This picture has been supplied by (Thomas) Arthur Gaunt who served on HMS Skiddaw during the Second World War. Arthur joined HMS Skiddaw at Wallsend on Tyne in August 1942 and served on her until May 1945 when she was decommisioned back to Campbells in Bristol Docks. The picture comes from Arthur's time in service and shows HMS Skiddaw off Sheerness after coaling the ship in November 1944 and before sailing for Antwerp to take up Convoy Duties in the Scheldt estuary. An account of Arthur's experiences with Skiddaw is shown below and I am very grateful to Arthur for taking the time and trouble to record it and for allowing me to share the account and picture here. Arthur was born in November 1923 and if it were not for Arthur and thousands of men and women like him, this country would be a much poorer place.
"After commissioning and sea trials, following a refit at the Swan Hunter yard, we were ordered to sail with an East Coast convoy to the Port of London and thereafter from our base at Sheerness we became anti aircraft cover. We escorted convoys either down the East Coast, or up the English Channel and along the Thames Estuary to London on one of the vital supply routes which helped to arm and feed us during the War. There was never a dull moment, with everything to contend with. We tried our best to prevent the enemy reaching London and the South & East coasts. Eventually our air force, with the help of the rest of the Armed Forces and our Civil Defence, beat the bombers, only to then have to deal with the doodlebug flying bombs and the V2 rockets. We could do little about the latter. Our armourment consisted of: 1 pompom and 1 Oerlikon on the foc'sle, 1 Oerlikon on the port side midships, 1 twin Lewis gun on each of the port and starboard sides of the bridge and a further one midships. There was also a pompom on the after deck, one on the quarterdeck and we carried depth charges on the stern.
On occasions Skiddaw suffered upper deck damage, the worst coming on New Year's Day 1945 on the Scheldt Estuary. Our Wireless and Communications Cabin was hit by our own shore batteries which were aiming at low flying German aircraft straffing the convoy we were escorting to the port of Antwerp. We hadn't seen a German aircraft for weeks and this, as it turned out, was their final fling. Antwerp, like London had been attacked by V2 rockets and we could see them lifting off from Holland, although we couldn't do a thing about it. The crew, who came from London found it hard to take, knowing the rockets could land on their loved ones.
Our casualties were one dead, one blinded in one eye and a few of us with minor wounds, all sustained during attacks on the convoys. Whilst we couldn't claim any German aircraft for ourselves, as there were always lots of our guns firing, we did claim two flying bombs which were on their way to London. For a little while we were stationed in Dungeness Bay, protecting parts of the Mulberry Harbour from raiding German E Boats, until the Mulberries were towed away on D Day, when we sailed during the night to Portsmouth."
T A Gaunt 24 June 2003.