I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety

Click a link to read the story from the beginning: Joining the Fleet Air Arm October 15th 1942 Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa 1943 H.M.S. Spurwing 1943 Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa October 1943 - November 1944 Hastings, near Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa 1943 - 1944 Visit of Admiral Peters to H.M.S. Spurwing January 1944 The Radio Section H.M.S. Spurwing 1944 Day Trip to Marampa February 6th 1944 Lumley Beach, Freetown, Sierra Leone March 26th 1944 The Concert April 1944 An Evening of Tribal Dances 22nd April 1944 H.M.S. Spurwing | H.M.S. Nabaron H.M.S. Nabaron MONAB 4 MSR6 1945 Ponam, The Admiralty Islands, British Pacific Fleet 1945 The End of the War

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Saturday 1 st January 1944 " Rang in the New Year well and truly on the ship’s bell. Nearly all the officers and ratings were in various stages of inebriation. The first lieutenant vainly trying to drink someone’s health from a bottle with the top still on. Foul taste in mouth this morning due to excess of port wine ." That's what my dad (Norman Buckle) wrote in his diary on New Year's Day 1944. He was stationed at H.M.S. Spurwing, the Royal Navy Air Base at Hastings, near Freetown in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He was nineteen years old. This photo was in Norman's collection; he hasn't made clear whether or not it's the New Year's Eve celebrations. Looks like it was a fun night though. Considering that high temperatures and humidity made a posting to Freetown very unpopular with services personnel they look like they're making the best of it!  Freetown was surrounded by malarial mangrove swamps and the humidity was so ...

I won't be posting anything new here until after Christmas. Why not call in at Writing a Family History instead which has had several up-dates recently? If you would like to see all the photographs for I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety in one array, they're at Spurwing ebooks . Just follow the link and scroll down the page. Thanks for stopping by my blog. If you read with a Kindle, iPad, Kobo, Nook, iPhone you can get a free copy of Julia's Room by Michael Murray at any of the main ebook retailers. There are some links here if you're interested. Hope you have a Very Happy Christmas and see you again in 2014.

Last time I posted on this Blog I mentioned I was trying to get hold of a copy of Ponam - A Base of the Forgotten Fleet by Harry J Bannister and that Waterstones were on the case trying to fulfil my order. Unfortunately, they sent an email the other day to say the book was unavailable. I've looked on Ebay and on a couple of specialist book-sites and there's no sign of it there either; so I suppose that's that. I'm disappointed because I thought the book might have a really full account of what went on on Ponam Island in 1945. My dad didn't write much in his diary once he got there and afterwards he told a relative they all thought they were going to die so I don't suppose writing about it was very high on his priority list at the time. During the 1950s when we were growing up, our dad never talked about his war-time experiences and we weren't all that interested anyway. Sadly he died when he was in his mid-fifties and now we do want to know what happ...

A reader called "Frank" has posted a fantastic review on the Amazon site in both U.K and U.S.A. for  I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II . Thank you so much "Frank" and I'm delighted you enjoyed the book and took the trouble to post your thoughts about it. I've been involved in ebook publishing since the start of 2012 and one of the many wonderful aspects is the personal feedback that comes from readers. Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed our books; you can check out our other books from this page if you're interested or visit our website . If you've read  I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II you'll know that my dad, Norman Buckle, went out to an airbase on Ponam Isalnd in the Pacific Ocean as part of the British Pacific Fleet. When I was trying to piece together the story of his experiences ...

October 15th is the first anniversary of the publication of I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II . I published the book exactly one year ago on the exact same date as my dad, Norman Buckle, joined the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in 1942. Seventy one years ago, World War II uprooted my father from a coal mining village in South Yorkshire and transported him thousands of miles to Sierra Leone in West Africa and later to a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean via Sydney, Australia. I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II is a short, annotated diary which records Norman's experiences and the on-going banalities of everyday life on a naval air-base far away from home. Since publication there have been over one thousand downloads of I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety and I've been overwhelmed by the interest the book has generated am...

The photographs that go with I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II are in the Blog Archive in the October 2012 Folder. Just go to Joining the Fleet Air Arm and keep clicking newer post at the end of each entry. Did you know that you don’t actually need a Kindle to read I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II by N. Buckle & C. Murray? You can get a free app from Amazon for phones, tablets, PCs etc in the Amazon Kindle Store. If you’re interested in the other books I’ve published please check out Spurwing ebooks website. My passion is Family History and when I’m not writing blog posts I’m usually researching for that. I’m building a website at http://writingafamilyhistory.com and if you’re interested in Family History I’d be delighted to see you there. The website is a work in progress and gets new stuff on it every few days. ...

My dad, Norman Buckle, was stationed at the Royal Navy air base at Hastings,  near Freetown, Sierra Leone 1943 - 44. Read more in I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety:  The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II. Please visit our website to find out more about our books. http://www.spurwing-ebooks.com

I borrowed ‘Tracing Your Second World War Ancestors’ by Simon Fowler* from my local public library recently and found it to be a useful and informative guide. When I was researching my Second World War ancestor I found that it was quite straightforward to get hold of his records of service in the Fleet Air Arm from the Royal Navy Archives. There was a form and instructions that could be downloaded from the Internet and when completed sent off in the post with a cheque for £30 which seemed a bit steep but there you are. After a wait of several weeks the available information was returned and although incomplete still fascinating. In his book Simon Fowler guides you through a whole range of potential sources for all the UK services and even some of the civilian roles. For example, he gives information about researching ancestors who might have been Bevin Boys including some interesting weblinks. My grandfather was a coal miner and was required to continue in that occupa...