Wartime experiences of John Leslie Carter - from schoolboy to sailor. Part 2

PART 2.

Once I was 18 I volunteered to join the Royal Navy. I applied to join under what was called the “Y” scheme which offered an accelerated route to a commission. In August 1942 I was called for interview and medical examination at the Navy Office in Oxford and was accepted. I was put on the reserve until being told to report on 14th October 1942 to the training camp, HMS Collingwood at Fareham. Collingwood was a large establishment accommodating some 7000 trainees. All naval shore bases are known as stone frigates! On arrival the first few days were spent kitting out in uniform and standing in line with arm akimbo while the medical team administered five or six different jabs including vaccination after which several of us had to retire to our beds. The intensive training lasted ten weeks with little time off except at weekends, however there was a large theatre/cinema with regular ENSA.
Shows and films. One film we were compelled to see was “In Which We Serve” which was supposed to demonstrate what we were in for! Each morning we assembled on the parade ground for what was called divisions, which consisted of a short service followed by a march past The Commodore. With 7000 men congregating in such a confined space it seemed a first class opportunity for any passing German plane to unload a stick of bombs, fortunately none did. One evening some of us decided to have a game of cards with a little money at stake just as I had in the Home Guard. Unfortunately the Master at Arms decided to pay a visit to our hut and as a consequence we were brought before the camp commander and sentenced to 10 days No,11s. This involved reporting five times a day, the first at 6.0.a.m and the last at 9.0.pm, peeling potatoes and arms drill after work in the evenings and, of course the suspension of all shore leave. It also put paid to my chance of an early commission as I was called before The Commodore and told my advancement was deferred. Our training finished immediately after Christmas after which we were despatched on seven days leave, well deserved I thought. On return from leave I moved to a camp near Havant, my memory is of a very muddy place devoid of even minimum comfort. My records show that I was on HMS Victory but this title was applied to the Royal Naval Barracks at Portsmouth including the outlying camps. Two weeks later I was drafted to HMS Excellent based on Whale Island in Portsmouth Harbour. This was the Navy’s main gunnery school. If I thought Collingwood was tough Excellent was to prove considerably tougher, discipline was absolutely strict and whilst under instruction you doubled everywhere. The course lasted eight weeks during which part of the practical training involved a spell at the gunnery range at Eastney on the outskirts of Portsmouth. All types of weaponry were on site including eight barrelled pom-poms. Two pounders and an assortment of smaller guns. One evening the air raid sirens sounded and we all took up predetermined positions at the various guns. Shortly after a lone German plane flew along the coast right in front of the range, we let fly with everything but the plane passed immediately in front of us apparently unscathed, clearly more practice was needed! At the end of the course I qualified as an AA3, meaning I was able to handle smaller calibre anti aircraft guns and entitled to wear the appropriate badge on my sleeve, I also received an additional three pence per day to add to my two shillings per day!
After completing the gunnery course I returned to the Royal Naval Barracks to await draft to my first ship. During this time I was sent with others to a school in Portsmouth North End that had been taken over. It was our duty to act as sentries at the Hilsea swimming pool and on an island in Portsmouth Harbour both which were being used by scientists in the development of mines, torpedos and other underwater weapons. The island, now swallowed up by a motorway, was an idyllic place only accessible at low tide by a causeway it was, therefore, difficult for the authorities to catch us unawares!
Three weeks later my draft arrived, I was to join HMS Monas Isle, the ship’s name meant nothing to me. On 30th April 1942 I set off by rail from Portsmouth to Newcastle on Tyne with instructions to report to the RTO (Railway Transport Office) at Newcastle Station. The journey took all night and I arrived at Newcastle on a dull May morning and was told that the ship was on the Tyne at North Shields. I had to take a local electric train which ran along the riverside. It was the first time I had been to a Northern industrial town and it was quite a culture shock. At that time Tyneside was one of the premier shipbuilding areas in Britain and warships in large numbers were being built and refitted all along the river. On arrival at North Shields I had to make my way from the station to the quayside carrying a full kitbag and hammock, talk about a beast of burden! Fortunately it was all downhill. Reaching the quayside I could see a grey two funnelled ship moored about a hundred yards out in the river that must be my ship! Eventually a motor boat came to pick me up. The Monas Isle was a requisitioned Isle of Man Ferry built in 1908 and coal fired. She had taken part in the Dunkirk evacuation and had been badly damaged. The engine room crew had transferred from the merchant navy when the ship was requisitioned but the remainder were either regular navy or HO. (hostilities only) crew. The ship was about 1700 tons and armed with a first world war four inch gun on the focsle, a twelve pounder aft of the bridge and four 20mm oerlikon cannons. It was alleged that the four inch gun could not be used as the deck was not strong enough to stand the recoil, it was certainly never fired whilst I was on board! The ship’s top speed was about 18 knots.
The ship was not quite the warship I had anticipated joining but choice of ship was not an option available to an ordinary seaman. The mess deck, where we spent all our spare time including sleeping was not exactly luxurious and cockroaches were evident in the kitchen area. I was told where I could sling my hammock at night, hammocks had to be taken down and stowed each morning.
The ship was used to escort convoys from the Tyne south as far down as far as Flamborough Head where we handed over our charges to a destroyer and returned to the Tyne. On our first few trips I suffered sea sickness but this passed and I have never again suffered it. Occasionally our activities varied and we would escort a single ship carrying ammunition to Methil on the Firth of Forth.. Our value as escort has to be questioned for if we steamed at speed the resultant smoke emitted was a giveaway for many miles! My watchkeeping post was on an Oerlikon gun mounted on a platform some ten feet above the deck, a chilly spot when the wind blew. Our navigator, an RNVR lieutenant, was very reliant on our seeing the flashing buoys spaced at about five mile intervals, if we missed one there was a very good chance of leading our charges into a minefield, he always looked a very worried man! Our captain was an RNR Commander who to me looked to be in advancing years, he was probably about 50! Whilst Monas Isle was probably not the easiest ship to handle he seemed to make it seem more difficult and always required two tugs to manoeuvre into position for leaving harbour. We were secured to two buoys out in the river and one seaman had to climb onto each buoy and slip the securing shackle on the word of command and then jump back into our ship’s motor boat, not an easy task particularly if there was a strong wind blowing. Most of our trips were uneventful although the North Sea was not a particularly friendly place to be and on one trip in the autumn of 1943 a force ten gale blew up on our way back to port, all hell broke loose, water poured into the mess deck , the ship’s motor boat started to break loose and we had to fight our way on deck to resecure it. Negotiating back into the Tyne appeared fraught with danger and many of us breathed a sigh of relief when we were safely inside, by this time we had a new and younger skipper whose ship handling was considerably better than the last! Not long afterwards the ship was paid off and I retuned South to Portsmouth.
During my time up North I got to know many Geordies, they were s friendly people but getting to know their dialect presented problems! As I was under twenty if I wanted to stay ashore overnight I had to apply for a special pass which was normally only granted once a month, on such occasions many of us would stay overnight at the Salvation Army Hostel in Newcastle, it was run by a Salvation Army Captain and I always admired his tolerant attitude towards we rather inebriated sailors. Our ship being a coal burner meant regular refuelling and a collier would come alongside disgorge its contents onto us after which the decks were black with coal dust and had to be thoroughly washed down. The plus factor of all this was we had to dock for frequent boiler cleans which usually meant a 72 hour leave pass. Every evening at 6.50 p.m a train left Newcastle Central for Bristol arriving at Worcester after 13 stops at 3.0 a.m, there was, of course no public transport at that time of the morning so I faced a long walk from Shrub Hill Station to Barbourne. On the return journey I had to board the train at Birmingham, New Street when it was nearly always full and on one occasion had to stand until Durham! Tobacco and cigarettes were very cheap to us being duty free - six pence ( 2.5p.}for twenty. As both my parents smoked and cigarettes were in very short supply in civvy street I wanted to augment their stocks unfortunately the amount we were allowed to take on leave was strictly limited and we were liable to search going ashore. I, along with other members of the crew found a way of overcoming this difficulty.
We hired lockers at the local North Shields sports club and there built up a store of duty free tobacco and cigarettes. I would take my booty ashore eight packets at a time, four packets tucked into my socks on each leg! The bell bottom trousers hid the bulge! One other episode I remember during my period aboard was that I together with another rating and a Petty Officer were detailed to escort a seaman who had jumped ship to the naval prison at Preston. This entailed a rail trip via Carlisle lasting many hours, handing over the prisoner then returning to North Shields, an extremely long day. It was the one and only time I have seen the inside of a prison and that was quite enough for me!

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.