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Jim Mariner World Naval Ships Forums Archive

Jim Mariner

Posts 1 to 3

[B][COLOR="Blue"]Jim Mariner[/COLOR][/B] [B]Died 3rd Oct 2009[/B] Published in The Daily Mail on 12th Oct 2009 British World War II hero who fired the first shots against Japanese dies aged 90 The British serviceman who first fired on Japanese forces during World War Two has died at the age of 90. Jim Mariner was on board the gunboat HMS Peterel when he secured his place in history at about 4am on December 7, 1941. The vessel was in China's Shanghai Harbour and the crew had been issued with cutlasses and told they should be prepared to die defending the ship. It was the last commissioned Royal Navy craft on the Yangtze River and had been stripped of most of her weapons. She had a skeleton crew and was clearly in no position to fight when a much larger Japanese cruiser pulled alongside. In an attempt to delay the inevitable and give the crew time to scuttle her, the commanding officer invited Japanese officers onboard. When the officers refused to discuss the matter below decks, Lieutenant Stephen Polkington ordered them to: 'Get off my bloody ship.' Once the Japanese officers had returned to their own vessel, HMS Peterel was fired on at point blank range. The 21-year-old Jim Mariner was first to fire back with a Lewis machine gun and a number of Japanese were killed in the ensuing firefight. The 350 tonne HMS Peterel sank and the Japanese crew gunned down several of the men as they swan for safety. Jim, from Bournemouth, was taken prisoner and spent the rest of the war down a Japanese mine. He later recalled the action just hours after the Japanese attack at Pear Harbour: 'We refused to surrender and were determined to fight to the finish. 'We stacked the boat with high explosive charges which we planned to set off if we were boarded and armed ourselves with pistols and cutlasses, ready to resist boarders. 'I walked along and up the ladder on to the gun deck, which was now all action stations. 'Then red lights went into the sky and all hell broke loose. We thought it was going to be a mass invasion but it wasn't. 'They wanted to blow us to pieces. I just opened fire with my gun.' He recalled how he and several colleagues tried to escape in a small motor boat tied alongside, but ultimately swam for safety. He said: 'We always had trouble starting the engine on this blasted thing. 'One of our fellows got down there trying to start the engine and he said: "I'll get this thing going if it's the last thing I do". 'And it was, he took a direct shot. He said: "I've had it now" as he died. He was a very brave man. 'It was dreadful. The noise was shocking. They were at point blank range and they blew us to smithereens. 'I never thought I would get out of it alive.' After swimming to a Panamanian ship which he thought was safe, he was taken prisoner by Japanese troops that boarded her. The Japanese declared war on Britain the next day. Jim spent the rest of the war in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and recalls the nuclear bomb being dropped in August 1945. He said: 'I looked up in the heavens and it was the most beautiful night. I said: "If there's a God in some mysterious way that can hear me, please let me go home. 'I'm getting thin and I've been seven years abroad and I want to go home and see my dear old mum.' None of the 12 survivors from the 21 crew were decorated and they believed it was because an American ship in similar circumstances gave up without a fight. Jim said: 'The navy refused to give us any decorations because it would be embarrassing for America.' However, when Lord Mountbatten later found out about the action he invited Jim as his personal guest to the Queen's review of the fleet in the 1960s. Great grandfather Jim left the navy and spent 28 years with the police as a motorcycle officer and he played football and cricket for the force. He was married to his beloved Muriel for 63 years. His funeral took place this morning at Bournemouth crematorium.
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Hi Dave What a guy! He should have received a retrospective decoration. Opening up on a Japanese cruiser with a machine gun at point blank range displays an incredibly high level of bravery!!! Mel

Hi Dave.If ever a VC was deserved it must have been this man.A practically unarmed river gun boat opening fire on a Cruiser!! Wow the mind just boggles.I think it is disgusting that retrospective awards were not given. Many Many Regards Steve.

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