Unfortunately
I am unable to attend the funeral of Alan but my thoughts will certainly
be with him, Linda, family and friends.
I served with Alan as Band Boys on the Isle of Man and Burford, then
Alan was drafted to the Far East station on HMS London.
It was on the 20th April 1949 that HMS London, became involved in the
Yangtze Incident. This was the incident that HMS Amethyst, while cruising
the Yangtze river to replace HMS Consort as Guard Ship, came under fire
from the People's Liberation Army, was badly damaged and went aground.
Amethyst
Incident [link]
HMS London and HMS Black Swan were ordered to attend and attempt to
help HMS Amethyst. This is all recorded on the internet and well worth
reading. When Alan returned home he was drafted to HMS Kenya with myself
and 16 others. Where to? Yes, the Far East.
We arrived in Japan on the day the Korean War was announced and soon,
with HMS Consort and HMS Cockade we started our many patrols of Korea.
On the 5th of August, together with HMS Belfast and the American Far
East Fleet, we started a long heavy bombardment and the Inchon Landing
took place on the 18th of August.
We much later returned home which was by now the Royal Marines School
of Music Deal.
