The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

209087 Ord.Sea. Maurice "Lofty" Packham Royal Navy HMS Sirius I joined HMS Sirius in 1943 at Algiers, I had no idea what I was in for. The following morning in cold light of dawn I was heaving metal ropes in my whites which soon became a different shade. No overalls had been issued. Broken fragments of wire cut my hands. I was put on the "light calibres" which fitted inside guns for trial shooting - for which there was no use in war time. I had cotton waste and heavy turps to clean them. One day a chief asked me what I was doing there and told me my correct place was Look Out on the bridge. After which those sub calibres became rustier and rustier. Sirius, I seem to remember, rolled and I was sea sick. When we approached Salerno to support the landing the Gunnery Officer told us that the Germans had a device which homed in on ship's funnels. I think one of these was confused when between us and another ship and it didn't know which way to go and missed both of us. I remembered swimming at Bizerta in company with Sub Lieut Havers who later became Chancellor. One Sunday I had an attack of migraine and should have reported to the gunnery officer to be put on another post rather than Look Out. However it cleared up and I stayed on the bridge which escaped damage when we were hit. I remember with respect and sadness the bodies of the men being committed to the waves. The trips into the Aegian were not exactly picnics. The Penelope was hit, and two other cruisers I think collided. We were ordered back to Alex. I was a CW candidate but when I was commissioned in 1944 they didn't know what to do with us and I went into Naval Control. Best wishes to all Sirius veterans. Maurice Packham Add to this record.  Related Content: HMS Sirius Operation Avalanche - Salerno Landings Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.