Service on HMS Saxifrage Escorting Convoys

Frederick Fell married Phyllis Race in 1939 knowing that war was imminent. Phyllis' father and brother wanted Fred to join them working in factories in Coventry but Fred wanted to fight for his country. He joined the Royal Navy in 1941 and was assigned to HMS Saxifrage, a Flower Class Corvette, where he served for the whole of the rest of the war.

HMS Saxifrage was part of many Atlantic and Arctic convoys, as well as escorting ships in the Mediterranean visiting Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt and Palestine. On one voyage in a warmer climate, where they were wearing tropical uniforms, they received orders to escort a convoy to Murmansk in Russia. They had no warm clothing and were wrapped in blankets chipping ice off cables and surfaces to prevent the ship from capsizing. They received a warm welcome in New York and were lavishly entertained.

Escorting convoys was very stressful as they were constantly under attack and Fred would have seen many ships sunk and their crews lost. It is not surprising that he was happy to be demobbed.