This article was written by T.W. (Bill) Jarvis who was Vice President of Letchworth and Hitchin Branch untill he crossed the bar in 2000. He wanted to join the Royal Navy when leaving school at 14 but his father would'nt give permission and he had to work in the boot and shoe industry untill 1936 when he was 21.

The following is a brief account of my 2 years on HMS Belfast based in Hong Kong between 1948-1950. I left HMS Pembroke (Chatham Barracks) and joined the Belfast at Portsmouth dockyard on 7th October 48 where she was undergoing a short refit and re-commisioning in readiness for duties on the China Station

I had reached the "dizzy" heights of Petty Officer Electrician and joined the Electricians Mess. As it turned out I was the senior rating and was installed as President, not that this matters much, for the mess was a happy one and they were a great bunch of chaps.

During the next 2 weeks all the electricians were briefed in their duties for various parts of the ship. I was put in charge of the midship section which included Boiler room, Bridge works and upper deck. I was in charge of about a dozen electrical ratings and we went about our respective duties which entailed keeping all the electrical equipment in our section in good working order. This routine of course applied to all the ships company with their various duties to keep the ship in 1st class working order.

The day finally arrived when we set sail on our journey to the Far East. Leaving the shores of England behind after a few days we arrived in Gibraltar for provisioning, then on to Malta, the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea to Aden for more provisions and to take on fuel. Leaving Aden we did not see land again untill we reached Penang where the ships company enjoyed a much needed 4 day break. Curios and lots of swimming were the order of the day, my mess mate Jacky Bryant and I had a really good time here. The spell in Penang came to an end and the next stop was Singapore where we stayed another few days. It was during this break I experienced my first cyclone, to see it come in from the sea and over Singapore is something you don't need to experience to often, to see roof's of buildings flying in the air leaving devastation everywhere was incredible, thankfully Belfast escaped the main force, but there were lots of casualties shore side. We left this behind and made for Hong Kong arriving some 4 to 5 days later in the early hours. The duty part of the watch had dropped anchor and secured ship whilst I was still in my hammock, so when going out onto the upper deck there was Hong Kong in all its glory and for the next 2 years I was to enjoy this station.

During this long journey, some few thousand miles I made lots of new friends on board, not least my fun ashore "oppo" Jacky Bryant, we were great pals and had lots of fun, one other friend was the ships Padre, he was a great sport. It was during one of our many conversations I mentioned I had been in the Rover Scouts back home, he at once said "you are just the man for our Deep Sea Rover Crew". Well I took him up on this and he arranged for us to go ashore to meet his good friend who was the leader of said crew. We talked things over and I decided to join. It was the best thing I ever did out there, because it gave me lots of opportunities to enjoy myself ashore without a lot of money. Hong Kong is a very expensive place and even with my P.Os pay did not leave much scope, still lets not let lack of money spoil the enjoyment of life in Hong Kong

Having decided to join I intended to make the most of it. I went to the next meeting at the Den, which was the whole ground floor of the Seamans Mission, a massive place. The crew had been formed a long time so I just jumped in at the deep end. I met most of the members, a mixed bunch of Sailors, Army personel and civilians who gave me a great welcome and I soon got involved in the activities. This started with the Chinese element of the Scout movement, there being about 20 troops on the island, who most weekends got together at a permanent camp on the northern corner of the island at Sai Wan, some 3 acres in all. There was a permanent building on site, housing tools and utensils for all to use but we were mostly under canvas. The Rover Crew were only guests on this site but had use of all facilities and I for one took advantage of this as often as possible. I was luckier than most in that I had my own transport, a ladies racing bike which I was allowed to keep on board ship. It was great to climb aboard the old bike and cycle the 4 to 5 miles to Sai Wan (I was a fit young lad then). On these weekend visits with as many as 100, at least, other scouts, a small jamboree in fact, all joined in the usual activities of scouting, like inter troop competions and working to make the site more comfortable. We all joined in building a dam in one of the creeks on the side of the mountain. with plenty of materials available in the form of rocks and stones and plenty of soil to seal the holes. We then piped this water about 100 yards to the camp giving running water for showers and drinking.

To reach the camp we used a pathway through the local Chinese cemetary. There were lots of open graves and I asked about this. Apparently it was Chinese custom that when a person died they were buried in the usual way, but after about 7 years it was the responsibility of the family to dig up the remains, by now just bones. So open came the graves and the bones were carefully put in glass jars and iether stored in a vault in Hong Kong or returned to their grass roots. Unfortunately not all the vertebrae were retrieved and were found scattered all over the place, lots lying about the campsite. Quite a few were cleaned, polished and used for woggles for our camp scarves. (A bit gory!)

Of course not all my time spent in Hong Kong was beer and skittles. for I still had my duties to perform on Belfast. Time was spent exercising and doing patrols off the Chinese mainland one of which, the tricky job of picking up a New Zealand pilot who had crashed on one of the beaches. Not only did we have to rescue him but also the plane. Quite complicated as we had to float the plane to the ship and retrieve it with the ships crane, then we transported them to Hong Kong.This was so they should not fall into communist hands as by this time in 1949 they had more or less taken over in China.

Another occasion Belfast sailed north to Shanghai to protect the city from the communists. We tied up alongside the "Bund" jetty and most of the ships company were detailed to duties ashore. I remember that with a small party of my Electrical mates I was detailed to keep the Power Station going at all costs. As it turned out no shot was fired in anger and the communists eventually just took over. What I think the British Government were interested in was the safety of the British personel and their interests ashore. The ship stayed in Shanghai for about 2 weeks and we had plenty of leave. Jacky Bryant and I had a great time, especially exploring the ins and outs of the Nankin Road which was something else as no matter your choice it could be found there.

Through the Padre, a mine of information, some of the Rover Crew were introduced to some English people in Shanghai who were interested in the Scout movement. Through them a hike was arranged and about 8 of the lads, with them, set off to visit inland communist held territory. We walked about 10 miles or so through paddy and cotton fields alongside rivers visiting Chinese farms and really enjoying ourselves. We saw dozens of Kingfishers, what a pretty sight and also Chinese farmers harvesting their crops, all very friendly people. We all had a great time and ended the day with a meal at our new friends house with plenty of drink to wash it down. Then back to the old routine on board ship. Belfast stayed on for a few more days then back to Hong Kong where we picked up our usual routine of patrols, manouvers etc.

Mind you, never a dull moment, for not long after the communists began to get a bit naughty when they trapped one of our patrol vessels, HMS Amethyst up the Yangtse river, and would not let her come down. They fired at her with their shore batteries causing a lot of damage and casualties, and so once more into the breech. The cruiser HMS London which was also on the China Station, and Belfast were detailed off to sail up the Yangtse to help get Amethyst out. As the London did not draw as much water as the Belfast, being a smaller ship, she went right up river to give support to Amethyst, and with her more powerfull guns gave the communists something to think about, but she was hit by the shore batteries and sustained more casualties. Belfast meanwhile was waiting for them down river and so to the open sea. With London on the Port side and Belfast on the Starboard, Amethyst, the little ship was escorted back to Hong Kong and safety. Just about all the China Fleet were waiting in the harbour and gave Amethyst a rousing welcome with sirens blasting off and cheering matelo's waving their caps.

By now, the end of 1949 and leading up to Christmas, the Deep Sea Rovers Crew organised a grand Christmas dinner, a copy of the menu I still have, and so into 1950, with the usual runs ashore. By this time I was getting letters from my wife Irene and my 3 children who were now living in Sydney. They were unfortunately having a pretty rough time and requested I leave the Navy to go to Australia to help out. I said my goodbyes to my messmates and Belfast went away on yet another of her patrol duties without me. After a further week in Hong Kong aboard HMS Tamar when I went down to the Den and did what I could to help the crew along and whilst waiting for an Australian Frigate to take me to Kuri in Japan that I said my goodbyes to all my friends on Hong Kong. Then I took my gear onto the Frigate and off we went to Japan where another frigate was waiting to be relieved. Overnight I transfered my gear and after spending an evening ashore in Kuri the following morning we set sail. Down to Manus Island just north of Borneo, then onto Cairns, Northern Australia down through the Barrier Reef and on to Sydney where my wife and children were waiting for me. After a short spell of shore leave I got myself a job as an electrician and we stayed there for about 2 1/2 years. So from leaving Portsmouth in 1948 untill we all came back to Britain in 1952 I had been away from England for about 4 1/2 years

I could go on and tell you about my exploits since 1952, but thats another story. I can only say that the 13 years I spent in the Royal Navy were, without doubt, the best years of my life.

See pictures from S/m Jarvis' collection in our gallery.