Megan Moir joined the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) aged 18 in December 1944. After brief training she went to Larne in Northern Ireland, but soon had the rare opportunity to join HMS Philante, a former luxury yacht which was used to train warships involved in anti-submarine work, with submarines acting as U-boats. They sailed to the naval base at the Kyle of Lochalsh opposite Skye, where she spent the rest of the war typing training instructions and training results. After the war she typed up reports in German following the surrender of U-boats there. She recalls her excitement when offered the chance to go to sea at 10 minutes notice, because very few WRENS went to sea; she vividly recalls being on the bridge, where she could see what was happening. She only stayed onboard one night; the rest of the time she slept in the “Wrenery”, where she enjoyed socialising in the common room with fellow WRENS and visitors. She narrates many fascinating anecdotes, including the celebrations for VE- and VJ-Day.

Douglas attended a naval school at age 10 and started training at sea aged 14 as a cadet. He became the youngest petty officer in the navy and at the start of WW2 he was serving on HMS Coventry, an anti-aircraft cruiser. He later served on the cruiser HMS Fiji and then the battleship King George V which was providing cover for Russian convoys. He was present when this ship and others sank the German battleship Bismarck in 1941. During this time he received news that his brother had been killed in North Africa. By June 1944 he was chief coxswain on board HMS Prince Charles, a ship carrying eight landing craft. He, and others, were given pills to help them stay awake for 24 hours. The ship picked up US Rangers, troops he describes as ‘brilliant soldiers’, at Southampton. They then sailed to Omaha beach, disembarking the Rangers from their landing craft at 7am on D-Day. Despite heavy Allied shelling and bombing the German defences took a heavy toll on the American troops. He remembers one landing craft hitting a mine and parts of bodies being hurled through the air. At one point, during the chaos of the fighting, he jumped into the sea and turned a landing craft around to enable the troops to disembark. He described this not as conscious bravery but something he did spontaneously under the stress of the situation. His only injury of the war was losing some teeth during a game of hockey!

Doug Shelley served as an Able Seaman in the Royal Navy during World War II, joining at 17. Inspired by family members who served before him, he volunteered in 1942 and underwent rigorous training at HMS Glendower in Wales, where he adapted to military life. He was assigned to the Arctic Convoys aboard HMS Milne, enduring some of the harshest conditions of the war. He faced freezing temperatures, U-boat and air attacks, and witnessed the devastating toll on merchant ships. He recounted rescuing survivors from torpedoed vessels in the icy Barents Sea, many already frozen and lost. Doug's role as a gun layer required precision and resilience, particularly during battles with U-boats and harsh storms. Later, he served in the Pacific on HMS Armada, assisting carrier operations and rescuing downed pilots, often navigating the intense heat of Australia and Fiji. Doug also travelled aboard HMS Anson, the battleship that brought him home, and served briefly at HMS Golden Hind, a dispersal camp in Australia. Reflecting on his service, Doug recalls the physical and emotional challenges, as well as the pride in completing his duty. His stories reveal the personal grit and endurance required to navigate the realities of naval warfare.