This is a collection of stories written by George Rose about his time in the Royal Navy during World War II.
George enlisted in the Navy when he was just seventeen years old. The official enlistment age being eighteen, George, at seventeen, was accepted as a 'boy entrant' and went on to become a Petty Officer.
George initially served for a short period on a 'river gun boat' in which he took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk in the early part of the War. From there, he entered the Royal Navy Submarine Service, and served most of the war aboard HMS Sickle, one of many submarines which patrolled the Mediterranean Sea. Submarines in this theatre of war had an allocated number of patrols to fulfil before returning to Britain.
HMS Sickle had an illustrious career, and her 'Jolly Roger' flag bore numerous indicators of her exploits. Sickle had one more patrol to complete before returning to Britain, when George was ordered to leave the submarine and wait in Gibraltar to be posted on a secret 'special duties' assignment. It was during this wait that news was received that Sickle had, on 6th June 1944, been mined with the loss of all 52 of her crew. Sickle was the last British submarine to be lost in the Mediterranean.
It transpired that the 'special duties' planned for Petty Officer Rose were that he be part of the D-Day landings, on 6th June 1944, the same day that HMS Sickle was lost. He languished in Gibraltar for several weeks awaiting instructions until the person who recalled him from his ship admitted that he had forgotten him.
It was left to George to ponder the extraordinary irony of these events…
Thistle (N 24) |
|
| Class: | 1935 - 1970: T Class |
| Built By: | |
| Build Group: | T 1 |
|
Fate: In the early hours of 10th April 1940 Submarine HMS Thistle (Lt Cdr Herbert James Caldwell) was on the surface charging batteries off Skudenses in Norway when she was sighted by the U-Boat U-4 (Hinsh). Two torpedoes were fired at very close range, the first missed but the second hit and Thistle was sunk with all hands. |
|
This paper contains an analysis of submarine operations during the Falklands War. This was done to provide some insight on the importance of submarines in this conflict and to show the usefulness of submarines in any maritime conflict The submarine operations by both belligerents are looked at and compared over the duration of the conflict
This is an unclassified study that was researched using published books, magazine articles, unpublished papers, unclassified government documents and interviews with officers involved in the conflict.
18 pages added or updated in the last Array month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
Thistle (N 24) |
|
| Class: | 1935 - 1970: T Class |
| Built By: | |
| Build Group: | T 1 |
|
Fate: In the early hours of 10th April 1940 Submarine HMS Thistle (Lt Cdr Herbert James Caldwell) was on the surface charging batteries off Skudenses in Norway when she was sighted by the U-Boat U-4 (Hinsh). Two torpedoes were fired at very close range, the first missed but the second hit and Thistle was sunk with all hands. |
|
This paper contains an analysis of submarine operations during the Falklands War. This was done to provide some insight on the importance of submarines in this conflict and to show the usefulness of submarines in any maritime conflict The submarine operations by both belligerents are looked at and compared over the duration of the conflict
This is an unclassified study that was researched using published books, magazine articles, unpublished papers, unclassified government documents and interviews with officers involved in the conflict.
18 pages added or updated in the last Array month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
This form is for you to comment on, or add additional information to this page. Any questions will be deleted. If you wish to ask a question contact the Branch or the Webmaster using the Contact Us page or ask your question on our Facebook Page