James Holland
speaker
21,811 appearances
47 recordings
7 series
first heard May 2025
last heard 2d ago
James Holland’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 44 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 10.
Appearances
and then the Royal Navy opening fire on their own air cover.
That was what he'd carried for sixty years.
My grandfather was William Cummins, a merchant navy officer from Middlesbrough.
He left the tape recorded memoir submitted to the BBC People's War Archive, completely verbatim, dead pan Northeast, and extraordinary.
He survived the torpedoing of SS Thurso in june nineteen forty two by U five two.
In the chaos below decks, William grabbed an axe to free the lifeboat, but his hand landed right on top of his wallet, his watch, and his Rolls Razor.
He took the axe.
The watch sank off Lisbon and he was still bitter about it decades later.
He used to say You know where there is a good watch?
Off bloody Lisbon.
The chief steward and chief engineer had broken into the bonded stores when the torpedo hit and drank as much whiskey as they could.
By the time they looked up, the lifeboats had gone.
William's response when they started screaming from the deck was to hell with them if they were so keen on spirit they could stop there.
They launched the jolly boat.
Clearly under the influence they forgot the plug.
It sank.
Cargo was cork, and as the Thurzo went down it erupted to the surface everywhere.
Fortunately, the men were rescued from the floating corpse.
The corvette that picked William up, HMS Marigold, was sunk by an Italian torpedo six months later.
The crew she rescued.
Showing 21–40 of 21,811 · page 2 of 1091
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