Author
Unknown
Branch
Royal Navy and Royal Marines
Personal Stories
Bill volunteered for the R.N. at the age of 17 and was admitted to the service at 17-1/2 at Skegness, Lincs. His basic training was taken at Southampton and advanced training both at Southampton and Brighton.
Bill served on H.M.S. Wolfe and H.M.S. Woolich. He also served at various shore bases in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
H.M.S. Wolfe was a large submarine depot ship and Bill was an electrical apprentice. When the ship sailed for Trincomalee, to service the 2nd. submarine Flotilla, Bill was part of the ships company. This meant being on 24 hour duty (1 day in 4) with sole responsibility for all power systems on the ship. He was also in charge of working parties putting the submarine batteries on charge
Most of the action was full-sized subs attacking Japanese shipping but the midget subs also assisted. This combination had considerable success against the enemy.
After the ""Bombs"" dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bill was bumped around various bases until he was finally sent from Colombo to Bombay. This trip was a solo effort and after 5 days on a number of trains 'he finally arrived in Bombay to board the Llanstern Castle (with all of one hour to spare) to return to the UK.
Bill's work was still not done! He was immediately directed to look after the ship's electrical system until it reached the UK.
Bill believes his service days were not particularly hazardous, but the work was very hard, in hot humid and dirty conditions. He also credits the Navy with teaching him to accept responsibility at an early age and this led directly to success in his peacetime career in nuclear power.