Mediterranean and European waters

M/V Royal Sovereign

There was quite a surf running on the beach that morning. and it never occurred to us that we might have to...

The Cruiser HMS Phoebe Joins WW2

HMS Phoebe, along with ships of the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet, was involved in the evacuation of Greek...

From Hanky Park to the Sea.

There was a real feeling of Internationalism among the armed forces during World War II, I recall the time...

War Recollections of Val Burn from June 1940 to December 1945

The Nelson, and, I think the Rodney battle-ships, Victorious, Indomitable, Indefatigable Eagle, and Furies...

The Voyage of the S.S Settler Part II

Vice Admiral Malta reported to Admiral Cunningham that the destroyer Foltille, stationed in the island,...

All At Sea

Whenever we left harbour there was a pipe over the Tannoy followed by an instruction "Close all X and Y...

As I Travel Along Life's Sometimes Stony Path - Part 4

It was with a feeling of great relief, when on the 5th of November, we boarded HMS ‘Thruster’ a...

I was Navigational Leader on D Day (Part 2 of 3)

Around September 1943, my small Motor Launch was appointed a Navigational Leader for the Normandy landings...

A Slice of Autobiography (1939 to 1946) — Part 3

First we called at Bone, in Algeria, a delightful little "French" seaside resort, then on to...

Looking Back On Life

The crew of the Duncan left Tobermoray with feelings of relief, for after surviving all the antics of...

My Fleet Air Arm Experiences 1939-45

After new entry training at HMS Victory in Portsmouth I and my class went for our technical training to the...

Tom's Story -Part 1

To understand what O.A.S. means is simply that of all the personnel in the R.N. only those who actually...

A "Bolshie" Royal Navy Reservist (1)

We were on North Sea convoy duty and were often attacked during daylight by German fighters and bombers,...

Malta Convoy - Chapter 1

The little vessel rode the successive wakes of the cruisers and the merchantmen, lingered to record also...

A Child's War -Part 13

Ten days later we arrived safely with no sight of enemy planes, mines or U-Boats at Oban on the West of...

X-Craft Diver 1943 - Part 2

We were to proceed up Loch Striven on board Alecto to a kind of offshoot of the main headquarters called...

The Last Commission of H.M.S. Achates

In September we formed another convoy for Iceland and from there P.Q.18 set off for Russia, it was a large...

Bill Sanderson's Wartime Experiences -Part 4 - 40 Commando

At one point the heavy weapons troop was stationed in ‘Merlin Villa’ which belonged to the...

The Life of Ethel Jenkins Chapter 5

The British were considerably embarrassed when the French not only chose to fight but also to do so from...

Tom's Story - Part 3

The 10th Cruiser Squadron, led by Belfast, which we realised was carrying some very high ranking Navy and...

Malta Convoy - Chapter 5

But the recollection of the torpedo striking the Manchester was still vivid in my memory, and I could not...

Dunkirk - first hand account of one of the small boats

John Knight's works and offices, the Royal Primrose Soap Works were in East London at Silvertown, E16...

Malta Convoy - Chapter 6

I recall little of the following day; food must have been brought to me, for I know that by the late...

ML238 of 25th ML Flotilla, Royal Navy

After passing exams as a motor mechanic I was put on board one of the Motor Gun boats in charge of the...

X-Craft Diver 1943 - Part 5

For me the A/S nets held no fears; I had clambered about on them in Loch Corrie, and on a chariot gone...

As I Travel Along Life's Somtimes Stony Path - Part 3

The capture of eight divisions in Tunisia, including Rommel's veterans, and the elite of the Italian...