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Len Perry

Recollections of teenage life on the Home Front and service in the Navy.

'We were in between'

Len Perry recalls life as a teenager at the outbreak of war.

Russian Convoys

Len Perry talks about his time on Russian convoys.

D-Day

Len Perry talks about D-Day.

Teenage years

Len Perry’s memories are intertwined with some of the major events of the war: the Blitz – the Russian convoys – the D-Day landings – the German Surrender of the Channel Islands. They also give us a vibrant account of the early years of war seen through the eyes of a teenager – “…no football…no cinema…no Boys Brigade…”  Len engagingly revisits his teenage years recalling a young man who was at times rebellious, at others frightened and sometimes downright excited.  Who else but a teenager would have relished in calling the air raid siren “Moaning Minnie”?  

The impact of witnessing a plane crash on Blackheath in South London stayed with Len who over the years has spent much time and effort piecing together the details of what happened.  Make no mistake though, Len does not seek to glorify the war, on the contrary he describes it as a privilege to have been involved.

Active service

Len has much to say of his experience of active service when he turned 18 and was called up for the Navy. We hear of the “absolute hell” of the Russian convoys and the intensity of the D-Day landings and the immediate aftermath as the Allies consolidated their advance. (Len’s ship picked up Reuters war correspondent Desmond Tighe and took him to observe the landing sites in the days after the landing.) And then on to the Channel Islands, where in 1945 the German surrender of Jersey was conducted on Len’s ship, the HMS Beagle.


Photo:Stoker Len Perry aged 19 in Devonport 1943.
Photo:HMS Beagle refuelling on an arctic convoy.
Photo:Len on Omaha Beach for the 65th anniversary of D-day in June 2009.
Photo:HMS Beagle off Gold Beach on June 6th 1944.
Downloads

Letter written by Len Perry
Letter written by Len Perry (9k)
To read more about Len's wartime experience in his own words please press the above link.

Interview with Len Perry
Interview with Len Perry (219k)
To read the full transcript of Len's interview please press the above link.

'We were in between'
'We were in between' (71k)
Transcript of video clip with Len Perry.

Russian Convoys
Russian Convoys (79k)
Transcript of video clip with Len Perry.

D-Day
D-Day (76k)
Transcript of video clip with Len Perry.

This gallery was added by Malin Lundin on 23/04/2012.
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More about...
Contributors
  • Recollections of life in the Merchant Navy.
  • Recollections of service life onboard HMS Euryalus.
  • Wartime memories of evacuation.
  • Recollections of teenage life on the Home Front and service in the Navy.
  • Wartime memories of service life in the RAF.
  • Recollections of service in the Army and life as a prisoner of war.
  • Wartime memories of life as an Aero Engine Fitter serving in Rhodesia.
 
 
See also...
  • Recollections of the Armed Forces
  • Recollections of the Home Front
 
 
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