238720 Able Sea. Marc Taylor Royal Navy HMS Fidelity from:Birkenhead At the start of WWII my great uncle Marc Taylor was serving in the French Navy. Following the fall of France his ship headed for England. Uncle Marc explained that following the operation to take control of French warships in British ports, Operation Catapult, he was given a choice: repatriation, join the Free French Navy or join the Royal Navy. Marc chose to join the Royal Navy as he had no love for de Gaulle and was drafted to HMS Fidelity on 14th March 1941 and served in her until 10th July 1942. He took part in several covert operations (Fidelity was a Special Services Vessel or Q Ship) and I clearly remembering him remark that the CO, a Corsican named Costa, was quite mad.
Uncle Marc's original surname was Nigot but when he joined the RN he was given a nom de guerre to protect his family in France. He said that movie stars were a popular choice and he chose to become Marc Taylor, taking the surname of the famous leading actor Robert Taylor. He also described that despite serving in the RN for the rest of the war, when he returned home, shortly after the end of the war, his name was on a wanted list for desertion.
Uncle Marc married my great aunty May, who he'd met whilst alongside in Birkenhead, during the war. After the war he worked at Cammell Laird.
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