Part of the
Acorn Archive
Hearts of Oak
Dad’s Diary 1941
Transcribed
by Sue Twyman
proud
daughter of
Lt Philip Bray R.N. [1912 –1988]
from a
diary which he kept.
Dad was serving as
Leading Torpedo Operator
and Specialist in Electrical Gunnery Control
in 1941 on H.M.S. Aurora
He opens
with …
Events we
have taken part in before this diary:-
May 1941 Sinking of Bismark
June 1941 Sunk an Oiler and two Subs.
June 1941 Picked up 60 survivors
(English).
May June 1941 Bombarded enemy
ports in Norway.
Introduction
Operation Gauntlet
This was the seizure, evacuation and
destruction of facilities on Spitzbergen Island. Led by Admiral Sir Phillip
Vian, aboard the cruiser HMS Nigeria, the move was conducted by a
five-ship British task group. Vian and his warships escorted the passenger
liner Empress Canada to the island, where they were to embark and
evacuate its entire population
of 3,200 Norwegian and Soviet coal miners
and officials.
The last civilians were evacuated by nightfall, and
British demolition teams went to work.
Over the next six days, they systematically destroyed
all facilities that might be of use to the Germans. The coal mine entrances
were blocked, coal stocks set ablaze, and as a final act, the weather, radio
and power stations were demolished as the ships withdrew southward
Diary
Entries Index
Dad (Philip Bray, crouching) on T.S.
Warspite in 1926.
Caption reads,
“Vice Admiral Chatfield. The Countess of
Shaftsbury. Prize Giving”
Dad was apparently the ships
mascot…probably with the dog.
Dad (Philip Bray) as an able seaman
probably around 1934
Raymond Forward
Thanks to Sue Twyman