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HMS Manxman's demise (Part 2 of 3)

Heroes Remember

HMS Manxman's demise (Part 2 of 3)

Transcript
Well, we put down a boat to go and rescue him and when the boat was en route to pick that man up, the stoker, one of the stokers was found in the water and he had his lifebelt on which was half inflated and it was keeping him alive. Unfortunately he was brought in onto the ship, both legs were shattered, both arms were broken and of course water had entered his lungs. Unfortunately, the doctor - they had used the petty officers' mes on the foredeck as an operating theatre or at least a treatment theatre - and unfortunately that stoker died in the early hours of the following morning. It was miraculous that we did not sink because, because of our open deck work and the large volume of the engine rooms that we had. It was always said that we could not be struck and not sink. We could not have enough air-tight compartments in the ship to keep us afloat. We managed to be towed into Iran which was only 60 miles away and there they, they put a steel plate on the ship over the hole just to strengthen the ship and some weeks later we were towed into dry dock at Gibraltar where the ship was drained and, of, and then they covered the hole, there was nothing they could do to repair, it had just blown the engine room to pieces. There was nothing there except fragments.
Description

Mr. Rusling talks about lowering a boat in to the water to rescue a man. They also found the body of one of the stokers in the water but he eventually died as a result of his wounds.

Frank Rusling

Frank Rusling was born in Belton, Lincolnshire, England on January 30, 1922. His father moved the family to the county of Suffolk in England where he grew up. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 15 because of his love for the ocean. He entered the communications’ department of the navy and trained in visual signalling where he was very successful during his training and very rapidly reached the rank of Yeoman of Signals. The first vessel he was on was the HMS Sheffield. However, he did work on other vessels and travelled to several parts of the world with the Royal Navy. After the war he joined the Canadian Pacific police where he served for 30 years. He now resides in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:11
Person Interviewed:
Frank Rusling
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
North Africa
Branch:
Navy
Rank:
Yeoman of Signals
Occupation:
Signalman

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