F3526 Walter Henry Preen, as a leading stoker, on Royal Australian Navy (RAN) corvettes HMAS Gawler, Horsham, Launceston and Broome, eastern, western and northern Australian waters, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea and east Atlantic Ocean, 1941-1946, interviewed by William Gray Ritchie

Walter Preen speaks about; his recruitment and training; being drafted to HMAS Gawler, pre-commissioning, under construction at Whyalla; escort duties off east and west Australian coasts; deployment to Colombo; escort duties in the Indian Ocean; Gawler's transfer to the Mediterranean Sea after modifications; the sinking of British troopship Yoma and rescue work; supporting the Sicily invasion; aerial shipping attacks; other escort duties in the Mediterranean; the shortage of escort vessels; the Gawler's transfer to Aden in October 1943; escort duties between Aden and India; an incident in Mombasa; refit in Port Elizabeth and East London; returning to Fremantle on the HMAS Launceston August 1944; getting married on Armistice Day 1944; being posted to the new HMAS Leeuwin and his duties; duties of an engineering writer when entering and leaving port; qualifying as a Stoker PO; being drafted to the Horsham as an engineering writer at short notice; duties aboard the Horsham; differences between the Gawler and the Horsham; duties as part of the Survey Group; paying off in Fremantle in December 1945 and being drafted to Leeuwin; reactions aboard the Horsham to the end of the war; a short stay aboard Broome, in Fremantle; discharge in April 1946 and rejoining the government tramways for the next 34 years; a Mediterranean convoy anecdote; the effects of nerves and stress [post-traumatic stress disorder] after leaving the RAN; Horsham at the surrender of the Japanese in Timor; relaxation at sea and in port; the benefits of his RAN experiences on future life, and changes in catering in the RAN.

Part of a collection of nineteen oral history interviews conducted by the Royal Australian Navy Corvettes Association of Western Australia. Interviewers included John Roberts, Margaret Rickard, Lorna Dodd, William Gray Ritchie and Jack Shepheard.