- Contributed by听
- PIMunnoch
- People in story:听
- P.I.Munnoch
- Location of story:听
- Arctic
- Background to story:听
- Royal Navy
- Article ID:听
- A2382356
- Contributed on:听
- 04 March 2004
These days of Stress Counselling were unknown during WW2. I joined the Navy in 1943 and as a C.W. Candidate (possible officer material) I was sent to sea as an Ordinary Seaman in H.M.S. Norfolk to get experience. I left her on November 11th of that year after two trips into the Arctic, once to Spitzbergen to cover the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa taking relief supplies after a raid by the Tirpitz and once to cover a convoy returning from Murmansk.
Among the Norfolk鈥檚 crew were two 14 year old boy drummers whose action station was in the Conning Tower down in the bowels of the ship. As far as I know, these boys were still in the ship when she was in action with the Scharnhorst on Boxing Day that year and was hit by two 11inch shells from her.
What would today鈥檚 public think of such a thing? Boys of that age would still have two more years schooling to do! They, no doubt, just had to get on with it and accept the stress.
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