1945-46 Commission - 6th Destroyer Flotilla

Stephen Thatcher wrote on 18th November 2006

D-O-B  1926  making me 80 at present time.  

Volunteered for Hostilities Only when 17.  First reason to shoot a few Germans - when I got to the Army recruiting office it was closed and a few doors away a voice asked me " What do you want me lad? " That resulted in me being invited to step inside and sign on for the navy. In hindsight I was really lucky. Second reason - had I waited to be conscripted at 18 - living in Nottingham at the time - high probability of being drafted down the coal mines.   

My first draft took me to the D Day landings to join HMS Ambitious and the Capt in charge of all minesweeping ops until the capture of Le Havre. Following shore leave in UK I joined Carysfort and stayed from the initial sea trials until the Japs surrendered. Soon after the Indonesia bombardments I was drafted to the staff of C-in- C SEAC based at Trinco until working my passage home on a LST - that in a different way was more hairy than the convoys off the Norwegian coast and the roughers/cold we encountered. 

Of the current listing I can only recall Jimmy Dickinson - super chap and what a footballer. Played with him in the team a couple of times - he was a whirlwind in defence one minute and up in attack the next - tremendously fit whilst we were mostly knackered and left him to do the work of about 5 men. The only other name I can recall is Ron Kidd. Hope he is in good health. The other coder onboard was Alec Langshawe - another scouse - and the two of them kept us in fits of laughter recalling scouser incidents. I wonder if Ron has knowledge of Alec's whereabouts. The other crew member I would love to learn about was your namesake but he was Sammy Donaldson from Glasgow. He could dance as good as Fred Astaire and captivated the girls on the few occasions we could get to a dance hall - and he enjoyed demonstrating his skills entertaining us on the mess deck. He and I had a pact that if anything happened to one of us the survivor would contact a list of relatives. 

I am not superstitious so becoming the 13th listing is not a problem. 

Congratulations on putting together a very fine website - I am just amazed at the content. I will try to attend any future functions although time is running out. I am very lucky to have good health - helped by the fact that we live a lot of the time in Spain and play regular golf although we still call Llandudno  " home”. 

Jack Haydock wrote:

  I joined the ship in build on the Isle of Wight.  There was a Ship’s Company dance held ashore after sea trials, the usual patrols, depth charging etc and a good time was had by all.  VE was declared as we were returning from a strike in the Norwegian fjords.  On reaching Portsmouth we had a night of celebration then set off with a sore head to Tromso .

  On the way we checked up on the damage done to the Tirpitz and circled round it as she lay upturned after the air attacks.  There was a great welcome for us at Tromso and it was open ship with everyone welcomed onboard for tea, bread and jam and rock buns which were consumed in great amounts.

  Whilst in Tromso the Germans still had control of the town as there was a large number of Russian prisoners about.  This did not stop some of our crew reaching Rosyth to go on leave with a pair of ski’s!

  I should have mentioned I was a CRIII Range Taker but finished up on the Control Table. My memory is not as good as it was but I hope this has given you some idea of the ship in Atlantic waters.  

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