In 1939, my father, George Green, who has died aged 97, volunteered for the Royal Navy and trained as a telegraphist. His first seagoing ship was a flower-class corvette, HMS Violet, on which he served for eight months, principally escorting Atlantic convoys. In 1941 George was recommended for a commission and transferred to HMS King Alfred for training and in the same year was posted to HMS Kenya. Throughout 1942, he was involved in Russian, Atlantic and Malta convoys.
The ship suffered major torpedo damage in Operation Pedestal, the 1942 Malta convoy, but eventually made it back to Britain. After repairs, Kenya became part of the Eastern Fleet, initially as a flag ship. By that time George had become No 2 navigator and served in that capacity until the end of the war the ship being based progressively at Freetown in Sierra Leone, Mombasa in Kenya, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and finally in the Pacific.
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