Blyth regeneration celebration to take place on Saturday
Mar 13 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
Fantastic
WARTIME submariner and later mining worker Jim Jacques describes Hyperscope as "fantastic".
To 85-year-old Jim it sums up his lifetime experiences.
Born in Ashington, Jim has lived in Bedlington for the past 34 years.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1939 and served on the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk when she was on the receiving end of five salvoes from the German battleship Bismarck.
"The Bismarck close encounter made me think that ‘hey Jim someone’s looking after you son’ – a special feeling that would stay with me throughout my naval career," he said.
He was also on the Norfolk when she was escort vessel for the first convoy run to Russia.
Jim’s next ship was the corvette HMS Sweetbriar in which he made more than 20 Atlantic convoy crossings and one to Gibraltar.
"In that time we never lost a single ship," said Jim.
His affiliation with Blyth started in 1943 when he started his submariner training.
He served on submarines H44, L27 and HMS Truant and has been secretary of the Blyth & Wansbeck Submariners Association for the past 16 years.
After the war Jim worked as a miner at Ellington Colliery, group safety engineer with the Ashington group of collieries, and then under manager at Pegswood Colliery and Woodhorn Colliery. He went on to teach physics at Hirst East School in Ashington and then joined Ashington High School.
Jim said that Hyperscope is the perfect way for people to remember the past and celebrate the future, in a town steeped in coal mining and maritime history.
