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

216979 Stk. James Simmonds Royal Navy HMS Nigeria A few photographs from my dad's scrapbook. Jimmy Simmonds is front row, second left, and a few of the crew, probably from the engine room. I believe his mate, G. Shepherd, is front row, third left. I am still trying to put a name to the rest of the fellas in the photo. My father Jimmy Simmonds served as a stoker on the Nigeria from 1941-45. He kept a bit of a scrap-book cum photo album of the time, along with a couple of mementoes like the crest. Crew members mentioned along with photos are G.Shepherd, Buster Brown, T. Cleary, Slugger Wood, Jock Milne, McGee and J. Bergen. He joined the ship at Scapa where she was inspected by King George, and was at first on the Arctic convoys to Murmansk. In 1942 he was on the Malta convoy where the Nigeria was torpedoed. The only recollection of this time he passed on to me was how the hatches were screwed down when the torpedo hit and although terrified, like everyone there I should imagine, was too busy to be affected by it. Xmas that year was spent in Charleston U.S.A. where Nigeria had made her way for repairs. His scrapbook mentions a Capt Dundas, Capt Paton, and Capt King. Later in the war he went various places including Norway, Gib, Suez, Aden, Ceylon, Sabang, Australia, & Bombay. He was demobbed in Nov 45 and like much of his generation who had lived through a war thereafter lived life to the full. In 1974 after 40 years of marriage he died suddenly aged 61. John Simmonds Add to this record.  Additional Information: Top row first left is my grandfather Kenneth Mitchell I believe he was a chief petty officer Thomas mitchell Reply Related Content: HMS Nigeria 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.