The story starts with a fourteen-year-old boy living with his family in Portsmouth during the Blitz of World War Two. It follows him as he leaves school, finds work and eventually joins the Royal Navy. We find out about his tough upbringing in Portsmouth surviving hit-and-run bombings by German fighter planes; volunteering for the Royal Navy and enduring the rigour and discipline of training, preparing for D-Day and protecting shipping from pirates in the South China Seas. Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always fascinating - this is the true story of a young man living in extraordinary times.
The story starts with a fourteen-year-old boy living with his family in Portsmouth during the Blitz of World War Two. It follows him as he leaves school, finds work and eventually joins the Royal Navy. We find out about his tough upbringing in Portsmouth surviving hit-and-run bombings by German fighter planes; volunteering for the Royal Navy and enduring the rigour and discipline of training, preparing for D-Day and protecting shipping from pirates in the South China Seas. Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always fascinating - this is the true story of a young man living in extraordinary times.
Frederick Albert Beedie was born in May 1925 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where he lived with his parents and siblings, until moving to Wallisdown, Dorset to escape the blitz of Portsmouth, during World War Two. He left school aged fourteen and joined the Royal Navy when he was seventeen. On leaving the Royal Navy he served with the Mercantile Marine (more commonly known as the Merchant Navy). After that he worked as an aircraft fitter at Hurn Airport, near Bournemouth, and in various engineering jobs thereafter. Fred has always been a keen historian, particularly of WW2, and reader of factual books. He also follows sport, particularly cricket, tennis and golf. He played cricket as a young man, being named Mr. Persil by his fellow cricketers, because his 'whites were always the whitest!' His wife Joy and he were married for over seventy years - sadly Joy passed away in August 2019 she was a great help to Fred during the writing of his memoir. They have two daughters, two sons, six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Fred now lives in a care home in Bridport, Dorset, where he is visited often by his family. His memoir has taken two years to write and publish. His daughter Jackie typed the story from his own handwritten notes. Not a bad feat to have written 93,000 odd words at the age of ninety-four! Fred's story is written from memory of events that happened seventy-five years ago. Consequently some of the detail may have been different, but the whole story is true. There may be some terminology which, if writing a memoir about the age we live in now, would not be used, but we have decided not to change it, as to do so would not reflect how things were at the time. Some names have been changed to ensure the privacy of the people involved. We hope that you enjoy reading this story of an ordinary acting able seaman, H.O., living in an extraordinary time in our history.
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