Born in July 1924 at Warham Norfolk, Eric left school at Cobham Surrey at the age of fourteen and went to the Sea Training School for Boys at Wallace Liverpool. He joined the Royal Navy in 1940 and was sent to HMS ST GEORGE on the Isle of Man, then, as a boy seaman, joined HMS REVENGE in 1941 at Durban S.A.
In January 1943 Eric joined TETCOTT as an AB QR3 at Alexandria before transferring in August of that year to HMS VALIANT, which was scheduled to return to the UK, but was held back for the landings at Salerno. From October 1943 to July 1944 Eric was at HMS EXCELLENT at Whale Island, Portsmouth for gunnery training.
He was married in June that year (and remained married for sixty years, his wife sadly died in July 2004) and, as luck would have it, was a signed back to TETCOTT as a Leading Seaman QR2, finally catching up with her at Naples in July 1944. Eric stayed with her until her return to the UK in May 1945 and was medically discharged at the end of 1945.
In May 1956 Eric and his family emigrated from Cobham in Surrey to Powell River in British Columbia, Canada, and later, in 1958, to Lynnwood W.A. in the United States, where he now lives ‘with lots of Grand and Great Grand children’.
Eric says that “I do recognize some of the names and a few faces, but my memory is not so good any more, but with the help of the movement summary I was able to put together my two stints on Tetcott”.
Glad to welcome you 'back aboard' Eric!