Navy Days
Edition: First
Author: Edward Coleman
ISBN: 095350610X
Publishers: Andrew Books
(Self Published)
Price: £9.99
Publication Date: 1999
Recollections Of Navy Days By by Edward Coleman, CEng, MIEE. Published by Andrew Books of Budleigh Salterton in 1999. HMS VERNON, HECLA, VICTORY II, VENOMOUS, ANTHONY.
Contents : Joining Up; HMS Victory; Square Bashing; Technical Training; My First Draft; Air Raids & An Explosion; Off To Sea At Last; Why We Docked In Simon's Town; A Ship Restored; Back To Sea; I Attend A Famous Girls' School; HMS Anthony; Gibraltar; Stand Easy; A U-Boat Encounter; Back To Pompey; Scotland Again; Return To Depot; Pipe Down; Epilogue.
Edward Coleman was nineteen
when WWII broke out. He is now
eighty-seven and wrote this book in 1999.
I have had the privilege of meeting Ted and discussed some of the
matters contained in this book.
The author joined the Royal
Navy because he wasn’t keen on the Army and he believed in the war and felt at
long last his country was going to do something about that idiot Hitler. Although his intention was to serve during
the duration of the war, he opted to sign on for twelve years, because his was
a reserved occupation.
He was fortunate that his
standard of education gave him the opportunity to join as an Electrical
Artificer. I say fortunate, because
once trained, Artificers were immediately elevated to Petty Officer and then
enjoyed the comparative comfort of a Senior Ratings’ Mess and the enhanced pay
of that rate. Ted’s vivid description
of a 'wash-deck' destroyer’s accommodation even for Chief and Petty Officers
may not bear this out, but all things are relative.
He started at HMS Vernon,
which was in fact the home of the torpedo and anti- submarine branch. In my time it also housed the diving school
where I trained as a diver.
Ted’s memory seemed clear
apart from the odd detail such as calling South Parade Pier 'Southsea Pier' and
at one stage calling the hotel opposite 'small'. I recall my father being a chef there, it was in fact The Royal
Beach Hotel and it always seemed to me one of the largest in Portsmouth. Of course Ted may be referring to one near
there. His description of walking
through Victoria Park brings back to me happy memories of days with my mother
admiring the birds and animals in the park.
Although many years have
passed, Ted still recalls that Officers had Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner,
whereas Ratings had Breakfast, Dinner, Tea and Supper. But he doesn’t mention, 'Hands to Dinner,
RPs to Lunch'. However, I believe this
would have been 'Hands to Dinner, HO’s to Lunch' during WWII. Later we hear that the future of his
promotion to Warrant Officer is blocked by preference being given to HO
Officers being offered permanent commissions as the electrical branch expands.
Ted has strong views on
discipline and many other subjects as well, all of which he expresses very
clearly and he often goes off on another tack for a paragraph or two.
His first sea-going draft
was to HMS Hecla, a Destroyer Depot ship where he joined the EA and OA’s
messdeck. Hecla was built by John
Brown on the Clyde. En-route to Simon’s
Town, South Africa, she struck a mine and lucky for Ted he had packed up early,
left the workshop and was on the heads when it happened. His friend was not so lucky and died in the
workshop.
Once repaired and back at
sea again, at 22.45 hrs on 11 November 1942, she was sunk by five torpedoes
fired by U-515, 200 miles off Casablanca.
At least two other authorities I have consulted say that she was sunk by
U-505, but I believe Ted is correct, since U-505 was captured by the Americans
and is still on display in the USA and I am sure Ted would have been aware of
this. As a matter of interest, U-515 was
depth-charged by the US Navy on 9 April 1944.
At the time Hecla was accompanied by HM Ships Vindictive, Venomous and
Marne, the latter two being the Destroyer escort.
Ted vividly describes the
attack and his subsequent action on leaving the ship. He intended to swim to the Marne, but as he set off she too was
torpedoed and he was eventually rescued by HMS Venomous, the crew of which he
has nothing but praise for. Whilst
researching on the internet, I came across the story of George Male who was
also a member of Hecla’s crew and like Ted intended to swim to the Marne. George Male says "I was swimming towards her
and there was a swish in the water beside me.
It was a torpedo which blew the stern off the Marne. She had a pattern of depth-charges set, they
were thrown off and exploded around us.
Her ammunition went off and I decided to look for somewhere else". George Male, like Ted was picked up the next
morning in a Carley Raft.
Ted begs to differ from the
official Admiralty report, which claims that the fifth torpedo hit the
starboard side, 'it didn’t, it hit the port side, I’m not arguing about it I
was there', said Ted, 'he (the Admiral) wasn’t'.
Ted’s Naval adventures
continue as he joined the Destroyer HMS Anthony, an old 'A' Class from
WWI. Ted’s description of her reminds
me very much of HMS Aisne in which I served.
You need to have served in a Destroyer to understand what a 'wash-deck
Destroyer' can be like in a bad sea, but wait for it Ted volunteered! It takes all kinds to make a world! As Ted
rightly points out modern Destroyers are about twice the size.
What did surprise me was how
the author’s wife was able to follow him about the UK, to be with him in
various hotels and digs, I’m sure that this wasn’t the norm.
Ted seems to have a thing
about pregnant WRENS in modern times being treated better than wartime
personnel. Little errors do appear from
time to time such as 'King’s Rules and Admiralty Instructions', which should
read 'Regulations'. Ted describes HMS
Anthony and in doing so on Page 104 reveals the inadequacy of some wartime training,
where we have a person such as he holding the rate of Petty Officer having to
say, 'what and where is the tiller flat?'
Even a Boy Seaman Second Class would know the answer.
The book could have been
better proofread, eg on Page 107 we have a reference to 'X-Guta was
firing'. However it doesn’t detract
from the contents, although it might irritate some readers.
Ted did not stay in the
Royal Navy and was in fact invalided out at the end of the war with a small
pension of 57p a week, which came to an end after two years.
This book is exactly what it
says, 'Recollections of Navy Days by a Veteran of WWII' written down just as
the author recalls and to that extent it is a very good read which I personally
enjoyed. Should it be reprinted, it
will need editing and proofreading and would benefit from some photographs and
a nice dust jacket, then I think it would appeal even more to naval historians
of WWII and other enthusiasts.
Rob Jerrard
Sadly Ted passed away shortly after this review was published. I have no knowledge of any copies of this book; I know he had 200 copies left and people who attended his funeral were given copies.