Duration: 33 minutes 2 Seconds
Simon: My name is Simon Perry and the day is the 31st of May 2022, and we’re here in Gosport and we’re with … what’s your name?
Ron: Ron
Simon: Ron.
Ron: Wright.
Simon: Ron Wright. Do you have a middle name Ron?
Ron: Charles.
Simon: Charles. Ok, thank you. And what were your mum and dad’s names?
Ron: My mum’s maiden name was Smith, my father obviously Wright, Charles Wright.
Simon: And your mum? What’s her first name?
Ron: What was her name? [asking another person in the room]. Ellen.
Simon: Ellen, ok.
Ron: They called her Nell, didn’t they?
Simon: Right, shortened to Nell was it? And which year were you born?
Ron: 1924.
Simon: And what was the date and the month?
Ron: 21, 2, 24.
Simon: Ok, and where abouts was that? Where were you born?
Ron: Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth.
Simon: Ok, and how was life growing up?
Ron: Fine, I enjoyed it, yeah.
Simon: And school, what was that like?
Ron: I had a lot of schooling in Scotland, where we were based you know. My father was based up there. Four years, main education was up there.
Simon: ‘Cos he was … what did he do for a job?
Ron: He was in the Royal Marine Police guarding the Dockyards and Naval Establishments, you know.
Simon: Was that Faslane or somewhere else?
Ron: No, Crombie in Fife, an Armament Depot.
Simon: Right. And how was life in Scotland?
Ron: Oh, I enjoyed it. Didn’t want to leave (laughs).
Simon: Was it out on the rolling hills? Out in the countryside was it?
Ron: No, I was in the town in Fife, quite well populated.
Simon: Ok. And how many years were you up there?
Ron: Four.
Simon: So, between what sort of ages for you?
Ron: 10 and 14.
Simon: Ok. And then at 14, you moved back down south.
Ron: Yeah. I hadn’t finished my schooling in Scotland but wnen I came down here, I decided I didn’t want to go to school again because it was a different education altogether, two different types, and I’d have been better staying up there for another year, but my father got transferred down here, so that was it, I had to get a job (laughs).
Simon: And what did you decide to do for a job?
Ron: Well, I was living up in Fareham at the time, and I was going to get a job in the local Naval Establishments, but I finished up in a Cinema as a Cinema Operator.
Simon: Was that changing the reels?
Ron: Yes, that’s right.
Simon: Right. Which Cinema?
Ron: The Savoy and Embassy in Fareham.
Simon: Ok.
Ron: Neither are there now of course.
Simon: Was that fun?
Ron: Yeah, I enjoyed it.
Simon: You got to see all the latest films I guess.
Ron: That’s right, yeah.
Simon: Were you a film fan? Did you like films?
Ron: Yeah I did, luckily (laughs).
Simon: And then after the Cinema, what did you do for work?
Ron: I then became an Apprentice Bricklayer in the Dockyard.
Simon: In Portsmouth. And how many years were you apprenticed for ?
Ron: Five, but I didn’t finish it first of all ‘cos I was called up sort of midway through, but I had to finish my Apprenticeship when I came out the Service.
Simon: So, what year did you start your Bricklaying Apprenticeship? How old were you?
Ron: About 15, and I got called up halfway through it.
Simon: And what were you called up to do?
Ron: Well, first of all I volunteered to go in the Royal Marines as my father did but I was accepted first of all, but then they said I couldn’t go because I was in a Reserved Occupation. I was 18 then, but when I became 20, I was called up and being in a Reserved Occupation didn’t mean anything, I still had to go, but by that time they’d tightened up on the entry into the Royal Marines, and I had a weak left eye which didn’t matter two years before in the middle of the war (laughs) but at this stage they were more serious about it. So, I couldn’t go into the Royal Marines, so I went in the Navy.
5 minutes 38 seconds
Simon: So, that was surface fleet was it? What people think of as normal Navy?
Ron: Normal Navy but I had to go in as a Stoker. I couldn’t go in as a Seaman with my eyesight.
Simon: What was the role of the Stoker? What did the job entail?
Ron: In the Engine Room, running the boilers. No fires, stoking the boilers.
Simon: And how many years did you do that?
Ron: Two or three I think. I came out soon after the war finished because I was a Reserved Occupation. I was a Bricklayer. They wanted all the building workers they could get, so I came out, I got early release from the Navy to go on building.
Simon: And when did you think about joining the Submarine Service then?
Ron: I didn’t get a choice (laughs).They said, “You’re in it.” I went and finished my initial training in the Navy. We all sat around deciding where we got to go to, you know. A couple of Wrens picking out names out of a hat sort of thing. Some were going to Australia, some on ships, but when my name came out, it was HMS Dolphin (laughs_. I could have walked there. That’s fate isn’t it?
Simon: Were you pleased that you were in the Submarine Service?
Ron: Well, I didn’t mind at all, you know, I accepted what was coming.
Simon: And did you … you knew Submariners before did you? Did you know people working on the submarines before?
Ron: No, I didn’t.
Simon: I was thinking sort of living round the area, had you come into contact with submarines before?
Ron: No I hadn’t, no. All strange (laughs).
Simon: So they say, “Right, you’re off to submarines” and then what happened? What’s the next thing?
Ron: We were sitting round the Mess Deck, having our initial training, and they were calling out names and places to go, you know. Of course, I was last on the list, Wright, and when my name came out, “You’re going to HMS Dolphin, submarines.” I mean I could have walked 3 or 4 miles away. Others were going all over the world.
Simon: So, what was your first day at Dolphin like?
Ron: Well, I didn’t stay at Dolphin long ‘cos the Training Base was up in Scotland, or north of England, so I went up there. Well, first of all we went to Butlins in Skegness to be kitted out, and then when we came back we were allocated places to go. Submarines I was allocated to go and the Training Base up in Scotland.
Simon: And how long was your submarine training?
Ron: About 6 months.
Simon: Was that mostly classroom work or practical?
Ron: Both, combined you know, but we were earmarked to go to Australia because the European war had finished, but the war with Japan was still going on, and the idea was to go to Australia having finished the training but by the time I’d finished the training, the Japanese war had finished as well, so I didn’t go.
Simon: Which year was that? That was ’45 or around then was it?
Ron: ’44 I think wasn’t it?
Simon: ’44 ok. So, then in the Submarine Service, you’d done your training but had you had you done your Part 3 training? Had you got your Dolphins by then?
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: How was doing the Part 3 training?
10 minutes 10 seconds
Ron: Oh, I didn’t mind it at all (laughs). Went down the Diving Tank at Gosport you know, and then did the training up in Scotland really.
Simon: And when you were in the Tank, the SETT, were you worried about that the first time you did it?
Ron: No. Some people were, they got claustrophobia and couldn’t continue in the Service. Well, not in the Submarine Branch, anyway, but no, it didn’t worry me, I managed (laughs).
Simon: Some people have said it’s quite exciting, going up, shooting up through the Tower.
Ron: Yeah, it’s all experience isn’t it?
Simon: How many times did you do the training at the Tower over your time in service?
Ron: I think it was about 6 months training, not in Dolphin but in other places as well, but we did the Tank of course in Gosport. They didn’t have a Tank anywhere else.
Simon: So, you did some training in Scotland and then they said, “Ok, now you’re going to be going in to the proper service then.”
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: And where was that based?
Ron: They had a place up in Scotland. You were allocated from there to different places. Could have been anywhere in the world really, but I was sat on the Mess Deck and others were going to all different parts of the world. When my name came out, to HMS Dolphin (laughs). I could have walked there about three or four miles away. Others were going all over the world. That’s fate isn’t it?
Simon: So, when you were actually in the Submarine Service, do you remember the first submarine name?
Ron: Well, the Training Ship was the HMS Otway, but I went on to HMS Springer. I went up to Birkenhead, where it was built, finished trials up there and then we took it over and did trials, ‘cos by that time the European war had finished but the Japanese war was still on and we were due to go to Melbourne in Australia. That was our Submarine Base out there, but by the time I finished the Japanese war had finished as well.
Simon: So, how long were you on Springer?
Ron: About a year I suppose, something like that. Because we stood by it new, built at Cammell Laird’s in Liverpool, Birkenhead, so I suppose I was about a year on that. I came out early in the Service ‘cos I came out on the ‘B Release Scheme’. I was a Builder you see, and anyone in the Building Industry were required to go out and build homes ‘cos of the devastation with the bombing.
Simon: What was it like when you first shut the hatch and went out on the submarine? What did that feel like for you?
Ron: Well it didn’t worry me at all. A lot of people got claustrophobia and couldn’t take it but it didn’t affect me.
Simon: You were on the diesel boats I guess were you?
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: So it was all quite small, quite compact/
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: And it just felt normal did it? Like normal life?
Ron: That’s right yeah.
Simon: Ok.
Ron: And a lot of people didn’t, but there you are. Depends on yourself doesn’t it really? What your reaction is.
Simon: What did you think of the food onboard.
Ron: Oh, first class. Never went short of anything (laughs).
Simon: And what sort of length of missions were you doing? How long were they?
Ron: Oh by the time I finished, the war had ended as well, so we didn’t do anything a long way. Just short, a few days at a time really.
Simon: Ok. And did you find it easy to be … you know everyone’s got to be silent onboard at certain times. Was that all quite easy?
Ron: Oh yeah. Some people didn’t like it you know, got claustrophobia and had to come out but I was one of the lucky ones, it didn’t affect me.
Simon: So, how many submarines were you on in the end?
Ron: Just one, Springer.
15 minutes 4 seconds
Simon: Oh, just one. Ok.
Ron: HMS Springer.
Simon: And that was for about a year.
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: And that was mostly off the British coast?
Ron: Yeah, mostly around Scotland.
Simon: Because it was a new submarine and you were commissioning it.
Ron: We were due to go to Australia to fight in the Japanese war ‘cos the European war had finished, but by the time I finished the training up there, the Japanese war had finished too, so all that was cancelled.
Simon: What was your nickname onboard?
Ron: Well it wasn’t ‘shiner’ (laughs).
Simon: It wasn’t?
Ron: No, they didn’t use ‘shiner’ at all. Going back, my father was always called ‘shiner’.
Simon: Because of the surname?
Ron: Yeah. By the time I got to my age, they didn’t use it.
Simon: Did you not have a particular nickname?
Ron: No not really, no.
Simon: Ok. And what about the other people onboard? Did you get on well with everyone onboard?
Ron: Oh yeah. A lot of people didn’t go through the Course you know because they got claustrophobia but as I say, it didn’t affect me. I got on alright there.
Simon: Ok. One thing that people have said about the food onboard, is it becomes very important that the meals … you were saying the food was good. It becomes very important for them how good the food is. You look forward to your meal times did you?
Roy Oh yeah, very good meals, very good.
Simon: And what about your memories of Gosport?
Ron: Of Gosport?
Simon: Yeah.
Ron: Do you mean before the war or what?
Simon: Well I guess yeah, around the whole memories of Gosport or particularly to do with the submarines.
Ron: What when I was in the submarine you mean?
Simon: Either way, yeah. What do you think of Gosport?
Ron: Well, I came down here from Scotland and I liked Scotland and I was very used to it so I wasn’t all that impressed when I first came but of course I got used to it.
Simon: And you’ve lived down here ever since have you?
Ron: Yes.
Simon: So, you’ve got used to it by now?
Ron: I have, just about (laughs). I never would, would I if I hadn’t got used to it by now.
Simon: How many years is it you’ve been in Gosport?
Ron: How many years? Well, I came back from Scotland aged 15 I think, and I’ve lived in this area ever since.
Simon: Wow, ok. So, you’re 98 now are you?
Ron: 98, yeah.
Simon: So, what is that 83 years is that?
Ron: Is it (laughs).
Simon: Right.
Ron: I ought to be used to it didn’t I?
Simon: And what about the sort of the Pubs, the watering holes in Gosport? Did you have any favourites?
Ron: Not really no. I was never a heavy drinker but I used to like the rum ration in the Navy though (laughs).
Simon: Ok. Did they have that onboard still then did they? You got your rum ration onboard the submarine.
Ron: In submarines, you got a neat ration of rum, whereas on other ships it was a third (laughs), grog.
Simon: Right. And did they do the thing with the ceremony of when you got your Dolphins, you know, when you became part of the Submarine Service, they put it into the rum and you had to drink it and catch it in your teeth? Did you do that?
Ron: I don’t remember that, no.
Simon: What about other memories that you’ve got even after the Service, of HMS Dolphin or the Submarine Service around Dolphin generally. Have you got any recollections of that?
Ron: When I was at Dolphin you mean?
Simon: Either then or the 83 years you’ve lived around here.
Ron: Well, what are you looking for?
Simon: The people who are paying for this project are connected with transforming Gosport about jazzing the area up. They’re making investments into Gosport, so for people to have recollections of what Gosport was like, or what HMS Dolphin was like even when you’re out of the Service will be of interest.
20 minutes 30 seconds
Ron: When I came out of the Service, I was a Bricklayer before I went in, and of course I came out under a ‘B Release Scheme’ to build houses and I worked up at Bridgemary. I helped to build the first houses up there at the end of the war, so that was interesting. I had to do 6 months there, before I could finish my Apprenticeship in the Dockyard.
Daughter Did you work in the Dolphin as a Civil Servant?
Ron: Not in Dolphin, no.
Simon: You just described some houses you built. Where are they?
Ron: At Bridgemary, opposite Fleetlands. You know Fleetlands?
Simon: I don’t I’m afraid (laughs).
Ron: The first houses to be built up there.
Simon: Is that quite a well-known area?
Daughter You go past these houses that dad’s talking about to get to Fareham off the main road.
Simon: Ok. How many houses did they build then?
Ron: Oh, hundreds. Virgin land you know, they just took it over and built quite a lot.
Simon: That must feel good now to know you’ve helped create houses for families to live in.
Ron: Yeah, ‘cos there was a great shortage of housing due to the bombing so everyone was glad to have a chance to get a house.
Simon: I was just thinking there’s not many jobs that people have, that they get to see the product of their work every day, or to go past and ‘alright, I built that.’
Ron: Yeah, I know exactly where it was.
Simon: And when you had to leave the Service for the ‘B Release’ you were saying, were you unhappy about leaving the submarines? What was your feeling on it?
Ron: It had to come didn’t it, so …
Simon: So, it wasn’t a voluntary thing. They said to you, “You’ve got to go back to bricklaying now.”
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: Ok. Have you got any memories to take you back to the time when you were on Springer? What are your recollections of time onboard with people there?
Ron: Well, not specific ones you know, just general mates together.
Simon: What was the feeling of camaraderie with them?
Ron: Oh it was very good. Good mates out, evenings out (laughs).
Simon: Can you tell us about the evenings out?
Ron: Well, local Hostelries and drinking. We always behaved ourselves (laughs).
Daughter Which Pubs did you go to?
Ron: Well, the nearest (laughs).
Simon: Ok. Thank you very much for that.
Ron: Ok.
Simon: Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that I haven’t spoken to you about?
Ron: Not that I can remember. I was released from the Navy early under the ‘B Release Scheme’. I don’t know if I told you that, to go back on building houses due to the bombing, so I could have spent more time in the Navy but my trade wouldn’t let me (laughs).
Simon: How long were you building houses then after that. How many years?
Ron: I had to go on the houses under this ‘B Release Scheme’ for 6 months before I could go back in the Dockyard and finish my Apprenticeship. I had to do 6 months outside, so then I went in and finished my Apprenticeship.
25 minutes 17 seconds
Simon: And did you stay in the building trade, after the Apprenticeship?
Ron: Yeah, but not for long because I got promotion to Supervisor, so I just dispensed with my tools (laughs) and went to Singapore for 3 years.
Simon: Did you? What was that?
Ron: With the Firm, you know. Supervising. Singapore was under us then. We were in charge of it.
Simon: So that was building houses as well was it or something else?
Ron: Well building Mess Rooms and things in the Dockyard. Not houses, nothing to do with houses.
Simon: Ok. What did you think of Singapore?
Ron: Loved it (laughs).
Simon: What did you like about Singapore?
Ron: The freedom. The climate. Places you could go, you know. Malaya and places. We went to Hong Kong from there as a visit you know, so things you wouldn’t normally get you see.
Simon: Singapore is quite a high-tech country now isn’t it?
Ron: Yes it is.
Simon: And what was it like then?
Ron: Well, it was coming towards it then.
Simon: So, you went to Malaysia did you say from there? From Singapore.
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: Was that more building projects?
Ron: I didn’t work in Malaysia. I only visited it for holidays and stuff. I didn’t work there.
Simon: Ok. And what’s your memory of Malaysia?
Ron: Well, enjoyed it. Lovely climate, nice people. Most of them could speak English you know. Some of my colleagues who’d been there, ‘cos some people came more than once there. They’d do 3 years, come home, apply again and go back for another 3 years, so some of them were learning the language, and of course that made it better. But all in all, I think the family enjoyed it.
Simon: Oh, you went with your family did you?
Ron: Yeah.
Simon: Ok. What was your age when you got married?
Ron: 20.
Simon: Right, ok.
Ron: Shirley, she went to Singapore, and my other daughter Janet and son David, as well as Jean.
Simon: You were what age when you were in Singapore then?
Ron: Oh something like 35 I suppose.
Daughter We went in ’64. 1964.
Simon: Right, ok.
Daughter 40. You were 40.
Simon: Oh, that’s a good time to go. Ok.
Ron: We had a visit to Hong Kong from there, Jean and I went to Hong Kong.
Daughter You were with the MPBW weren’t you? The Ministry of Public Building and Works.
Simon: So, that was the UK Government building sort of infrastructure for their use as a Base.
Ron: We were in control of Singapore and Malaysia at that time. They didn’t become independent until afterwards and threw us out (laughs).
Simon: And what about after your time in Singapore? What did you do workwise after Singapore?
Ron: When I came home do you mean?
Simon: You came back to the UK?
Ron: Yeah, after 3 years out there.
Simon: And that was still working under the Public Works?
Ron: Ministry of Public Building and Works, MPBW.
Simon: And that was back in the UK after Singapore was it?
Ron: Yeah. Well, and out there too.
Simon: And you did other projects here for them? Other building projects for them in the UK after Singapore?
Ron: Not for them, no. I came back to building houses at Bridgemary.
Simon: Oh, that was then was it?
Daughter You came back to Daedalus and Collingwood didn’t you? When you came back from Singapore, you were at Daedalus and Collingwood.
30 minutes 33 seconds
Simon: What did you do at Daedalus?
Ron: Supervising building.
Simon: What did you build at Daedalus?
Ron: Accommodation Blocks.
Simon: And they’re still there I guess?
Ron: Oh yeah.
Simon: And was it accommodation at Collingwood as well?
Ron: Yeah. Collingwood hadn’t been open long ‘cos it was only opened during the war. It only started during the war, so there was a lot to do there.
Daughter Dad, I think you must have been at Dolphin ‘cos you’ve got a Dolphin in the garden. You were working there, something to do with the Wrens accommodation weren’t you?
Ron: That’s right, turning a Regies block into a Wren’s block.
Simon: So, that was … do you remember what time that was, the Dolphin work doing the conversion?
Ron: Well, just after the war really. Late ‘40s, early ‘50s.
Simon: So, that was after you’d been released from the Submarine Service, went back, finished your bricklaying. We’re you doing the supervising at Dolphin or were you doing the actual building work at Dolphin?
Ron: I was Supervising. We were turning some Rating’s blocks into Wren’s blocks. HMS Wolf wasn’t suitable for Wrens and became HMS Ursula (laughs).
Simon: What’s the difference between a Rating’s and a Wren’s block then? What do you need to change?
Ron: They’ve got smaller accommodation blocks you know, whereas the men had a big vast open spaces. The Wren’s were more confined.
Simon: So, they had a smaller number of people sharing?
Ron: Yes, that’s right.
Simon: And any other work at Dolphin do you remember?
Ron: No, it was all accommodation really.
Simon: Ok. Great. Well look, thank you very much for your time.
Ron: Ok.
Interview ends
33 minutes 2 seconds
Transcribed June 2022
