00:00As a boy I always had ambitions to join the Navy.
00:24Why? Why? I'm not quite sure on that but I just had that feeling for the sea in a way.
00:39When I was first called up they were going to put me in the army but I had no ambition to go in.
00:49I really wanted to go to sea in the Navy but to help the case so I could be relieved from the army.
01:02My mother told me to put on my Merchant Navy uniform as it might help a bit to sway the person who was interviewing me.
01:14And of course it did, didn't it?
01:19I trained as a radio telegraphist.
01:22My first ship was the Richmond and it was an ex-American destroyer.
01:33I was based in Canada as part of the Canadian Merchant Navy and sometimes we never got to England.
01:46We came halfway across and another convoy coming out took over our convoy and we took the other one back to America or Canada, wherever we were going to at that time.
02:00Well, yes, we had the usual performances of some attacks on us and that and bangs and no-knows-what.
02:08And, you know, we had to go to action stations quite a lot but we were lucky.
02:14But our destroyer was the senior one so the captain could make his own decisions.
02:22And perhaps I can mention that we had a little dog on board which we called Timo.
02:32The water used to come upon deck quite a lot and the little dog used to run alongside barking at it.
02:41And one day before we sailed on this occasion, the decks had been linseeded, which makes them slippery.
02:49So he got away with it for a day or so, but when he puts the brakes on it, nothing happened and he kept going into that great ocean.
03:00The skipper actually broke a lot of rules.
03:03He went in search of this little dog, which meant that he'd left his section of the convoy that he should have been protecting.
03:12And it took us half an hour to come.
03:15Somebody saw in the big swells this little dog weakly paddling along still.
03:20And that's another rule he shouldn't have done is stopped engines, which means any submarine there had a wonderful chance of, you know, hitting us with the torpedo.
03:34And we got it on board.
03:37We pumped the water out of it and I think they gave it a toss of rum.
03:43Well, it was a sailor.
03:46I was switched at the last moment to an LSH, which was the landing ship headquarters.
03:56I was used on that with others with me, of course, reporting when vessels were coming over, food, tanks, other items.
04:06In other words, controlling the landing.
04:08They can't just come in anywhere.
04:10They have to be directed.
04:11And I was on that for nearly a couple of weeks before we got this bombing.
04:20I was lucky.
04:21I don't know.
04:22It was a terrific explosion.
04:24And I thought, oh my gosh.
04:28And the lights went out.
04:30And do you know what the first thing I thought about?
04:33Putting my shoes on.
04:35I thought I might need them.
04:38Which I did.
04:40Yes.
04:41My friend was killed at that time.
04:44Well, I volunteered to be one of the people who cleared up the dead, you know, on the next day.
04:50And get them sorted out.
04:52And the next day we put them over the side.
04:55When I went out to the Far East, I travelled on a Dutch merchant ship.
05:11I then joined the British Pacific Fleet.
05:15I was put on board the senior vessel of three destroyers.
05:19So we came across this convoy while we were parading around looking, you know, for that type of thing.
05:28And that's when we sank about seven of their vessels in the night.
05:35And at one point we were supposed to stand by because we were going to ram one of them.
05:45But as it happened, the skipper of the other vessel was quick enough to manage to turn.
05:51And we just sailed by with a small arms fire from our vessel, drilling the ship, you know, as we went by on there.
06:01I was put to the job of feeding the cordite and the shells onto this trolley, you see, which goes up to the gunners up above.
06:13After that night of sinkings, we came across one of the vessels that hadn't completely sunk.
06:22And part of it was still afloat.
06:27And there were about six or seven Japanese on board.
06:31And so our skipper put down a boat with armed sailors in to take them prisoner.
06:40But on its way across, there was a terrific explosion.
06:46And the Japanese had decided to kill themselves rather than have the disgrace of being taken prisoner.
06:57Overall, we were doing our job, but we were lucky, of course, because it could have been either way.
07:05And there we are. So I'm, you know, very pleased to think that I could go on and be useful possibly in the future.
07:18Hi, I've known Peter Foxen here for quite a few years.
07:23I'm pleased to say that Peter is a member of the Age Concern community in Deepings.
07:29And I picked Peter up. I've got the honour to pick him up some Fridays to go to the daycare.
07:35And we always have a good chat.
07:37And Peter sits in the back of the minibus and chats up the ladies, I've got to say.
07:44And they seem to enjoy that too.
07:46Sure they do.
07:47And Peter's also a member of, an honorary member of the Royal British Legion.
07:53And we managed to get him a special...
07:56Certificate.
07:57A special certificate.
07:58Yes.
07:59When he became a hundred years old, he gets free membership for life now.
08:02I'm pleased to say, and I think he's earned it.
08:05So we're very proud of him in the Deepings.
08:08Not many people are left who fought for our freedom 80 years ago and more.
08:15So thank you, Peter.
08:18Top man.
08:19For acknowledging me.
08:36Thanks.
08:37It's his name.
08:38You're welcome.
08:40He'll have learn from theemon tab.
08:42Think shall shortly.
08:43I'm sorry.
08:44I know that.
08:45He'll have to get forward to the doctor.
08:46You can't optiate of guests.
08:47But he knows to get to check those demons into the industry.
08:49Like he turns into the industry.
08:50Give him round him a reservation at visit.
08:52He's not least enough money in the cloud honrade.
08:54Take already, he's not only the one in the world.
08:57We need to pull back…
08:58...it's for a moment in hisですね.
09:00I've never seen him a plan.
09:01And I've never seen him rather than am I in the future.
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