Before he left at 1700 hrs to be driven to Weymouth station accompanied by his Aide Louis Mountbatten, he sent a general signal to all the fleet to 'splice the main brace'. Prior to the war, the Reserve Fleet was regarded as a backwater for officers and men who had been passed over for promotion to eke out their time before pension. That was until Vice-Admiral Horton took command in July 1937 and gave it some pride in itself and standing in the navy. Max Horton's efforts could be appreciated this day as the 132 proud ships of the Reserve Fleet assembled in Weymouth Bay.

 

Shore leave was allowed which resulted in me 'blotting' my copybook. Unfamiliar with Weymouth, my friends and I chose the wrong place to get the boat back and returned late. With hindsight it was understandable, with so many ships disgorging thousands of men ashore, and then collecting them again, there was bound to be confusion. We were in plenty of time to get the picket boat but waited in vain at the wrong place. Others came and went full of returning seamen but nobody seemed to know where the boat for 'Courageous' came in. We was finally taken back by another ships' liberty boat and immediately put in the 'rattle'. When the Coxswain heard about it he came to the rescue and argued my case persuasively to get the charge dropped and save me from Commander's Report. It meant there wouldn't be a black mark on my record sheet. I didn't get off scot-free, the coxswain found every dirty job he could for me to do in my leisure time for the next couple of weeks. The extra work didn't worry me but his abusive language got on my nerves. With hindsight it would have been better to do the proper punishment.

 

 The territorial conquests of the Third Reich, and the events leading up to the Second World War have been well documented by countless historians and biographers. I leave it to them to argue on the pros' and cons' of the decisions made by our illustrious politicians in the diplomatic minefield of appeasement. Suffice to say that Britain had an agreement to act in the defence of Poland. When Hitler invaded that country on September 1st. 1939 the British government had no alternative but to issue an ultimatum. Germany was given until 1100 on September 3rd. to withdraw their forces or face the inevitable consequences.

 

 The ship left Weymouth at 0530hrs on September 2nd.1939 ready for war. The next day Sunday, September 3rd. 1939 was a truly memorable day for me, and the rest of the ships' company of H.M.S.Courageous. We had been told that an important wireless announcement would be relayed through the ships loudspeakers at 1115hrs. I met Fred Ball going 'forrard' and we decided to listen to the news in the boys’ messdeck. Right on time the tannoy clicked on and the voice of the Prime Minister, Arthur Neville Chamberlain, came mournfully across the air waves. He told the nation that Adolf Hitler had not responded to the British ultimatum and that we were now in a state of war with Germany.

 

 H.M.S. Courageous joined the Channel Force as part of the fleet protecting the route of the Expeditionary Force to France. Later on Saturday 16th.September, we sailed on a search and destroy mission against U-boats operating in the Atlantic Ocean. Their menacing presence would be a constant threat to the Allied ships bringing vital supplies for the country. The Fleet Air Arm crews had been spending more and more time in the air, with additional mock bombing and torpedo attack exercises. Night flying had also been stepped up but not without loss of aircraft, possibly due to the inexperience of the pilots. Everyone was involved in 'dummy runs' especially the gun crews, familiarizing themselves with their Action Stations. Practise was the only way to ensure the best of teamwork. Strangely enough, 'Abandon Ship' procedure was overlooked, which proved a fatal mistake. With all the brashness of a sixteen year old, and the self-confidence from a disciplined training, I didn't feel unduly alarmed about the declaration of war. I would have been if I could have foreseen that in two weeks I would be a survivor from the first British warship to be sunk by the enemy. Many of the reservists had seen action at sea during the First World War and needed no reminders of it's horrors. It could be said that the number of pensioners that made up the crew was a contributing factor in the tragic loss of life when H.M.S. Courageous was torpedoed and sunk.

 When the war started I found myself doing two conflicting sets of duties, watch-keeping with a gun crew and captain's messenger. When he was on duty I was on standby in case needed. I ended up leaving one spell of duty to immediately start another on the gun, and for the first three days at sea I had little or no sleep. On the third day I collapsed into a sleep-inducing stupor. The captain, wanting something fetching noted my absence, and his coxswain came to find me asleep on the steel deck below the charthouse. After a very brusque wakening from an irate 'cox', I explained the circumstances and got a few grunts acknowledging my predicament. He soon sorted the matter out and after that my watch-keeping duties were confined to the bridge and the wheelhouse. It was an arrangement that I enjoyed very much.  Exactly two weeks after the Prime Minister's fateful broadcast H.M.S.Courageous, with an escort of four 'I' class destroyers, was patrolling off the South-west coast of Ireland. To all intents and purposes the flotilla was more than capable of dealing with any marauding 'wolf packs'. It was a misconception which, with hindsight, the Admiralty was to regret and hastily rectify. Aircraft carriers were quickly withdrawn from submarine sweeps and returned to their proper place in the Fleet. The powerful unit made a pleasing sight as it majestically cut a swathe   through the water.

There was no thought of danger as men went about their normal duties. Then a distress signal came in, implying that a merchant ship in our area, SS. Kafiristan, was being attacked by a U-boat. Captain Makeig-Jones ordered two of the escort to break formation and investigate. It was reassuring to see the graceful lines of the destroyers as they altered course and sped away to deal with the matter. Disappearing in the distance at high speed, it was easy to see why they were called the 'greyhounds of the sea'.

 

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HMS Courageous

HMS Courageous June-September 1939 from the book “Taking the King’s Shilling” by John Cannon