Pye, Clemence John (Petty Officer, b.1918 - d.1982)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of 22471 Petty Officer Clemence John Pye, HMAS Vampire and HMAS Voyager, Royal Australian Navy, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, 1939-1941.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Contains two folders of material relating to Petty Officer Clemence John Pye.

Folder 1 of 2 consists of one diary of Petty Officer Pye, containing entries dated between 25 August 1939 and 27 July 1941. This diary was written while Petty Officer Pye was serving in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. In his diary, Petty Officer Pye writes about serving on HMAS Vampire, ship movements, travelling in convoys with other Allied ships, transferring to HMAS Voyager, on-shore training, naval training exercises, sinking enemy submarines, capturing prisoners of war from damaged enemy submarines, tension with the French naval fleet, heavy air raids, ship maintenance and repairs, sweeps for enemy ships, the bombardment of Bardia, transporting troops and supplies, being visited by Prime Minister Menzies, assisting in the evacuation of Greece, searching for survivors of sunk ships, being at sea during the Battle of Crete, and delivering ammunition to Tobruk. This diary also includes three newspaper clippings.

Folder 2 of 2 consists of one transcript of diary of Petty Officer Pye, and one copy of a photograph depicting Petty Officer Pye.