Leading Signalman Ted Longshaw writes:
Our first proper operation, in June 1944, was to re-supply the radio station at Spitzbergen, an island north of Norway in the Arctic Ocean, as escort to a cruiser, which had most of the supplies. The cruiser and HMS Whelp stayed outside the fjord (Isfjord, perhaps?), while HMS Wager, the junior ship, went in to ensure that the station had not been secretly taken over by the enemy. I had to go ashore with a landing party, led by a junior officer, and four other ratings, armed with ordinary rifles, in the motor boat, and then signal back with the Aldis lamp that everything was okay. Oh what fun it all was!
Click here for more information on an Aldis lamp.