After completing his basic training following his call up on 27th of February 1940, Stanley Higgins was posted to HMS Dorsetshire on 5th of June 1940 at Devonport, where she was completing a refit.
During the Bismarck action, Stanley was off watch from the boiler rooms, and was at his action station in a damage control party. Part way through the action he was allowed to go "up top" to see what was happening, and witnessed the smoke shrouded wreck of Bismarck before its sinking.
After being stood down from action stations, all available hands were called to "man the sides" and assist in the rescue of Bismarck survivors. Stanley took part and after assisting in the rescues, one particular survivor, called Friedrich Junghans, gave Stanley his "erkennungsmarke" or ID tag. It is currently on display in the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool.
Eleven months later, at the time of the Dorsetshire's own sinking, Stanley was again off-watch and again called to action stations, at this time he was a leader of a damage control party up near the Dorsetshire's bows adjacent to the ships paint locker. Very shortly after the commencement of the Japanese air attack, all comms in the ship were lost, though it was soon apparent that the Dorsetshire was receiving a heavy pounding, with the ship heeling over and quaking from the impact of the Japanese bombs.
One concussion dislodged a length of suction hose, known as an elephant's foot, which hit Stanley and he was concussed for a few seconds. On regaining his wits, and sensing that the ship was starting to list heavily, Stanley shouted for the party to get on the upper deck via a ladder leading to a hatch in the compartment roof. The first man up the ladder shouted that he couldn't unlatch the hatch dogs. Stanley used a crowbar to release the latches and the party crawled out onto the rapidly inclining bow deck. One party member, a South African, couldn't swim and went down with the ship, the rest all survived.
Stanley went on to serve on the battleships Warspite, Valiant and Malaya, and ended the war in Fremantle, Australia onboard the submarine tender, HMS Adamant.
After demobilisation, Stanley was a bus driver in Liverpool until retirement in 1984, and passed away on 4th July 2013, aged 93.
