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KittiePerry

A veteran interview with

Kittie Perry

Kittie Perry provides a comprehensive account of her time in the WRNS. She was a Air Mechanic – Engines who loved her work on the Spitfire.

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About Kittie Perry

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Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker

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Home | Veterans | Kittie Perry

A veteran interview with

Kittie Perry

KittiePerry

Kittie Perry provides a comprehensive account of her time in the WRNS. She was a Air Mechanic – Engines who loved her work on the Spitfire.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Perry, Kittie. A Veteran Interview with Kittie Perry. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 15 Aug. 2016 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/kittie-perry/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
APA Style:
Perry, K. (2016, August 15). A Veteran Interview with Kittie Perry [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved April 25, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/kittie-perry/
Chicago Style:
Perry, Kittie. 2016. A Veteran Interview with Kittie Perry. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, August 15. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/kittie-perry/
Harvard Style:
Perry, K. (2016). A Veteran Interview with Kittie Perry. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 15 August. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/kittie-perry/ (Accessed: 25 April 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Perry, K. A Veteran Interview with Kittie Perry [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2016 Aug 15 [cited 2025 Apr 25]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/kittie-perry/
An interview with

Frank Wilson

Frank Wilson's Journey from Navy Training to Arctic Convoys and Celebrating Victory in Singapore

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.  
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
An interview with

Eric Conway

A Royal Navy veteran with vivid memories of submarine service in the Arctic during World War II.

Eric Conway joined the Royal Navy at the young age of 16, starting his service on the very day World War II broke out. He served as a Leading Telegraphist, specialising in communications and coding. Eric's submarine experience was primarily on U-class submarines, known for their small size and challenging conditions. He was involved in several significant events during the war, including the tragic PQ17 convoy, where his submarine was part of a screen protecting merchant ships from German U-boats. Eric witnessed the devastating aftermath of the convoy's scattering, resulting in the loss of numerous ships. He also had close encounters with German U-boats, including one instance where his submarine fired a torpedo and engaged in a gun battle with a U-boat. Eric's wartime experiences took a toll on his mental health, leading to a period of hospitalisation and a change in his service category. Despite the hardships he faced, he completed his service and carried the memories and impact of the war with him throughout his life.
Photo Gallery icon 4 Photos
Service:
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An interview with

Buster Brown

Buster Brown reflects on his time in the Navy during D-Day

Henry William Brown, known as Buster Brown, recalls his early life as an evacuee during the Second World War and his early career as an apprentice electrical engineer before the Blitzkrieg. After this troubling time started, he volunteered for the Navy to avoid being put into the mines. He reflects on his time being trained in Combined Ops. Formed in 1940 by Winston Churchill their operations would generally involve a small group of commandos landing from the sea or dropped by parachute. Combined Ops played a large part in the Allied victory of WWII and particularly on D-Day. D Day and Buster landed on Sword beach. Almost immediately he was put in charge of 12 German Prisoners. He tells stories about the aftermath of D-Day and vulnerable moments of losing those close to him in battle. Overall this reflection on the Second World War provides a detailed and brave account of this Veterans time in the Navy. He ends this in America on VE Day with celebrations as he anticipated the continue fight in Japan.
Service:
Interviewed by:
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