North Atlantic and Arctic

In Convoy Across the Atlantic

After some negotiation my father found himself posted as Deputy Naval Stores Officer to the dockyard of HMS...

The Rescue Ships

The COPELAND then went to Halifax for her next 4 voyages and then Gibraltar, then another trip to Murmansk...

The Athenia

On Sunday 3rd September 1939, within a few hours of war being declared the Donaldson Liner Athenia, bound...

I Survived a Rough Crossing

I was an 18 year old Motor Transport Mechanic based at RAF West Kirkby, near Liverpool. We met other RAF...

The Fate of the HMS Juniper

Raised in the coal mining town of Selston, Nottinghamshire, in March 1940 he would find himself aboard the...

Not the Usual Call of Duty

In 1944 I was Chief Petty Officer aboard H.M.S. Zealous, a destroyer escorting the Russian Convoys; i.e. we...

A Naval Pilot

Some months later, back in the U.K. the Squadron was detailed to carry out its first deck landings on an...

My Life in the Navy of WW2

With others, escorts we kept them at bay from the convoys over 12 months glad to say we never lost any...

The Sinking of HMS Patroclus

While rescuing seamen from HMS Laurentic also an armed merchant cruiser which had been torpedoed and was...

A/B Arthur Blacketer

Dad was transferred to Trapani in Sicily and then onto a prison camp just outside Rome and finally to a...

Ditched in the Sea: 192 Squadron, Southern Bay of Biscay

He realised he would have to crash land on the sea and issued the standard order: 'DINGHY, DINGHY,...

My War Onboard - by James Wilson

I joined a tribal class destroyer called the Maori — part of the 4th destroyer artilla... We took...

Service on HMS Scylla

In November 1942 I finished my training and set off from Portsmouth to Scapa Flow where I boarded HMS...

Letter from the Plinlimmon

The following is a transcription of My great grandfathers experiences aboard the HMS Plinlimmon during...

Sinking the Bismarck

Then the Sheffield, with Ark Royal and HMS Renown, joined Force H at Gibraltar... We had to come up from...

Jim's Story

One incident in the Atlantic does however remain with me, for I sighted a Torpedo advancing towards my ship...

“The Tirpitz and Other Stories”

I had to report to a Royal Artillery Depot on Blackheath SE3 where I became a gunner on the Rocket Guns. No...

The Journey of War

Geoff remembers swimming between 7.30pm - 12.00am before he was picked up by HMS Kingston which was a K...

Our Dad's War

Also the crews were not allowed to go ashore in Archangel and Murmansk.Whilst helping to moor the Suffolk...

A Russian Reindeer for King George VI

One of the odd things that we had to do was to transport a large reindeer which was a gift from the...

Capture of the Enigma Machine

The whaler's crew all disappeared inside the U-Boat and the whaler dis-intergrated, leaving the crew...

Memoirs of a Typical Teenager

For a short period HMS Tyler was anchored near HMS Belfast a cruiser which was firing continuous salvoes,...

Merchant Navy/Torpedoed Four Times/From Northern Ireland

"William" joined the Merchant Navy in 1937, aged 16... William reamined with the Merchant Navy...

Storm at Sea 1945

Two of the larger aircraft had been flipped over upside down and two others had broken loose and were...

Attack on a U-Boat: By a Liberator of 86 Squadron, Coastal Command

The crew and ground staff looked closer at the aircraft and it appeared that the shell from the U-boats...

Arctic convoy - PQ 17

I had had orders to join a destroyer, the Harvester, but a friend asked to exchange with me so that he...