Category: World War

Historical, Scotland, World War, Wartime Memories1 Comment

The Prince of Wales – Part two

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

THE PRINCE OF WALES A SAILOR’S LOG (Part 2) Continuing from this story about the battleship the Prince of Wales and reconstructing the life of a young sailor who was member of her crew for the whole of her short 6 months of life. 1.6 Ships Diary In trying to make a stab at where Jimmy had been and the decorations he was awarded, I have created a Ships Diary for the full service life of the battleship The Prince of Wales: It should be remembered that while you are reading the following that the Prince of Wales only went … Continue reading The Prince of Wales – Part two

Historical, Scotland, Wartime Memories, World War5 Comments

The Prince of Wales – Part one

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories Number 6 A SAILOR’S LOG A riveting look back to the battleship, Prince of Wales and a bit by bit, reconstruction of the momentous experiences of a young sailor from Edinburgh who served as a member of her crew for the whole of her short 6 months of life. 1.1 A Memory Jolted. When, in 2018, my wife and I embarked on a cruise out of Rosyth, (the old and still operational, naval dockyard near Edinburgh) my brain pulled a trigger that fired up a wartime memory. We had just got on board, emptied our cases, had a … Continue reading The Prince of Wales – Part one

Historical, Old Edinburgh, Wartime Memories, World War2 Comments

How Rationing came about

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No. 5 The following are my experiences and memories growing up in Leith, Scotland during the Second World War. It felt as though the war had been going on for ever. It was Saturday again and for me it meant an early morning trip to join the queue outside the Leith Provident bakery shop in Bangor Road. Bread and other bakery items were not rationed, and Saturday was the day that the ‘Store’ bakers fired up the oven and made a few cakes, buns and tea-bread from the rationed ingredients, necessary for the job they had managed to … Continue reading How Rationing came about

Historical, Wartime Memories, World War5 Comments

Rationing and the Merchant Navy

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

WARTIME MEMORIES No 4 I remember Rationing, and here is why it happened: Before the war, Britain imported two thirds of its food from it’s Dominions, principally Canada. This included half of its meat and most of its cheese, sugar, fruit, wheat and some other foodstuff. Its oil came mainly from Trinidad, Mexico & Venezuela. Right from the start of WW2, in order to carry out Hitler’s plan to starve the Britain into surrender, minefields were laid, and packs of German U boats – as well as surface raiders and aircraft – were sent out to hunt down and sink … Continue reading Rationing and the Merchant Navy

Historical, RAF, Scotland, World War13 Comments

The First Air Raid on Mainland Britain in WW2

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No.3 German bomber of the period – (Heinkel He 111 H) CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF THE EARLY LUFTWAFFE AIR RAIDS *This shows a deliberate change in German bombing policy, from attacking air defences to trying to demoralizing the civilian population. DATES OF AIR RAIDS ON EDINBURGH DURING WW2 WHAT I REMEMBER When, as a 5 year old, I was ‘helping’ my father to apply criss-crosses of Scrim (adhesive tape) to the windows of our North facing second floor tenement flat in the Bonnington area of Leith. (Scrim tape applied to the inside of a window was used to protect … Continue reading The First Air Raid on Mainland Britain in WW2

General, Historical, Old Edinburgh, RAF, Scotland, Wartime Memories, World War13 Comments

Guns Galore!

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No.1 Not long after the end of the Second World War, under the starlit sky of an early autumn morning, a chuffing, puffing old railway engine, enveloped in a cloud of steam, shunted a clanking train of open topped freight wagons into the railway siding just to the North of Bonnington Toll in Edinburgh. With the wagon’s brakes secured, the engine steamed off to get on with its next task, leaving the sidings deserted, eerily silent and hidden from view behind the high random rubble stone wall that borders Newhaven Road. Later, with the sun creeping over the … Continue reading Guns Galore!