Roy Elwood on Arrochar, tuning torpedoes and climbing the local dance floor

Roy Elwood has written for us before in relation to his convoy duty with HMS Zambesi and its evacuation of the Norwegian island of Soroy. Roy acts as our Arctic Convoy Editor, coordinating the material coming in fairly regularly from other veterans of the Arctic or Russian Convoys.

Some served in the merchant navy ships being convoyed to and from Murmansk. Some, like Roy Elwood, served in the Royal Navy convoy escorts, like Roy’s ship, HMS Zambesi.

Many of the naval personnel concerned were trained in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull by Vice Admiral Sir Gilbert Stephenson, known as The Terror Of Tobermory and the subject of a respected biography by the former broadcaster, Richard Baker.

Roy himself did not train with Stephenson but did find himself in Argyll – on Loch Long and in Arrochar. Roy takes up the story:

‘HMS Zambesi was one of eight ‘Z’ class destroyers and came into service in 1944. One of the first tasks after commissioning and before joining the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow was to set up or ‘range’ our eight torpedoes.

‘Torpedoes are not like shells. Basically shells are like big bullets in that they are fired by an explosion in the barrel behind the missile, the force of which sends it on its way.

‘Torpedoes are released and have their own power source that drives them – and trial runs are necessary to tweak the fins and ensure they run true. For this we went to the torpedo range at Arrochar at the head of Loch Long in western Scotland.

‘My endearing memory of Arrochar is not torpedo based, but centres on the village hall where service personnel were able to enjoy dances with the locals.

‘I was used to rural village hall dances in the environs of Kendal where the lasses sat down one side and the lads the other, with courting couples in front of the stage. Until the floor was fairly full you needed courage to cross the room and say ‘May I have the pleasure of this dance?’- the custom in those days. If you were refused, you could try another – who would know she was second choice, perhaps third – or make your way back.

‘Perhaps because of the influx of servicemen, Arrochar was not like this. Arrochar’s secret was not really noticeable until couples started to move round the floor. All the dancers seemed to be on the one side of the floor. In fact the floor had a slight rake, no doubt to improve one’s view during stage productions. This made it quite hard work dancing uphill and one seemed to fly down the other side.

‘Torpedoes have been around since 1866 and the RNTR (Royal Navy Torpedo Range) at Arrochar was established in 1912. Activity reached a peak during the war with over 12,000 torpedoes being fired down the loch in 1944.

‘Our torpedoes were big beasts. Two quad tubes carried four torpedoes, each some twenty-one inches in diameter and approaching the width of the ship in length. They could be turned to be released from either side. At Arrochar the big warheads were removed and an orange coloured buoyancy head of identical size fitted. They were then fired down the loch, recovered and adjustments made. Although we fired countless shells and depth charges, we never fired a torpedo (fish) in anger.

‘The range at Arrochar closed in 1986 and, apart from three cottages, was demolished in 2007. However, a great deal of its history together, with photographs and the stories of some of the characters is available on the web and particularly on the local history site. Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui Heritage with its story on the History of the Torpedo Range.’

The photograph above is of HMS Zambesi in torpedo tuning training exercises in Loch Long. It is by copyright holder Roy Elwood, who caught the ‘fish’ as it left the ship and before it hit the water. The back of the photo is dated May 46.

Roy Elwood is a photographer and Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society who is exhibiting his work in Edinburgh in November 2010. Roy is also in touch with the Imperial War Museum North, on adding to its collection of navy and merchant navy war photography from those he is collating as veterans and their families make contact with us.

There are plans, already in train, to create an Arctic Convoy Museum at Poolewe. Many Arctic Convoys gathered there at Loch Ewe in Sutherland, to sail for Murmansk. A memorial has been raised there and we published the story of the tribute to the Arctic Convoy veterans hosted by Pool House Hotel, formerly acting as Admiralty House for the convoys.

For Argyll is not surprised that Roy Elwood found enjoyment in the material available on the Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui Heritage site. This was a joint winner of the Best Local History Website in the ForArgyll Awards 2008.