The Three Friends-Wally, John and Dennis

There were 3 friends who went through the war all together on HMS Belfast. One man was called Wally, the others John Sears and Dennis Hulme. Dennis came from Australia, John from London and Wally from Surrey. They met whilst undergoing their training at HMS Collingwood and then they all served on the cruiser HMS Belfast.

They were involved in the Arctic Convoys for 14 months going to Russia. Often the ship would be covered in frozen ice, which was very dangerous not only could you slip but the ice could get so heavy that it might roll a ship over. They had to chip it away.

Once when on one of the convoys on the 26th of December they met the famous German ship the Scharnhorst and engaged in a battle with it. They didn’t sink it but it was eventually sunk with the loss of nearly 2000 lives. Dennis was the ships joiner but on Action Stations he was attached to one of the guns and was responsible for putting arms to the gun. John Sears was also attached to the same gun. After the Arctic Covoys they had to prepare for the D Day landings. HMS Belfast was the first ship to open fire on D Day. Their job was to pound the defences of Gold beach so that it would be safer for the troops to land. The sound of all guns firing at once was deafening. Once the troops had begun to go ashore they aimed their shells further inland. The Belfast could fire shells from fifteen to eighteen miles.

The Belfast spent five weeks at the Normandy beaches. Next she went to Scapa to unload her ammunition before going to the Tyne for a refit. From there the three friends set sail for Malta, through the Suez canal and onto Borneo. On VJ day they were in Perth Australia and were given the freedom of the city of Freemantle.

They never felt they would lose the war and The Belfast only suffered slight shrapnel damage, which can still be seen today. The three friends were not injured in the war but came out with only a lot of scratches, bruises and cuts.

They all felt it important the young people should learn about the war because they had been there and seen what it was like and people should live in peace and harmony.

Right to left Dennis, John and Wally with two other veterans on HMS Belfast June 6th 2004

Pictures from Dennis’s photo album

John Sears centre and Dennis Hulme is on the far left

HMS Belfast iced up on Arctic convoy 1942