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Frank-Wilson

A veteran interview with

Frank Wilson

Frank Wilson was an Able Seaman on the escort carrier, HMS Activity. She had the biggest flight deck of any escort carrier in the Fleet. In addition to aircraft handling, he was also a gunner on the flight deck. He was a Pompi Rating.

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About Frank Wilson

A few months after World War II began, Frank Wilson enlisted in the Royal Navy. He completed 10 weeks of training at HMS Collingwood and continued at HMS Wellesley in Liverpool, where he trained as an anti-aircraft gunner. Frank was then stationed on HMS Activity, a 14,000-ton ship, posted to the forward starboard side operating the anti-aircraft guns. He fondly recalls Captain Willoughby as an absolute gentleman.

While training, Frank remembers being held in the harbour at Greenock when HMS Dasher exploded and sank in the Clyde in March 1943, with 379 out of 528 crewmen lost. He saw the smoke and heard about the sea being afire with aviation fuel.

Frank’s first Russian Convoy was extremely cold, with temperatures below 50 degrees. He was part of the team escorting battleships Royal Sovereign and Missouri. On another trip, he witnessed HMS Bluebell get hit by a torpedo from the German submarine U-711 in the Barents Sea, where only one person survived.

In Russia, Frank saw the hunger and gave food to the locals whenever he could. The Activity had to keep moving in dangerous waters to avoid being an easy target for the Germans. Frank was part of 20 different convoys, traveling in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. After serving on The Activity, he was transferred to HMS Berwick and sent to the Far East. In Singapore, he visited HMS Activity again to celebrate the end of the war with his old friends.

 

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Jake Woods

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Home | Veterans | Frank Wilson

A veteran interview with

Frank Wilson

Frank-Wilson

Frank Wilson was an Able Seaman on the escort carrier, HMS Activity. She had the biggest flight deck of any escort carrier in the Fleet. In addition to aircraft handling, he was also a gunner on the flight deck. He was a Pompi Rating.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Wilson, Frank. A Veteran Interview with Frank Wilson. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 26 Aug. 2014 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/frank-wilson/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
APA Style:
Wilson, F. (2014, August 26). A Veteran Interview with Frank Wilson [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved April 25, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/frank-wilson/
Chicago Style:
Wilson, Frank. 2014. A Veteran Interview with Frank Wilson. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, August 26. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/frank-wilson/
Harvard Style:
Wilson, F. (2014). A Veteran Interview with Frank Wilson. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 26 August. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/frank-wilson/ (Accessed: 25 April 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Wilson, F. A Veteran Interview with Frank Wilson [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2014 Aug 26 [cited 2025 Apr 25]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/frank-wilson/
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