Learning the dangers of serving in the navy

Heroes Remember

Learning the dangers of serving in the navy

Transcript

March ‘41, or April I guess, April ‘41, we finally got to Singapore and got our ship, first ship, HMS Turbon, and it was when it was peace time out there until December the 8th, of course, and then the party started. And we were the last ship to leave Singapore and we got bombed fairly smartly the next day leaving, we took out the last of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. They had been fighting all the way down the peninsula. Interviewer: Yeah. There weren't very many of them left. And some were killed on their, on the way. And anyway, the ship had to go to the United States for a re-fit, and we were transferred to, the midshipmen were transferred to HMS Dorchester, and she was sunk six weeks later, I think. We met, we were, we were coming out of Ceylon to join the main eastern fleet and the Japanese were coming up from the south, they with their carriers and so on. A reconnaissance plane saw us and called, they called it in to the Japanese Admiral, Admiral Nagumo, and they sent their dive bombers and finished us off very smartly.

Description

Mr. Howe talks about his ship being bombed while evacuating troops from Singapore, and about his next ship being sunk.

William Howe

Mr. Howe was born in Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay, Ontario, on 26 August 1922. His father was a cabinet minister and was in London during bombing attacks. His father survived being torpedoed on the way to visit him overseas and was also involved in a sea wreck. Mr. Howe did his naval training in England where he also completed lieutenant's training. He served aboard HMCS Turbon, Dorchester, Sackville and Huron. At the end of the war, Mr. Howe was appointed as a Naval Aid to the Governor of Hong Kong and began a career in politics, on his return to England with the support of MacKenzie King.

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