207707 Able Sea. Ronald Rowland Royal Navy HMS Manchester from:Leyton, Essex HMS Manchester was Ron Rowland's first posting when he joined the Navy at the age of 19 in 1941. After the ship was scuttled during Operation Pedestal, Ron became a prisoner of war at Laghouat camp. He said that the guards told them not to bother trying to escape because they were surrounded by desert and there was nowhere for them to go. But if they did try to escape, the guard said, they would be shot. Ron stayed at the camp until they were liberated; he said they woke up one morning and the guards had simply gone, having got word that the Allies' arrival was imminent. He brought back some sand from the Sahara in the broken off neck of a bottle.
After a short leave of two weeks, Ron returned to duty aboard HMS Grenville, where he served in the British Pacific Fleet until the end of the war.
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