(F4052) McLaren, John Cram (Telegraphist) interviewed by John Roberts

Accession Number	S02013
Collection type	Sound
Measurement	1 hr 3 min
Object type	Oral history
Physical description	audio cassette; TDK D60; mono
Maker	McLaren, John Cram (Jack) Roberts, Niall John
Date made	30 March 1996
Access	Open
Conflict	Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright	Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions	Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Source credit to	RAN Corvettes Association WA Oral History Program

Description

Part of a collection of nineteen oral history interviews conducted by the Royal Australian Navy Corvettes Association of Western Australia. Interviewers included John Roberts, Margaret Rickard, Lorna Dodd, William Gray Ritchie and Jack Shepheard.

John Cram McLaren, as a telegraphist, RAN corvettes HMAS Wallaroo, Tamworth and Gawler, 1941-1946, Australian eastern and western waters, Indian Ocean, west Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and Arafura Sea, interviewed by John Roberts

History / Summary

John Cram McLaren, as a telegraphist, RAN corvettes HMAS Wallaroo, Tamworth and Gawler, 1941–1946, Australian eastern and western waters, Indian Ocean, west Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and Arafura Sea, interviewed by John Roberts

Jack Mclaren talks about his early life; emigration to Australia; his early life in Victoria and West Australia; entry into Navy; family's reaction to his enlistment; naval training; training as a wireless operator; posting to HMAS Wallaroo; sea trials and shake-down cruise; anti-submarine patrols; convoy duties; sea sickness; departure from Wallaroo before ship sank; postings with HMAS Tamworth and HMAS Gawler; being in Darwin at HMAS Coonawarra during Japanese air raids; shipboard recreation; enemy action; cessation of hostilities; discharge 16 April 1946; rejoining the Shell Company in Western Australia; marriage; post war housing problems; family; recreational activities, retirement and membership of the WA Corvettes’ Association.