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Description: | British seaman and petty officer served aboard HMS Iron Duke, HMS Polyphemus, HMS Ramillies, HMS Ardent, HMS Dreadnought and HMS Vernon in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1886-1910; chief petty officer served with Royal Navy as torpedo instructor in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1916-1918
REEL 1: Background to enlistment as boy seaman with Royal Navy. Recruitment procedure and enlistment with Royal Navy in Portsmouth, 5/1886. Recollections of period as seaman and chief petty officer with Royal Navy in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 1886-1914: posted to guard ship HMS Iron Duke in Firth of Forth, Scotland; training including gunnery and torpedo school; attainment of rank of able seaman and role as gunner/torpedoman; posted to Gibraltar, 12/1890; question of extra pay; promoted to leading torpedoman and posted to HMS Polyphemus in Mediterranean, 10/1893-11/1894; description of ship; posted to HMS Ramillies in Mediterranean, 11/1894; posted to HMS Ardent and role as leading torpedoman/petty officer, 1896; problem of double pneumonia and treatment in French hospital in Salonika; description of role as torpedo instructor in GB, 1898-1900; posted to HMS Gladiator, 1900-1903; further duties as torpedo instructor in GB, 1903-1906; posted to HMS Dreadnought, 1906 and role as leading torpedoman/petty officer; crew duties; transferred to Mediterranean, 1907; gun practice and exercises; posted to Home Fleet in Portsmouth, 1908-1909; posted to HMS Vernon as torpedo instructor, 1909-1910; retired from Royal Navy and put on Royal Fleet Reserve, 1910; question of pension; story of being called up for Spit Head review, 7/1914.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations with Royal Navy, 1914-1918: story of being called up at outbreak of war and posted to Portsmouth barracks, 8/1914; medical examination; accommodation and messing arrangements; posted to HMS Vernon as torpedo instructor; description of duties aboard torpedo patrol boat in GB coastal waters, 1916-1918; attitude to conscription; question of allowances and purchasing uniform and kit; story of making and repairing uniform; amusing story of shoes; role of coastguards; problem of German submarines and mines; comparison of submarine and ship engines.
REEL 3 Continues: promoted acting Warrant Officer and duties; posted to torpedo boat in Mediterranean; description of uniform; further comments on contracting double pneumonia including description of symptoms and treatment; memory of hearing church bells on Armistice Day, 11/11/1918; various aspects of pay and pension. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Lewis, D W | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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