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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Elizabeth Perez of Stockport Libraries on behalf of Leslie Atkinson and has been added to the site with his permission. He fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I joined the Royal Navy in August 1943. I reported to “H.M.S. Duke” in Malvern for five weeks initial training, and was then drafted to Portsmouth Barracks to await placement. After two or three days of what I considered hell on earth, I was drafted out to a shore base “H.M.S. Raven” at Eastleigh, and then on to another shore base “H.M.S. Pewitt” at Arbroath. From there I went to “H.M.S. Revenge”, a battleship anchored in Gairloch, near Helensburgh, Scotland for training as a first class stoker. After that it was back to Portsmouth to pick up a draft on a sea-going ship.

The ship I was drafted to was “H.M.S. Volage”, a brand new destroyer – a ship I was happy to serve on for most of my life in the service. Built in Cowes, the “Volage”, after working up trials, was assigned to the 26th D.F. based at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. Her duties mainly consisted of escorting air carriers carrying out strikes on German positions in Norway, including attacks on the German battleship “Tirpitz”.

In October, orders came to escort convoy JW60 to the Kola Inlet in Russia. This was accomplished without loss, and we stayed five days at Polearno to refuel and clean the ship. The stay in Polearno was not very hospitable. With allies like Russia, one feels that the spartan base of Scapa Flow is a paradise. However we left Polearno to escort the convoy back to the U.K. and although two ships were lost to U. boats on the way, we felt relief for the ships that had made the journey, but sorrow for the unlucky ones.

Back in Scapa Flow we resumed our duties of escorting carriers. The winter was closing in and the weather, which is normally bad, was turning worse. One operation had to be cancelled after five days after a terrible battering by huge waves. The motor boat was lost with most of the Carley floats and quite a lot of damage was sustained. On our way back to Scapa, a small vessel was spotted ahead and action stations was sounded. After a cautious approach, with the help of our searchlight, it was revealed to be a fishing boat with people on board. They were escaping from Norway, but the engine had broken down. The crew consisted of four French, two Norwegians and one Belgian. There was also one dead man as they had been machine gunned by the Luftwaffe. They had not eaten for twelve days and had no water for two days. We took them aboard, fed and watered them, cast off the fishing boat and continued back to Scapa Flow, where our extra passengers were handed over to the security people. Some time later the ship received a warm letter of thanks from them, adding that they were all joining in the common fight against our enemies.

As the damage to the ship was quite bad, we were dispatched to Rosyth, Edinburgh for repairs and a boiler clean. It was also a chance for the crew to take advantage of the delights of the city for a few days before steaming back to Scapa Flow to resume escort duties.

In December the ship’s command was informed the "Volage" was to depart for Leith, Scotland for a refit and half the crew would get Christmas leave and the other half would get New Year’s leave. On the completion of leave and the refit, the ship would join the rest of the 26th D.F. and sail from Plymouth to join the East Indies fleet based at Trincomalee, Ceylon.

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