This article attempts to give an idea of how the ship’s company of a destroyer such as HMS Wager was made up during war time. Names of the men who served are added as we become aware of them, so it is very much a work in progress.
Detailed information about the 27th Destroyer Flotilla, including the ships, officers and chain of command, and a gazetteer of key places and ports. Contains also a brief summary of the second world war along with an explanation of British and American involvement in the Pacific theatre.
Here are copies of AB (ST) David H Savin’s personal record of HMS Wager’s deployment, from July 1944 to January 1946. Notice some of the descriptive words that appear from the bottom of page 2 onwards: ‘bombarded’, ‘attacked’, ‘raided’ and so on.
This is my father’s journal, transcribed from his handwritten notebook. Unfortunately he never described the grizzly bits of war, but only the escapades that the crew got into. It makes for a good read though.
Leading Signalman Ted Longshaw writes, after viewing the clip of a stern trawler and the French Primauguet Class frigate, seen in this video.
This clip of very rough seas brought to mind a recollection of my Wager days. I can tell you it is no worse than we experienced when being sent to look for a downed pilot in the North Sea. The ship’s bridge was awash as both A and B gun decks were cutting through the waves, while the ship was trying to make 18 – 20 knots. All the ship’s watertight doors were fully closed with all eight clips on.
HMS Wager was on patrol at a place called Sakishimo Gunto, which is near Samosa in the China Seas. During a manoeuvre at full speed, Wager hit a wave head on and my father and another crewman were crushed by the water near to A Gun – the other man was only saved from being washed overboard because his leg got caught in the side railing wires. My Dad tells me that as a result his one leg was shortened and he was invalided out of the Navy. Dad cannot remember his name at the moment but does however remember where he lived – in Wolverhampton!
My Dad was really badly hurt, they found him covered in blood with part of his head ripped off (he still bears the scars under his hairline). He was taken to the Captain’s cabin where Surgeon Lt Gayman sewed him back together. He was later told by members of the crew that he looked so bad they thought he would be going over the side wrapped in the Union Jack!
Able Seaman Len Ackroyd had this recollection after seeing the below photo of the pilot being transferred back to the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable by breeches buoy:
When returning pilots to any of the carriers a message would be sent to whoever was in charge at the time that they couldn’t have the pilot back unless they sent a couple of sacks of bread and bags of sugar in return; treats really for the sailors. There was never any bread on board the Wager whilst at sea as there was no bakery; however, it was baked daily on the carriers.
When the planes took off for operations from the carriers it was Wager’s job, as with all escort destroyers, to pick up any downed pilots or ship survivors. One young pilot’s plane was shot down into the sea very close to the Wager and remained afloat. The boy tried to throw a suitcase out of the cockpit first, which he managed to do, but the plane went down before he had another chance to get out so he drowned. It was terrible to see. We did recover the suitcase and found it full of clothes.
These 2 pages relate to the Victory Parade held in Hong Kong. I was on duty in the signal office when the instructions arrived, and I delivered the other copies to the Captain, and kept these. The pages were produced using a roller and an ink covered jelly in a tray as a copier. I remained in the signal office and did not witness the event.
The video below shows historical footage of the Japanese surrender signing aboard Battleship Missouri Sunday Sept. 2, 1945.