"Reception committee "Bloomin' 'eroes". Pennington. Being good boy." A welcoming committee greets ...

Accession Number P08424.011
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Digital file TIFF
Maker Unknown
Place made Australia: Tasmania, Devonport
Date made January 1946
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

"Reception committee "Bloomin' 'eroes". Pennington. Being good boy." A welcoming committee greets 1st Lieutenant Warwick Pennington, HMAS Deloraine, beside a car decorated with flags and a sign. After the end of the Second World War Corvettes visited as close to their named town as possible. HMAS Deloraine shut down for a week, the residents of Devonport received an extra petrol ration and the crew was feted. Activities included cricket, horseriding, penny farthing cycling, sight-seeing and a dance. This image is from the collection of Lieutenant Paul Merrick (Mick) Dexter, who enlisted in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANV) in 1943, and was a watchkeeper and anti-submarine specialist on Corvettes between 1944 and 1946. He continued to serve in the RANV after the Second World War, resigning his commission in 1964.