George enlisted in the navy at fifteen and war broke out three months later. When news came of British ships being sunk with fellow recruits on board he realised that he was just a cog in the wheel and there was a long struggle ahead. Aged sixteen he was serving on HMS Devonshire, patrolling the Indian Ocean. Shortly after leaving Freetown news came of the German battleship Bismarck and escorts breaking out into the Atlantic and they were ordered to head north. A British convoy was under threat and Devonshire was part of a large force assembled to hunt the enemy. During the battle George and his comrades could hear the German 15-inch shells flying overhead. After hours of pounding from the Royal Navy the Bismarck’s big guns were silent and the Devonshire closed in and finished the German ship with torpedoes. Some survivors were rescued but they had to leave the area due to reported U-boats, although they left behind all their life rafts for the survivors. A few months later after weeks at sea they were escorting convoys in the Far East. After leaving Colombo with their sister ship HMS Cornwall they were attacked by Japanese dive-bombers from one of the enemy carrier groups. Within ten minutes they had been hit and began to sink, followed shortly by the Cornwall. In the sea they were machine-gunned by Japanese aircraft. After thirty hours, with little food and water under the hot sun, the survivors were rescued by British warships.

Alex talks about the first strict days of his Naval training at the shore station of HMS Ganges in Ipswich, and the even stricter regime that followed at Chatham Barracks, recalling the general attitude amongst his peers of ‘just getting on with’ whatever they had to do. His first draft as an ordinary seaman was to HMS Savage, a brand-new ship which he was one of the first to board. Unfortunately for Alex, as soon as he left the shore for the very first time, he was laid low by seasickness which took a fortnight to get over and left him temporarily unable to care if the ship sank or sailed! Alex shares stories from his time on the Russian convoys and the unimaginable hardships the crews endured. He also details close contact with the SS Penelope Barker, as well as Savage’s heroic role in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst: an amazing account made even more incredible when he remembers the moment the Savage turned her guns in the wrong direction… A charming, generous and funny man, Alex’s story is that of a young sailor at sea determined to do his bit, regardless of the dangers and fears he encountered along the way.