Part 1 of this tale covered the period from the formation of No. 1 Ship Signal Section in 1942 until the arrival of HMA Bulolo in Bombay (Mumbai) in September 1943.

HMS Bulolo

HMS Bulolo’s deployment to the Far East in the latter part of 1943 was in preparation for amphibious operations in the late spring of 1944 against Japanese-occupied Sumatra and Malaya (Operation Culverin) and against the Andaman Islands (Operation Buccaneer). The plans were ultimately abandoned but not before No. 1 Ship Signal Section had spent time passing on its experience to new signal sections of the newly-formed 218 Signal Assault Wing.^[1] In October, Bulolo took part in a command post exercise with the staff of 33^rd Indian Corps (Exercise Otter) that simulated a divisional landing, with the staff from 36^th Indian Division and 29^th Infantry Brigade on board HMS Keren—the former being described as, ‘completely satisfactory’ but the latter (i.e. embarked division and brigade headquarters) as, ‘a complete failure’.^[2] A similar event (Exercise Swordfish) was conducted with 2^nd Division the following month, by which time the lessons had been learned and communications were much improved. A third exercise was cancelled in mid-December and Bulolo was ordered back to the Mediterranean. After spending Christmas at Bombay, she sailed for Italy via the Suez Canal.

Bulolo arrived at Naples on 12 January 1944 and immediately embarked Lieutenant Colonel L. T. Shawcross, commanding officer of 1^st Divisional Signals. The division had been allocated to United States VI Corps as one of the two assaulting division for Operation Shingle—an amphibious landing at Anzio. The divisional staff and additional signallers embarked over the following days and on 18 January an exercise was carried out in the Salerno area. On 20 January, an interoperability exercise took place with the headquarters ship USS Biscayne, the flagship for the operation, and the following day the assault force sailed for Anzio.^[3] The landings were largely unopposed and, from the perspective of the signal section, somewhat routine. The divisional staff disembarked on 23 January and the following day, in the midst of an air attack, Bulolo sailed for Naples and thence to Malta. March 1944 was spent in Algiers and on 7 April the ship’s company prepared to depart the Mediterranean. Prior to sailing a signal was received from Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean that read: ‘Whilst on Mediterranean Station you have played a very active part in operations and may be justly proud of your share in our successes. Goodbye and good luck to you and your ship’s company’. Continue reading →

In the Summer 2019 edition of the Journal of the Royal Signals Institution, John Young wrote an excellent short history of 661 Signal Troop (LPD). I was prompted to write something about the troop’s predecessor and where it all began—No. 1 Ship Signal Section on HMS Bulolo during the Second World War. The article (somewhat bizarrely attributed to Captain Neil Donaghy, who in fact wrote the update about Project Caduceus) was published in the Journal but (due to another editing error) that version was incomplete and missing its footnotes and some illustrations. The story is told here in two parts…

No. 1 Ship Signal Section was formed aboard HMS Bulolo at Chatham on 16 June 1942.^[1] Arising out of the growing understanding of the requirements for effective command of amphibious landings, most importantly the need for a combined^[2] headquarters afloat (a lesson learned on Operation Menace—the ill-fated attack on Dakar in 1940), HMS Bulolo was the first of several ships to be converted into a Landing Ship, Headquarters.^[3] Designed as a passenger, general cargo and mail steamer, the 6,500-ton ship had piled her trade in the south Pacific for less than a year before war broke out in Europe. Bulolo was requisitioned in September 1939 and converted into an armed merchant cruiser, in which guise she worked as a convoy escort in the Atlantic until being bought by the Admiralty in March 1942.

HMS Bulolo alongside in Rio de Janeiro on 24 November 1941. The placement of her original fit of seven 6-inch guns can be clearly seen—two forward below the bridge, two either side under the upper decks and one aft. The two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns can be seen towards the rear of the upper deck. This weapon fit was changed significantly when Bulolo became a headquarters ship. Compare with the photograph in Part 2 of the damage suffered in June 1944.

There then followed an extensive period of refitting—the forward cargo hold being converted into a three-deck suite of headquarters staff spaces and communications centres—which was completed that summer and by which time the conversion of a second ship, HMS Largs, had begun.^[4] For most of this period, and for the period described here, HMS Bulolo was commanded by Captain R. L. Hamer DSO, the father of Lieutenant Colonel J. R. Hamer, Royal Signals.^[5]

Continue reading →