of and the amount of oil
fuel and diesel remaining accounted for by Naval Stores.
Nothing was booked out without authorisation of the department
head and signed for by the person drawing the item.
I suppose the most expensive item was gold leaf for gilding and
some of the wireless telegraphy valves were very expensive.
These were kept in a store room of its own as were many items.
While passing through the tropics we were dressed in
tropical short sleeved white doubled shirt and white shorts, stockings
and shoes. In Hong Kong at
this time of year dress of the day became white drill suits, with navy
trousers for evenings.
One surprise on entering Hong Kong was seeing a Japanese merchant
ship high and dry on the shore some fifty yards from the sea, lifted
there by the latest Typhoon earlier in the summer.
Chinese coolies were digging a channel by hand to refloat it.
The base at Hong Kong is on the island called HMS
Tamar an old wooden renovated ship which is directly opposite Kowloon on
the mainland. The merchant
and mail ships docked here before moving on to Japan etc.
These were well known shipping lines for example P&O, Dollar
Line (USA), Canadian Pacific, Blue Funnel to name a few.
I was always fascinated at the way these large ships turned into
the docks under their own steam with no fuss or bother.
Hong Kong - the island of Victoria was fascinating.
The centre of the island rose to the "Peak" in the
centre and in the summer much of the peak is covered in by the cloud
which causes a high humidity which was comfortable.
Also fascinating was seeing a large dead pig - feet tied
together, two front and two back, being carried (on a large bamboo pole)
through the streets by two coolies.
It was also strange to Europeans to see how the
native women shopped. No
paper bags were used and purchases were carried on a loop of what looked
like raffia. Food prices
were very low and wages were extremely small.
Just away from the landing stage was the Fleet Club
with a bar, Billiard and Snooker tables and where for a small price you
were able to rent a bed in its own cubicle for the night. This was just for Naval personnel. Just about 50 yards further on by the main road was the Union
Jack club. Very similar to
the Fleet Club. There was a
teeming population and evenings just before sun down many people laid
rattan mats on the pavements beside buildings and slept there.
A tram system ran from one end of the island to the other and
servicemen could travel this distance for half price - about 3
farthings. (.75 of an old penny). There
were also many rickshaws available, well balanced and drawn at a trot by
the rickshaw man. While not
pulling customers these were great gamblers.
One of the nicest places here was Happy Valley where
there was a race course and three Rugby pitches. We were only paid
monthly whilst abroad and at the end of the month we had to economise on
food from restaurants mainly in Queen's Road where we could buy eggs and
chips for 4.5d (about 2.5 new pence). Shops were surprisingly few
having windows but employing Sikh janitors and being shuttered by night. I was fascinated by the hand carved ivory goods and could
watch tradesmen carving using tools as they were generations before.
After a couple of months in harbour we travelled
North to Shanghai stopping on the way for a few days at the island of
Amoy. After about a week, we realised we were nearing the city as
the sea for about 100 miles from the land was a dirty brown from the
water from the Yangtse Kiang which was near to Shanghai on the Woosung
flats - just around the corner from the mouth of the river. We anchored at Shanghai and relieved the cruiser HMS Cardiff
of guard duty. The city at
this time was divided into different cantons, each controlled by a
different nation. i.e.
Britain, France, USA, Japan and so on.
Here we used Chinese currency almost on a par with the Hong Kong
dollar of 16 dollars to the pound.
The temperature was much less than in Hong Kong and
we stayed over Christmas. It
snowed over Christmas. To
me there seemed to be two types of Chinese.
The northerners seemed to be much bigger and hardier than there
southern brothers.
Soon after Christmas we left Shanghai and journeyed
up the Kangtsi Kiang with its strong current and anchoring each night.
We then reached Nanking. The
river is very wide at this point and the scenery on the river journey
was fantastic with Pagodas and for the first time we saw water being
pumped by means of a treadmill.
Whilst there, there was a civil war being conducted between some
Warlords, virtually bandits and the National Party being led by Chiang
Kai Chek. The National
Party was being hard pressed. The
opposing sides were on opposite banks and two miles or so apart.
The river here is wide open and the wind bitterly cold.
No-one landed at Nanking and after showing the flag for a couple
of weeks we ran back down river and returned to Honk Kong.
Whilst in the tropics the ship worked on Tropical
routines, starting work an hour earlier in the day, having a three hour
break for lunch and working for an hour later in the day. We were taking it more or less easy during the worst of the
heat.
The Adventure carried a small Chinese laundry of 5 or
6 laundry men who would launder our drill suits for a few pence and this
was very convenient especially when we wore semi stiff collars in cooler
weather.
After some eight or so weeks in Hong Kong we were
dispersed once again from the fleet to show the colours. This time
we carried some soldiers from the Seaforth Highlanders who were based in
Hong Kong. These men danced
sword dances to a piper playing and entertained in various places.
This time we journeyed once more to Singapore for a short stay
then travelled South along the coast of Sumatra and arrived at Batavia
now known as Jakarta. At this time it formed part of the Dutch East Indies and the
influence of the Dutch was very apparent.
After a short stay we travelled northwards to
Sawdakam on the North coast of Borneo. (at that time it was British)
again "crossing the line" having first done so between
Singapore and Jakarta, when we held the "crossing of the line"
ceremony.
We had arrived in Borneo for the Coronation
celebrations for King George VI where the junior rating did a drill
display and the ship's cricket team played
a one innings game against a Civil Servants XI
After a short stay, on completion of our celebration
we travelled North once again to Manilla in the Philippines where there
was an American base. Here
we had a short time for sightseeing and had a short cruise on a river
boat before returning again to Hong Kong.
Soon after leaving Manila we had to change course
slightly because there was a Typhoon directly in our path.
We kept more to the edge of the storm.
I'd never seen a storm like this for about 36 hours.
The waves in this area are short and sharp and the high winds cut
the tops off the waves until the spray was horizontal.
The experience was awe inspiring.
Our arrival back at Hong Kong was 24 hours late which gave us
time to tidy up a little. The
violence of the storm was indicated when on our arrival the
Commander-in-Chief sent out a signal congratulating the crew on the
ship's appearance after such a storm.
Now followed a quick visit to a private dry dock for
a boiler clean and some small repairs.
At the head of this dry dock was a smooth cliff face where ships
who had previously used the dry dock had painted their ship's crests.
The one I particularly remember was the county class cruiser HMS
Kent - a horse standing on hind legs and the motto INVICTA.
Meanwhile HMS London another County Class ship had
been relieved on the station by a similar class HMS Berwick.
Out of the dock once more and we journeyed North to
Wei Hai Wei to join the rest of the fleet and after exercises held the
annual regatta with rowing competitions between crews of the 3 depots.
This was where I first heard of the cry "Oggy, Oggy, Oggy",
the rallying cry of the ships from Devonport.
On dispersal of he fleet from Wei Hai Wei we
travelled North and visited further Chinese ports in North China.
On passage from Hong Kong to Wei Hai Wei we had already visited a
fresh port. This was in a
secluded enclosed bay - Tsing-Tao, the cleanest city I saw in China.
It had previously been under German influence and held an
observatory.
On our northward journey we now visited Shan Hai Quan
where the Great Wall of China meets the sea and also Ching Wang Tao.
There we saw a large collier being loaded by hand with an endless
line of coolies mostly women, who carried small baskets of coal on each
end of a large bamboo pole. In
these days because of the large number of people concerned these jobs
were done quickly enough and because the pay was a few cents a day -
cheaply. At this time the
Japan started their invasion of China and we watched Japanese ships
unloading ponies and hay for their fodder at the end of a jetty nearby.
There were also an Italian gunboat present and the Japs ignored
the presence of both of us. These
ports are in the extreme North of China.
After leaving this area we returned once more to Hong Kong.
When the coolies working on the channel to refloat the beached
ship heard of the invasion in the North by the Japanese, all work on the
project stopped.
During this period whilst away from Hong Kong to gain
experience in all subjects, I was switched from Naval Store to
Victualling and Clothing accounts whilst another SA called George Evans
(who joined and trained with me) went from Victualling to Naval Stores.
The Victualling Office staff was one Chief PO (Jack Shannon) one
PO(Ernie Down), two SA's Willie Haynes and myself.
In addition there were three Able Seamen storemen (known as
Tankys) who were responsible for bringing up to the issue room and to
the Galley(cookhouse) everything we wanted for the day's menu for the
crew and also a Royal Marine butcher who with the Tankys brought the
meat required from the fridges. The
ship had cold rooms and cool rooms which held our needs for about ninety
days. So we stored ship
with all of these items from a store ship as required.
We never fell under about 30 days in case of an emergency call.
The CPO was in overall control of the Victualling
Office and had control of the Clothing Store(Slops Room) and the
Clothing and loan Clothing Accounts.
He also worked out the coming week's menu for the
ships company and on Thursdays went to a conference with the Paymaster
Commander (Accountant Officer) in charge of all Writer (Supply and Cooks
staff) and also the chief cook. When approved the menu was adhered
to. He was assisted by one
of the SA's who advised the cooking staff daily of the numbers to be
catered for in each mess. He
was also responsible for opening the Spirit Room-the hold where the Rum
and Lime Juice was kept, measuring the Rum required for the days issue,
making the issue of neat Rum to the Chief and Petty Officers messes and
diluting the rest and issuing to the rest of the ships company by
messes. This always took
place at 11.00 a.m.
The Petty Officer kept the Victualling Account
assisted by the other SA. The
value of all the food was accounted for daily, transferred to a weekly
account. From Saturday
dinner time each week was a stocktaking of all the food left was
undertaken and valued. Issues
and remainders had to agree with the total value of the previous weeks
value, plus any additions for the week.
All Victualling and Stores supplied through
Victualling Yards and Store ships were charged to the ship at set
prices. Whilst other stores
not supplied by the Navy were purchased through the NAAFI through the
canteen manager. Items such as bacon, supplied in complete sides,
frozen pork, butter, tinned fruit and many other items.
These were carried in a separate section of the accounts.
We had a daily monetary allowance for the entire
lower deck. I think we were
allowed one shilling and elevenpence halfpenny per member of the crew
and we were able to save a little of this each week to provide a slap up
Christmas dinner. This
meant careful planning of the menu to conform to this monetary value and
also to take account of the items of food available.
The weekly accounts were transferred to a monthly
account and this finally to a quarterly account which all had to be
proved and the quarterly account proved and submitted to the Admiralty
30 days after the last day of the quarter.
This quarterly account was worked on whilst doing the normal
current accounts. In this
account there were some funny little things - one of these which comes
to mind was the formula for bread making.
The Chief baker had to produce 1000 lbs of bread from each 750
lbs of flour using only a very small quantity of yeast by making a
rising agent (brew) from dried hops and malt.
On the change over from Naval Stores I was assigned
to assist the Sy PO on the Victualling Account and from that time on
never had a Saturday afternoon off.
The weekly accounts were usually finished in time to go ashore by
about 6-8 p.m. I stayed on
this assignment during the rest of the commission.
Whilst abroad each member of the crew was able to buy
tobacco duty free monthly. We
could buy cigarette tobacco (2 shillings and sixpence or 12.5 pence) for
a one pound tin, Pipe tobacco at 2 shillings (10p) and leaf tobacco at 1
shilling and sixpence (7.5p) which the old timers made up into pipe
tobacco. These items were
carried on our clothing account. The
requirements of each mess was collected by the leading hand of the mess
who was responsible for payment and distribution.
Cigarette tobacco was known as Ticklers.
All the SAs were messed together with LSAs writer (one only on
the ship) and the Sick Berth Attendant.
We were 'daymen' with no watch keeping but sometimes working odd
hours. We also had a
messman who fetched and dished up dinners and breakfasts from the
galley, washed up and kept the mess clean and tidy.
One other thing in the tropics, there was always a 40
gallon tub of Lime juice available on deck for anyone requiring it to
help themselves. The winter
and early spring we spent in Hon Kong but early ish in the year 1938 we
wet once more to Singapore. During
this voyage we saw a very unusual sight.
We passed through a school of jellyfish for 24 hours.
As far as the eye could see on either side of the ship. There must have been millions.
Arriving at Johore - what a surprise.
The area had been levelled entirely by hand and work on the base
and docks started. No
machinery used but coolies mostly women with their bamboo poles and
baskets - the work being carried out being the ultimate result of the
numbers being used. In the
Far East many trades were carried out with the tools used for
generations before.
After two or three weeks we returned once again to
Hong Kong. On our arrival, some tradesmen arrived on board
including a tailor and shoemaker. These
men always came on board on a ship's arrival and were a very useful
addition to the ships conveniences.
At one time I bought three yards of double width
Doeskin cloth for an extra No 1 uniform at a cost of 8 shillings and 4
pence per yard from the ship's clothing store, a total of £1 5s or £1.25.
This was passed to the Chinese tailor with buttons and badges
costing another 25 pence.
A week later the tailor delivered a new suit (he provided the
lining) and charged $5 Hong Kong or 6s 3d (31p) a total cost of about £1
16 3 (in new money £1.81). At
this time a suit of this sort would be £5 - £6.
Similarly with shoes - the shoemaker drew around your feet for
measurement and a few days later arrived back on board with a completed
pair of shoes black or white at a cost of about $6 which was 7s 6d or
37.5 pence.
Other things we purchased, tropical shirts (these had
a double thickness of back, and shorts and also white drill tunics and
extremely convenient.
Around this time on 4th May 1938 I was promoted to
Leading Supply Assistant with a rise in pay to 5 shillings and 1 penny
per day with the same allowances. Making
5s 7d or 28p per day.
After provisioning, we set off Northwards once again, to Shanghai
once more to "Show the Flag".
At this time because of the Japanese invasion of
China, the Chinese dollar halved in value, so we received double the
amount of dollars i.e. somewhere about $30 to the pound.
China being such a vast country and virtually self sufficient,
the dollar still purchased the same as it did in our previous visit.
I remember one of the things I purchased was an eye test and new
glasses which cost me somewhere in the region of 30s (£1.50).
The opponents on the two sides of the civil war had ceased
opposing each other for the time being to combine forces against the
Japanese invader.
Shanghai was the largest city in China and very
cosmopolitan. We had a very
pleasant stay, and for the last time we left Shanghai to return once
more to Hong Kong. This
time our stay will be short as the commission had only a few months to
run. Very soon the time would soon come to leave the China
Station.
When the departure day finally arrived the Adventure left harbour
followed by some native sampans which had been attached to the ship to
ferry numbers of the crew to and from the jetty.
They followed the ship, sending us off with a display of
firecrackers.
After a short delay in Singapore we eventually left
once more for home, calling at Colombo (Ceylon) the Port Suez to wait
for the Canal to clear of South bound ships between Bitter Lakes and
Port Suez - the on to Port Said at the Northern end of the Canal.
The next stop was Malta for a few days, then
Gibraltar and after a few more days in the harbour finally left for
Plymouth. Sometime in
December we passed the breakwater and flying our long Paying off Pennant
- flying yards behind the ship. We
eventually tied up at our home port after 2.5 years commission.
Each watch (Port and Starboard) were now due for a month's leave.
Whilst on our journey home, on 4th November I was
granted my first good conduct badge (after 3 years) and worth an extra
3d a day. I also took the
written exam for Supply Petty Officer and passed.
This exam also took in eventual promotion to Chief Petty Officer
on a seniority basis. Each
red ink record enhanced seniority by two months.
I might add that I was detailed to take this exam
otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered.
I went on a month's leave with the first half of the ship's crew
and returned while the second half had their due leave. The ship then, "Paid off into the Reserve Fleet" on
1st March and anchored in the "Hamoze" with two or three other
ships. I remained as part
of the care and maintenance crew with about 40 others and here we
remained for some five months when on 1st July 1939 the ship was
re-commissioned with a few active service ratings and members of the
Naval Reserve, including pensioners.
Among the many called up on 31st July to man the reserve fleet
were many fishermen who at that time were members of the Royal Naval
Volunteer Reserves (RNVR) Among
those joining the Adventure were members of the Looe Fishermans Choir.
It was grand when off watch they gathered on a forward mining
hatch (used to load the mines on to the mining deck) for an evening
singing many of their unaccompanied hymns and songs.
We left Plymouth and assembled with a great many
other ships for a Royal Review of the Fleet.
This fleet was kept in being because of the uncertainty of the situation
at that time until the German Army invaded Poland and war was declared
on 3rd September.
The War
1939 - 1945.
I was retained on Victualling on recommissioning and
the new supply branch for victualling which was made up of two pensioner
Chief Petty Officers one active service Petty Officer and myself an LSA.
On allocation of duties, the Senior CPO (Charles Old)
elected to do the clothing accounts.
The other Chief volunteered the junior SA's job, dealing with rum
etc and the PO (Bill Cornelius) had never experienced General Mess
duties, but volunteered to assist me if I would take them on, so that is
how we stood at that time. We
were now on a war footing and my action station was in the TS
(Transmitting Station). Here
I was linking the Range finders to the Guns receiving the ranges,
averaging them before communicating them to the Guns.
The TS was three decks down on top of the oil fuel tank.
As soon as war was declared the Reserve Fleet was
displaced and absorbed into various units of the active fleet.
HMS Adventure went to HM Dockyard at Portsmouth and loaded with
her compliment of mines - just over 300 in number and then proceeded to
Dover. In company with some
small Mine Layers converted from small ferries proceeded to lay the
minefield between Dover and Calais.
Returning to Portsmouth on completion, each watch was given a
couple of days leave and some of us being Devonport based hired coaches
to take us to our leave in Devon.
When on this leave we were given petrol coupons to
enable us to buy a couple of gallons of fuel for this leave - petrol
being one of the first things to be rationed.
On the first afternoon at home my girlfriend (later my wife)
decided to go for a spin on the motorbike - just for a break - to
nowhere in particular. We
found ourselves near Newton Abbot so we decided to go to the pictures.
Arriving at the Alexandra cinema and found on changing into
civvies I'd left my money and cigarettes in my uniform.
Mum searched her pockets and found 1s 2d (about 6 new
pence) so we bought two seats at the cinema (6d each) and a 2d packet of
Woodbine cigarettes) The
bike was left outside the cinema. On
the way home - halfway there we ran out of petrol.
Someone had siphoned the petrol out of the tank.
After pushing a short way I saw that a friend of mine was still
up and he siphoned a couple of pints from his lorry to enable us to get
home. The last mile was
steeply uphill, so we were glad.
This leave completed we then went to Immingham on the
Humber and there laid a minefield off the Yorkshire coast.
Meanwhile on the 17th September 1939 I was promoted to Supply
Petty Officer. On this date
HMS Courageous an Aircraft Carrier was sunk so I think a SPO was lost in
the sinking.
We eventually ran out of mines at Immingham and on
11th\12th November 1939 left the Humber to return to Portsmouth to
collect another cargo of mines. Owing
to very thick fog we had to anchor off Grimbsby and again futher South
getting under way again in the early hours of the morning of 13th
December with the ship closed up at action stations.
At about 6.30 a.m. there was a violent explosion - we had
encountered an acoustic mine in the swept channel which had been swept
overnight for traditional mines. This
was probably off the Essex coast. The
damage was enormous and we had about 100 casualties out of about 400
crew, including about 30 deaths. In
the TS (Transmitting Station we were quite close to the point of the
explosion. I was blown out
of the earphones I was wearing at the time and had a crack on the head
caused by a plotting table I was in control of rising less slowly than I
did. It was unpleasant.
The lights had failed and oil fuel was spraying up from the
fractured tank below us. I
managed to tie a handkerchief around my head to keep this from getting
in my eyes. After a
struggle and with help from Bill Cornelius who came looking for me at
the TS I managed to reach the upper deck. With his help I was put aboard the escort destroyer which
came alongside to pick up the wounded and was ferried to the RN Hospital
at Rochester (Chatham Command). It
was a day or two before I realised that I had been blown out of my
glasses - which were missing and a couple of days before I stopped being
sick through swallowing a small amount of fuel oil.
After about two weeks I was returned to Chatham
Barracks to be re-kitted. The
uniform I was wearing at the time having had to be cut off and the rest
of the kit in my locker being lost.
After this I was sent on 10 days survivors leave and after
returning from this I was once more in Chatham.. I was sent home on 10
days sick leave to return to Devonport on completion.
Meanwhile the Adventure had after temporary repairs, been towed
to Devonport for complete repairs.
Returning to Devonport on finishing my leave on 1st January 1940
I had to return to HMS Adventure to finalise the accounts on the
victualling side while living in the RN Barracks but carrying out this
job from a temporary office alongside.
This took until the 1st February on which date I returned to
barracks (HMS Drake) and was employed in the General Mess Department
once again.
On return to barracks all the survivors were told
that they would have at least six months shore service.
Much to my surprise after less than eight weeks I had a draft to
join HMS Illustrious a brand new Aircraft Carrier whose building at
Barrow-in-Furness was almost complete. I complained about this, the six months promise being reduced
to two months. My
Divisional officer agreed and said they would look into it, but we were
a small branch and they were pressed for staff.
My draft was cancelled but about a week later I was on my way to
join the aircraft carrier HMS Furious to replace the supply PO sent from
Furious to Illustrious.
Leaving Devonport in early April with about 30 seamen
and a leading Physical Training Instructor we were sent to Greenock for
our new ship. On our
arrival at Greenock we were unable to find the Furious which had sailed
the previous day and no-one appeared to know where she was.
(Research shows that she was involved in operations off Norway)
Returning to the RTO at St Enochs station in Glasgow, no-one
seemed to know the whereabouts of the Furious and we were sent to HMS
Cochrane the Depot ship at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth.
We stayed here for a couple of days, no one seemed to be
interested, and we were sent to the RTO at Perth who sent us on
immediately to Thurso in the far North of Scotland for transit to Scapa
Flow. After about 4 - 5
days having had three meals in three different hotels and sleeping in
the town hall we eventually boarded the ferry to Scrabster the tiny
ferry for Scapa and sailed despite the locals telling us it was too
rough to rough in the Pentland firth to sail.
After a rough crossing we arrived at the accomodation ship
Dunluce Castle and stayed there for a couple of weeks.
Then once again on to a ferry to Scrabster, train from Thurso in
stages once more to Greenock arriving very shortly after the ship we had
been chasing for so long.
Everyone was extremely broke, not having been paid
before leaving Devonport and taking that on home stations pay is only
made on a fortnightly basis. Furious
was anchored in the "Tail o the Bank" a large anchorage in the
Clyde opposite Greenock.
Anchored close by was the Free French destroyer
"Marie Breise". Shortly
after the arrival of the Furious whilst her crew were doing torpedo
drill there was a violent explosion aboard.
The Destroyer's bows were wrecked and she started to settle
quickly under the water. Many
of her crew were trapped below deck with no hope of escape and doctors
went from the Furious to their help.
They gave injections through the portholes in order to ensure
that they were unconscious before they drowned.
As a reminder of this the wreck was left where it sank and her
mast was uncovered at low water almost in the form of a Cross of
Lorraine.
HMS Furious was an Aircraft Carrier of about 23000
tons (22450 She carried 33
planes? Other sources give
48 perhaps this changed over time as she was refitted.) with a crew of
about 1400 all told. She
was originally built in 1917 as a Cruiser carrying two 15" guns
She was converted to an Aircraft Carrier and after re-design was
one of six carriers operating with the Navy at the outbreak of war. On this class of ship the Supply Branch had three sections,
Naval Stores, Victualling, and Aircraft Stores.
My job once again was in Victualling and this staff
consisted of a Chief, one PO, one Leading Hand, five assistants also
three Marine butchers and three "Tankies" able seamen who
looked after the stores and brought up provisions as required for use. Here we had a separate issue room from where messes were
issued with necessary stores.
We also had connections with the two Chief Cooks one
in charge of the Galley (kitchen) and the other the Chief Baker.
All bread was produced in the ship to a laid down recipe from
which 1000lbs of bread had to be produced from 780lbs of flour with a
low amount of yeast which was a starter for a brew of hops and malt
which was used for the dough to rise.
Soon after I joined HMS Furious our Captain T H
Troubridge was replaced by Captain A G Talbot, known by the crew as
Arthur George. Captain
Troubridge later commanded the Aircraft Carrier Indomitable and was
later Commodore in charge of Central Naval Task Force in the North
African landings at Oran.
HMS Furious carried
two squadrons of Swordfish aircraft (torpedo bombers) which had a
crew of three. There was
also a squadron of Skuas (fighter bombers) which were later replaced by
Rocs and later again replaced by Fulmars.
Shortly after my arrival we embarked a squadron of
Gladiator planes which were destined for an air station being built at
Bardufos in Norway. This
was to counter the German landings in that country.
This construction was under the command of Admiral the Earl of
Cork and Orreray, fondly known in the Navy as Paddy Boyle.
At the same time another Carrier HMS Glorious also embarked
similar planes.
After a few days we left port in a hurry with members
of the crew missing the recall from shore leave and a Destroyer from the
escort stayed to collect the stragglers and return them to their ships.
Eventually the little squadron of two Carriers and four
Destroyers arrived at their appointed positions off the coast of Norway.
The weather was calm but we were in and out of thick patches of
fog and then brightness. To
make matters worse the aerodrome was not ready and we were forced to
stooge around until everything was ready.
The Gladiators took off from Furious, each three planes being
escorted by a Swordfish (who carried a navigator) to guide them.
On completion we returned to UK.
Unfortunately Glorious was unable to complete her mission and
still had her planes.
Furious returned to Liverpool and was loaded with
gold ingots after disembarking most of our compliment of planes, leaving
only enough for scouting for submarines.
We proceeded to Halifax to collect Grumman planes from USA.
Part way across the Atlantic we heard about Dunkirk and the
horrifying news that HMS Glorious had returned to Norway to complete her
task. The conditions were
the same as before and out of the fog bank appeared two German heavy
Battle Cruisers the Scharnhorst and the Gneisnau.
They had heavy calibre guns in short order the Glorious and her
two escort Destroyers had been sunk by gunfire. (29/9/1940)
In retrospect, what hurt was that shortly afterwards the
aerodrome was abandoned.
At the entrance to Halifax we encountered the French
Aircraft Carrier "Richlieu" returning to France.
This was shortly before France capitulated.
On our arrival we off loaded the gold bullion for transit to the
USA and loaded the planes and also a few tons of sugar for the ministry
of food.
On our return we off loaded our cargo, embarked our
planes once again in the Firth of Clyde and sailed for Iceland.
We had been issued with warm clothing - extra thick underwear,
duffels etc. Our first
landfall on Iceland was on the East coast a place called Sedisfjord
which looked quite a large place on the map but which at this time
consisted of about 50 or so
houses scattered around a deep fjord with steep sides.
After a few days we moved on to the capital Reykjavik and after
another few days moved to Akarari on the North coast.
Although it was summer there was an abundance of snow on Iceland.
We moved North once more, past Jan Meyan island almost to
Spitzbergen before moving in a Southerly direction to send our bombers
to destroy part of a railway line in the very North of Norway which was
being used by the Germans to transport copper ore from Petsamo for use
in their war effort.
While on this mission the Furious went into Tromso
Fjord. (?) The ship was
light on fuel oil and went into the fjord to "borrow some oil"
from the Germans. The ship
had oil pumped into her tanks by the Norwegian Fire Service.
They pumped for between 7 and 8 hours at about 7 tons an hour.
On the way out of the fjord the ship was bombed by two German
planes. One sheered off
under fire but the other looped and dropped bombs close to the ship.
The blast from the bombs upset the steps on the propeller shaft
This was to have an effect on the part that the Furious played in
the fleet later as she had to be re-fitted.
On completion we returned once more to Scapa Flow.
It was unusual on this trip to be able to read with no artificial
light at midnight.
Scapa Flow was a most terrible place, islands
enclosing the anchorage with the entry closed by a wire boom which was
only opened for a fleet vessel to enter or leave.
The islands looked barren without a tree in sight.
When a gale occurred as it often did the weather was atrocious
and bitterly cold.
Our next task was to be able to disrupt German
activity in Southern Norway. Unfortunately,
our planes did not have the range for the double journey.
It was decided that the Furious should ferry its bombers to
within an hour of the Norwegian coast, fly off our bombers to bomb the
German positions near Oslo and on completion should fly back to RNAS
Hatt in Shetland and then to rejoin the Furious.
The first sortie took place on a Friday, the fleet leaving Scapa
in the late afternoon soon after dusk.
The CinC was present in HMS Nelson also Rodney was there.
These were our two largest Battleships before the war.
Ships carrying nine
16" guns. We also had
the company of several cruisers and also several destroyers. The mission
was successful and the units concerned deployed elsewhere.
Two weeks later on a Friday at the some time the same type of
raid was carried out, this time by the Furious escorted by two
destroyers. Again two weeks
later at the same time and day the raid was once more carried out.
This was for the last time.
We thought at the time that probably units of the German army
were sent from parts of France to protect parts of the Norwegian coast.
When these operations had finished we were sent to
Liverpool to be fitted with de-gaussing cables which were being fitted
to Naval ships to change their magnetic polarity in order to overcome
the damage being caused by German magnetic mines.
While this was being done it was decided that Furious would
undergo a fairly extensive refit to put right damage caused by enemy
near misses and other defects and boiler cleaning.
The refit would take place in the coming April (1941) but certain
essential staff would stay on board during this refit, when the crew
would go on leave. The
essential staff would go on leave from Liverpool while meantime the
ship would load with fighter planes for the RAF and would fly
them off from the West coast of Africa (Takoradi) from where they would
fly in stages across Africa to support troops in the Western Desert.
(Egypt and Libya)
Of the Supply Branch required on board during the
refit were SPO Annis on RAF stores, SPO Dixey from Naval Stores and
myself from victualling. The
planes were brought on board in crates and about 120 RAF personnel
drafted in to build the planes during the outward journey.
Arriving back to the ship after spending the Sunday
at my aunts, early on Monday 15th November the last two arrived on board
we found the rest of the essential party had already left to catch their
transport.
I arrived home in the evening of Monday 11th November
on leave until recall when necessary and Mum and I were married on 14th
November at St martin and St Mary's church at Chudleigh in Devon.
We spent a few days at the Millbay Hotel in Plymouth.
While in Plymouth we met my mate from the Furious also on leave -
the SPO from Naval Stores Bill Dixey and had a meal together in a well
known cafe in the centre of Plymouth called Goodbody's.
I was on leave until recalled on 18th December.
Furious was once more loaded with planes and on completion left
on the second delivery of planes for North Africa.
With only three Swordfish planes for convoy duty we joined a
convoy with Destroyer escort and also one of the new Cruisers with
5" guns called HMS Penelope. After
nightfall on Christmas Eve the Penelope was relieved by HMS Berwick a
County Class Cruiser of 10000 tons with 8.8" guns.
I think a German U Boat had been shadowing the convoy
and reporting to a German Cruiser on the progress of the convoy and as
the switch in cruisers took place after dark this was missed by the
shadower. On Christmas
morning about 6.30 a.m. while it was still dark, gunfire sounded over
the convoy. The sea was
rough, too rough to fly off planes.
The convoy was being fired at by the German Cruiser Prinz Eugen.
His salvo was immediately answered by the Berwick who scored a
direct hit on a gun turret. One
shell from the Prinz Eugen went through the bows of one of the
troopships without doing any damage.
This hit was far above the water line at the sharp end.
The Furious' crew were immediately called to action stations.
For my action stations on the Furious I was
responsible for ensuring that the after part of the ship's crew received
adequate food and drink while at action.
For this task I had a party preparing sandwiches and drinks (tea
and cocoa) and also another party distributing the food prepared.
For this purpose we had an emergency stock of bread
Corned Beef and Butter etc stored in the Officers Galley.
For most of the day in very poor visibility the Furious chased
the Prinz Eugen while Berwick stayed with the convoy.
Since we were closed up at action stations until late in the
afternoon dinner that Christmas Day was Corned Beef sandwiches.
After being ordered to rejoin the convoy, we did eventually have
a Turkey dinner at night and cruising stations became the order instead
of action stations. During this period, while in the Atlantic the ship was always
closed up at action stations for an hour before and an hour after dawn.
We eventually heard that the Prinz Eugen had made Brest.
After this we had an uneventful trip and with one or
two ships in the convoy entered the harbour at Freetown in Sierra Leone
whilst the convoy sailed on to its destination. After a day or two we sailed further down the coast to
Takoradi on the Gold Coast (Ghana), flew the planes off the airfield
there and they flew in stages to North Africa.
We were well into the tropics, it was hot and sticky and because
our boilers were losing water a restriction was placed on the amount we
were able to use. No fresh
water could be used for washing - only salt water and for this purpose
everyone was issued with salt water soap which did give a little lather
but still left you feeling sticky.
For health reasons there was always a tub of lime juice on deck
for anyone to help themselves to.
We returned from Takoradi which is in the tropics,
direct to Greenock where it was snowing, loaded with crates again, left
Scotland once again for West Africa.
The sudden changes of temperature were not at all pleasant.
This trip proved to be uneventful and we returned once more to
the UK. All of our planes
were sent to HMS Daedalus the FAA (Fleet Air Arm) Headquarters at Lee on
Solent and we went to Belfast for our long awaited refit.
We went alongside and connected all our power units
to shore connections while ships power was run down and all cooking
utensils necessary were transferred to a galley on shore beside the
ship. All these
preparations took several days so there was some delay in the watches
going on leave. Before this could happen, on the Sunday night Belfast
suffered a terrific air raid. On
Monday morning the centre of Belfast round the Harland and Woolf
shipyard was on fire. A few
days earlier Mum had arrived in Belfast to stay during the night and we
had found digs with Supply CPO Duggie Swales and his wife Helen, who was
a nurse.
Mum went from Greenock to Stranraer
and then on to Larne in Northern Ireland. She had already got a
special permit which allowed her to travel.
On her journey she encountered some trouble with police who were
checking her permit. She
had some cards which mentioned the name of the ship.
This led to a lot of fuss and questioning.
She eventually got to Belfast.
While Mum was in Belfast there was bombing.
She had to leave the Swales home and go to another flat which was
in a safe area, and when this area too was bombed she and Duggie went
out into the hills outside Belfast to escape the dangers.
The Swales’ dog Nutty which was a spaniel also went with them.
On particularly bad night they could not get out and spent the
night under a table. As the
Furious had left, Mum was now left with having to return home.
It was very difficult to get out of Belfast as roads were
blocked. It took about a
week to get to Devon.
On Monday morning the scene in Belfast was
horrendous. Having to
return to the ship normally a half hours walk, took with all the detours
about two hours.
On the Furious, one small bomb had exploded in one of
the aircraft hangers and one crew member had been killed with blast
damage to his lungs. Damage
to the ship was infinitesimal but more of the same stick of bombs had
destroyed the shore equipment and completely demolished the shore galley
including the cooking utensils. One
scene sticks in my mind, Furious was berthed close behind a dry dock on
which a ship was being built on the slipway.
From one of the pylons closing the dock gate was a German land
mine, hanging by its parachute and swaying in the breeze.
Such is luck.
Furious raised steam while the wooden mine sweepers
trailing electrical equipment to account for any German magnetic mines
which may have been dropped, cleared a passage through Lough Belfast.
Furious made the short passage to Liverpool as soon as there
preparations were made. I
had to leave Mum to find her own way home to Devon.
We arrived in Liverpool whilst the port was getting a systematic
bombing. However the port
was so long, some seven miles we saw no enemy action and some of it was
just a rumble in the distance. Mum
arrived home in Devon between 7 and 10 days later it being difficult
after each nights bombing to get a train to Larne where the ferry sailed
from.
Our stay in Liverpool was quite short, just long
enough to embark an RAF ground staff and crates of Hurricane fighter
planes for assembly and transport overseas.
A cargo larger than our previous consignments.
After loading we left the Mersey with our escort,
heading for Gibraltar. The
Hurricanes were assembled by the RAF crew and had extra fuel tanks
fitted to their wings to give them extra range.
On arrival at Gibraltar, the planes already assembled were
transferred to HMS Ark Royal and the rest of the planes were assembled.
Both ships then proceeded to a point off Algiers where they were
flown off by RAF pilots in order to give some aerial coverage of Malta.
Soon after take off one of the planes developed engine trouble
and because the Ark was at this time was an operational carrier, the
pilot was ordered to try and land on the Furious.
These planes had no deck landing gear to use with
arrester wires as used by the Naval planes and the pilot had no deck
landing experience. So a
crash was expected. Fire
crews, crash landing crews were assembled to deal with the emergency
only for the pilot to make a perfect landing.
We therefore learned that the Hurricane fighters could operate
from Aircraft Carriers which in the long run made a great difference to
the Fleet protection. By
this time, Victorious, Illustrious, Formidable and Indomitable, all
Fleet Carriers had joined the active list of the Navy.
Shortly after this the Ark Royal was torpedoed and
sunk just outside Gibraltar. I
should have explained earlier that to fly off and to take on planes an
Aircraft carrier had to steam into the wind at high speed, usually
outside a Destroyer screen and we were therefore more vulnerable
while on this manoeuvre.
After completion of this we returned to UK in consort
with the Cruiser HMS Sheffield and escorting two merchant ships filled
with refugees. The passage
to England usually demanded a longer passage than in peacetime with
ships proceeding far out into the Atlantic.
After about three days out, our radar picked up some German
planes forming together about 12 miles away.
They seemed to be making a search pattern and eventually appeared
in sight. Guns from the Sheffield opened up and one salvo burst quite
close to the enemy which were Focke Wulfe Condors, the only planes
Germany had which could travel the distances from their airfields in
France. The outcome of
these shots was that the Condors dropped their bombs about a mile away
and then flew off. The rest
of the journey was uneventful.
