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A veteran interview with

Mervyn Salter

Mervyn Salter gives a great account of his life at sea on HMS Saumerz. Operating in both the Arctic and the Pacific he witnesses more than his fair…

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About Mervyn Salter

Mervyn Salter, an able seaman and anti-aircraft gunner, joined the Royal Navy in 1942 at the age of 18. He trained at HMS Raleigh and HMS Drake before being assigned to his first ship, HMS Saumarez, an S-class destroyer.

Mervyn recalls his life and duties aboard the ship, including his first voyage during which the Saumarez escorted the Queen Mary with Winston Churchill on board. He goes on to vividly describe the challenges of the Arctic convoys, sharing detailed memories of the harsh conditions, and later provides an engaging account of the Saumarez’s battle with the German battleship Scharnhorst. Mervyn also recounts the ship’s role in providing artillery support on D-Day, which remains a particularly difficult experience for him to talk about. In 1944 the Saumarez gained a new skipper and was promoted to flotilla leader, setting sail for the Pacific where a new ocean provided a new enemy.

Mervyn’s reflections on his military service are testament to the courage, resilience and camaraderie that defined his time in the Royal Navy, and his closing words remind us that the events of the war and the sacrifices made by so many must never be forgotten.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Caroline Barratt

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Home | Veterans | Mervyn Salter

A veteran interview with

Mervyn Salter

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Mervyn Salter gives a great account of his life at sea on HMS Saumerz. Operating in both the Arctic and the Pacific he witnesses more than his fair…

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Salter, Mervyn. A Veteran Interview with Mervyn Salter. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 2 Jul. 2014 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/mervyn-salter/. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
APA Style:
Salter, M. (2014, July 2). A Veteran Interview with Mervyn Salter [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 25, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/mervyn-salter/
Chicago Style:
Salter, Mervyn. 2014. A Veteran Interview with Mervyn Salter. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, July 2. Accessed May 25, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/mervyn-salter/
Harvard Style:
Salter, M. (2014). A Veteran Interview with Mervyn Salter. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 2 July. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/mervyn-salter/ (Accessed: 25 May 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Salter, M. A Veteran Interview with Mervyn Salter [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2014 Jul 2 [cited 2025 May 25]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/mervyn-salter/
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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.  
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