I joined the navy from Bude

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I am from Cornwall and I came to live here in 1947 and married in 1948, we have four children.

I was in the Royal Navy for seven years and eight months. Before I joined the RN I lived at Bude in Cornwall and I was a commis-waiter.

In 1941 when the Americans joined the war there were thousands of American soldiers and all their equipment and as a 14 years old boy it was a good time. Everything came form Okehampton to Bude by train.

I became interested in joining the Navy because my mum took in a 14 years old boy, Frank Holloway, who joined the RN. When he came home on leave I used to try on his uniform and later Lily and I used to meet him on board ship. I was then in the navy myself and Lily was in the WRNS.

Frank was like a brother to us. He was sunk three times but survived the war.

When I joined the navy I trained on HMS Raleigh for six weeks then on HMS Victorious in Portland Harbour for sixteen weeks. I was a Seaman Gunner. I went to HMS Drake and then on to HMS Illustrious in 1948. From the Illustrious I went back into barracks and then I was chosen to go to the West Indies on a bird class frigate HMS Sparrow. The captain of HMS Sparrow was Captain Boards (a ‘4 ringer’ captain). He was a company director of Boards Gin. He was a gentleman and his gin tasted lovely!

We stopped in the West Indies for two years and two months. We went all over. I was the Captain’s flunkey (like a batman).

We were on a goodwill tour and I met Princess Alice (Duchess of Gloucester who has just died) in Trinidad and I served her coffee.

I also served Juan Peron, the President of Argentina. We went up the River Plate and to Montevideo, Ecuador, Lima in Peru, all over South America.

We went through the Panama Canal and back. All round the West Indies. I was paid 4/- a day and we didn’t really have any money to spend. But the local people were very good to us.

When we were returning home in 1951 HMS Eagle was being commissioned in Belfast and we were hoping not to have to go on it. However, I was one of the first sailors on board.

I was an Able Seaman on HMS Eagle it was a big naval Aircraft Carrier. I worked in the ship’s laundry, which was a very good job.

My last ship was a destroyer HMS Vigilant and I was in charge of the ship’s laundry. On this ship I was asleep one morning about 4 o’clock, when someone knocked and said 2Get up, we’ve been in a collision”.

We had been run into by HMS Relentless, straight through the wardroom galley. It put a massive hole in it. Captain Emerson (a ‘4 ring’ captain) came on the tannoy and said, “I’m sorry chaps, we have to go back to Plymouth”. We were at Scarpa Flow when the collision took place so we were delighted to go back to Plymouth. I spent the last four months in Plymouth then I was demobbed in Woking in Surrey.

When I came out of the Navy I came to Thurnscoe with my wife. I worked for the NCB for the next thirty-one years, three years at Hickleton and twenty-eight years at Barnborough. I enjoyed it but it has left me with a bad chest.

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