Hi both Davids, thanks for your reply's, i sat down with Harry on Monday and went through the the previous posts and i had received the details of his war record, so had a great day filling in on the details of the ships and training.
It really stunned me when he said he had no fear of death during those days, he said he didnt even consider the possibility, men were made of different stuff in those days!
He said he remembered Ginger and several others, also escorting Canadians in landing craft at Normandy on D Day (operation Neptune), seeing one of the first flying bombs and early radar on ML269.
He was on ML269 from 3rd Feb 44 to 30th Oct 45 and recollected going through the Suez canal - Red Sea - Gulf of Aden - Indian Ocean and across to Burma.
Also during their time patrolling the Burmese rivers they were hit midships and the sailor standing next to him was badly injured and taken off the ship, but he never heard if he survived.
He recollects STO Bramire from the ML269, who introduced Harry to his future wife, the mother of my wife.
I will ask him what he remembers of Ginger specifically, we got through quite a lot of info, also about other ships (HMS Cowdray and the Arctic convoys), we were both a bit weary as a consequence.
I would love to get him down to HMS Belfast, but we are near Durham, and as the local shops are a bit of a challenge at the moment, its unlikely. the newsletter sounds great and it would be great to receive that. he has macular degeneration now so reading is virtually impossible, but if you can send details i can read it to him.
I can be contacted on
davidfry55@outlook.com, as ive only just got back to the forum, and im likely to answer my email more promptly.
Many thanks and Regards Dave