I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety

The other new photos of Freetown in WW2 I've found on WikiCommons. By Roper, F G (Lt) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Nigerian Bandsmen Entertain British Sailors  6 December 1942, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Men of the Royal Navy  back from an Anti-U-boat patrol in the Atlantic,  come ashore  to find the band of the Royal West African Frontier Force  playing in front of the Naval Canteen.  The musical director is Lieutenant McEwan. By Royal Navy official photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons African Naval ratings march past  His Excellency the Governor of Sierra Leone,  Major Sir Hubert Stevenson, KCMG, OBE, MC  who received the salute on the balcony of the Law Courts, Freetown, Sierra Leone.  Note the large Union Flag hanging beneath the balcony.  With the Governor are  Vice Admiral A M Peters, CB, DSO,  Flag Officer Commanding West Africa ;  Major General...

I've found some new photos today on Wikicommons. By Royal Navy official photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons  French sailor carrying fresh pineapples  on board the submarine depot ship HMS MERCATOR  at Freetown, Sierra Leone, August 1943. HMS MERCATOR was a three masted barquentine  which had been commissioned by the Royal Navy  as a floating rest home for submarine men  when they returned to harbour after Atlantic patrol. This is what my dad wrote in his diary: "The oranges' season is now well in and the crop is excellent.  Pineapples are also in and I had my first the other day.  They are quite juicy but rather woody. I think I prefer the tinned variety." 20th January 1944 By Royal Navy official photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons One of HMS MERCATOR'S signalman,  from Sierra Leone,  using semaphore to pass a message  to a submarine preparing to come alo...

Arriving at Freetown, Sierra Leone October 1943. Sunday 31st October 1943 Sighted the African coast early in the morning and at 10.10 dropped anchor in Freetown harbour. The town looks very pretty with brightly coloured houses, the outstanding objects being a church and two wireless aerials. Behind the town to the left is the coastal range of hills. Large numbers of canoes fill the harbour, some mere dug-outs but others quite decent boats. At 16.30 the launch arrives to take us ashore and our kit is unloaded by small boys. We no sooner set foot ashore than scores of boys and girls mob us selling bananas. The first one tastes good. After a long wait a lorry appears to take us to a place called Hastings where the Air Station is, its commissioned name being H.M.S. Spurwing. .....after an hour’s travel we turn down a side track, past a cemetery and pull up against a bungalow which is the Regulatory Office of H.M.S. Spurwing. We have arrived at the end of our journey. There a...

I've noticed on the Internet that 26th January is Australia Day. So, best wishes today to readers in Australia.  This is an extract from my dad's diary that describes some of his experiences in Australia in 1945 while en-route to join his unit involved in the war in the Pacific. On the morning of the 9th April 1945  we arrived at Sydney, largest city in Australia and second largest in the British Empire. Before entering the great harbour the sea was very choppy but once inside became calm and we moved alongside without incident. The main impression I now recall is the first view of the magnificent bridge across the harbour. About the middle of the afternoon we disembarked and travelled to a Naval Air Station a few miles outside the city which was to be our home for the next few weeks. We settled down and that same night caught the electric train back into the city. Our first call was an eating house (American style with little alcoves for couples) where we made...

Welcome back to my blog and all good wishes for 2016. It's been a while since I checked the Amazon reviews for I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II.  I've been delighted to see these reviews posted by readers who've enjoyed the book. Many thanks to all readers and reviewers. If you would like to read some of our other titles please check out Spurwing Ebooks .

Thanks for reading my blog in 2015. Hope you have a very Happy Christmas.

I was searching the internet the other day for any new information about HMS Spurwing and found these images released into the public domain by the Imperial War Museum. The photograph above is a Fairey Fulmar aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm about to take off from HMS Spurwing on a coastal reconnaissance. This photograph shows two of the naval station's Boulton Paul Defiant aircraft in flight after taking off from HMS Spurwing. On Wednesday 5th April 1944, my dad wrote in his diary: "Went in H.S. 599 on Radar test with Dick doing a W/T [Wireless Telegraphy] test at the same time. Felt some nasty quakes when the pilot went into a corkscrew dive over the harbour but otherwise unimportant. Pleased to write that I am no longer troubled by air sickness." I particularly like this photo because I can imagine my dad up there in the clouds. I don't think this would have been the plane he went in but it gives something tangible to the diary extract. Protect...

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Photo credit: Malindine, E G (Capt), War Office official photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons A couple of months ago I discovered some fantastic drawings by official war artist Antony Gross. They are a record of a voyage he made on a troop ship in 1942. ( Read my earlier blogpost here for more information .) I've been looking at the drawings again today and am really impressed by them. You can see all the drawings on the Wikicommons website as the Imperial War Museum has placed the series in the public domain. I think some of Gross' drawings enhance the comments my dad wrote in his diary. Monday 25 th October 1943 "Arrived at Casablanca about 10.00. Stayed two hours while our escort destroyers re-fuelled. Continued to sea. Changed to tropical rig in afternoon – khaki shirt and shorts. Many comments at this from R.N. chaps as the Fleet Air Arm is the only branch of Navy allowed khaki in the tropics. The nights are extremely ...

When the war in Europe ended, my dad was stationed at a transit camp in Sidney, Australia waiting for onward transport to join his unit in the British Pacific Fleet. He wrote in his diary: On Tuesday 8 th May 1945 the newspapers were head-lined "It’s all over in Europe" and gave histories of the last five years. Flags were flying in Sydney but no crowds surged through the streets. We made sure our rooms were booked at the British Centre and went for a drink to celebrate Victory. A couple of drunken sailors were the only signs of the momentous day it was. At seven o’clock we were steaming out of Central Station just as the city began to warm up and celebrate. Australian trains are horrible. They are uncomfortable, slow, draughty and Heaven knows what else, in fact not a patch on the good old L.M.S. [London, Midland and Scottish Railway.] The only interesting part of the journey was an old man of 83 who got on at Penorth and who had emigrated here when h...