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Description: | British cadet with Royal Naval College, Osborne, GB, 1913-1916; midshipman served aboard HMS Emperor of India, Grand Fleet in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1916-1917; officer served aboard HMS Valhalla in GB coastal waters and Baltic, 1918-1919; served as instructor with Navigation School, Portsmouth, GB during Invergordon Mutiny, 1931; served with Naval Intelligence at the Admiralty in GB, 1939-1945
REEL 1 Background in Plymouth and Southsea, GB, 1900-1913: family; education. Aspects of period as cadet with Royal Naval College, Osborne, 1913- 1916: reasons for enlisting in Royal Navy; selection process for college; layout of Osborne House; pattern of training; organisation of terms; personal kit; inspection by Commander in Chief Portsmouth and Winston Churchill; Winston Churchill's advice to cadets; how cadets with German sounding surname were anglicised on outbreak of First World War; living conditions; further inspections by Winston Churchill.
REEL 2 Continues: how Louis Battenberg made a complaint about food; memories of Louis Battenberg; disciplinary methods at Osborne; anticipation of First World War; impact of the First World War on college; transfer to naval engineering college at Devonport. Recollections of operations as midshipman aboard HMS Emperor of India, Grand Fleet in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1916-1917: appointment to ship, 7/1916; skirmishes with Germans; use of kite balloons; ineffectiveness of German U-boats; characteristics of ship; use of oil and coal fuels.
REEL 3 Continues: composition of battle cruiser squadrons; Admiral Jackie Fisher's plan for attacking German ships in Baltic; character of HMS Furious, HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious; joining ship at Scapa Flow, 7/1916; reception on arrival; method of coaling ship; duties as midshipman; punishments; disciplining of midshipmen; restrictions on alcohol and use of tobacco; character of gun room; discomforts of service on board ship; morale; recreational activities; blowing up of HMS Vanguard.
REEL 4 Continues: attitude towards Germans; reactions to outbreak of First World War; completion of education at Cambridge University after First World War. Aspects of operations as officer aboard HMS Valhalla in GB coastal waters and Baltic, 1918-1919: surrender of German Fleet, 11/1918; condition of German population in Danzig; bombardment of Bolshevik forces in Baltic states; exchange of fire with fortress at Kronstadt; restiveness of lower deck personnel after First World War.
REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as instructor with Navigation School, Portsmouth during Invergordon Mutiny, 1931: question of handling of naval cut backs; influence of 'sea lawyers'; reasons why Invergordon was affected; account of events of mutiny; reaction to mutiny in Royal Navy at Portsmouth. Aspects of operations as navigation officer aboard HMS Emerald during Norwegian campaign, 1940: background to return to Royal Navy, 1939; appointment to ship, 4/1940; German Air Force attacks on ship; withdrawal from Norway.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of period as officer with Naval Intelligence with Admiralty in GB, 1939-1945: duties; role of Ian Fleming; loaning his revolver to Captain Tennant; his visit to Dunkirk aboard HMS Keppel; recall to London; his attempts to get private yachts to aid evacuation; role of RAF during Dunkirk; coping with flow of signals to Naval Intelligence; pressure of staff to go back onto active service; problems of locating German raiders; co-operation with Sidney Cotton to take photographs of German Fleet, 9/1939; Bob Niven's photographic mission to German ports, 2/9/1939.
REEL 7 Continues: Sidney Cotton's securing honorary commission into RAF; Sidney Cotton's problems with RAF; formation of photographic unit under Sidney Cotton; use of Wildt machine for aerial photography work; story of Winston Churchill smashing milk bottles; amusing incident concerning Winston Churchill's Trinity House uniform; character of Winston Churchill's "prayers"; Drake's clash with Winston Churchill; example of Winston Churchill's disingenuousness; story of Winston Churchill blocking smoke hatch on roof; hospitality during Quebec Conference; visit to Heights of Abraham.
REEL 8 Continues: Lord Louis Mountbatten's Habbakuk scheme to convert ice berg to aircraft carrier including a demonstration of the strength of ice; his estimation of Lord Louis Mountbatten work with Royal Navy; story of Winston Churchill interview with a potential head of propaganda; Winston Churchill's attitude to propaganda as illustrated by campaign against German U-boats; problems faced by Naval Intelligence from Professor Frederick Lindemann (Lord Cherwell) and Major Morton; importance of naval intelligence.
REEL 9 Continues: lack of credit given to Naval Intelligence. Recollections of Yalta Conference, 1945: clandestine rail journey to Liverpool; voyage aboard SS Franconia; hold up on arrival in Sevastopol, Russia; devestation of Sevastopol; buildings used for Yalta Conference; everyday life during conference; effects of President Franklin Roosevelt's poor health; Drake's confession to Russian Admiral of past anti- Bolshevik activities during dinner party; visit to Crimean War battlefields.
REEL 10 Continue: return to GB via Malta; accident entering Valetta harbour; Drake's role at conference. Recollections of period as officer with Naval Intelligence in GB, 1939-1945: capture of German spies; Operation Mincemeat; British deception system; example of turning round of German agent; the Double Cross system; use of agents codenamed Snow, Biscuit, Celery and Summer; escape of agent Summer from prison; success of agent Tate; capture of agent Richter.
REEL 11 Continues: work of agent Tricycle; rivalry between MI5 and MI6; setting up of Double Cross system; question of execution of German agents; failure to use agent Dragonfly to aid Combined Operations, 1942; work of agent Garbo in Portugal; death of imaginary agent; deception of Germans over North African landings; unpaid work of Polish agent Brutus; work of agent Zigzag; work of Norwegian agents Mutt and Jeff; deception operations over D-Day landings.
REEL 12 Continues: deception of Germans about accuracy of V weapons; German attempt to exploit the IRA; failure of German agents in Eire; impressions of Dennis Wheatley; problem of securing ration cards for double agents. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | IWM | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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