Ts account

Eric Smith joined the Royal Navy in November 1936 (p 6) after several dead end jobs in London. He gives illuminating descriptions of scenes in the Whitehall recruiting office (pp 8-10) and of his brutal training in shore establishments Ganges (pp 10-22), and the battleship Ramillies (pp 23-25).

In January 1938 he was posted to the cruiser Ajax in which he served until May 1940 (pp 25-69), based on the America and West Indies Station - including visits to Jamaica to quell riots (pp 28-34), to the Falkland Islands (pp 39-40) and to Chile to assist in relief work following the 1939 earthquake disaster (pp 45-52). Following the outbreak of war Ajax was involved in the boarding and sinking of German merchantmen and in the Battle of the River Plate, of which Smith gives very good descriptions (pp 63-68).

After qualifying as a Gun layer 3rd Class in May 1940, he was posted for a short while to Pakefield Shore Gun Battery (pp 70-72), before joining the destroyer Legion (Commander R F Jessel RN) in November 1940. He served in Legion until March 1942 (pp 74-105); during which time the ship served with the Western Approaches Special Escort Group (pp 76-87), and from September 1940 with Force H and in various escort groups in the Mediterranean. He briefly describes the raids on the Lofotan Islands of March 1941 (pp 78-80), gives several second-hand (mainly post-war) accounts of the sinking of the Bismarck (pp 84-87) and describes the difficulties of rescuing survivors from the sinking of HMS Ark Royal (pp 91-92). Legion was also involved in the sinking of the Italian cruisers Alberico da Barbiano and Alberto di Giussans, off Cape Bon, Tunisia on 14 December 1941 (pp 95-96). Legion frequently came under attack while acting as escort to convoys to Malta and particularly during the Second Battle of Sirte (pp 103-105 22 March 1942). On 26 March 1942 Legion was torpedoed and sunk at her moorings in the Malta Dockyard (pp 105-106).

Smith's next posting was to the destroyer Rockwood in which he served until December 1943 (pp 119-130). Rockwood was used to ferry troops to the Dodecanese and to Cos, and to attack German merchant ships at Samos. During this latter phase of its activities the ship was badly damaged in a German air raid and spent several weeks in port in neutral Turkey (pp 122-128). Expecting to be interned, Smith jumped ship, but was soon 'recaptured' and returned to Rockwood. The ship left for Alexandria in December 1943 without incident.

Smith was posted as Leading Hand to the First World War vintage battleship Malaya in December 1943 (pp 131-134). The ship helped in the bombardment of St Malo (August 1944) and was subsequently used for target practice in trials for the bouncing bomb on a Scottish loch.

After the end of the war Smith served as a Petty Officer in the Provost Marshal's office in London for about eight months, his duties involving the arrest of naval deserters and criminals (pp 135-136). He disliked the job and, restless to serve afloat once more, was finally posted to the cruiser Superb under the command of Captain Alan Scott-Moncrieff RN, with Commander Michael le Fanu as ship's Executive Officer, both of whom he greatly admired and both of whom were destined for flag rank.

He provides several cameos of life on board the ship in the early post-war years (pp 137-141) and remained in her until shortly before he left the Navy in early 1950. From 1971 until 1980, Smith worked as a Yeoman and Boatswain on board the Imperial War Museum's HMS Belfast.