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I (Roy Tarrant) was in Iceland, there were six of us together with the Captain, Lieutenant and Chief Petty Officer.
Our abode was a type of Nissen hut which by luck was anchored down with a ship’s anchor which we had found. There were three huts, the Captain’s, the Lieutenant’s and our own. In addition we had a basic kitchen area. On top of the hill (small slope) was the Shore Station with its flag pole and guard rail surrounding. In each hut was a tortoise stove which kept us fairly comfortable. Our bed lockers were just crude boxes.
In the Fiord were the Battleships and Cruisers and Escorts waiting to join the convoys while the Boom Bar Vessel closed the Boom so that no one could come in or out.
Snow had already fallen and as usual covered the ground in some considerable depth.
Brackets (so called because his initials were KK which represented brackets in Morse code) and myself (Taff) were on watch in the Station when we had a warning that the wind was likely to increase to one hundred and twenty m.p.h. We had the black cone flying up the mast although it was nearly taking off. One of the Cruisers was blown through the Boom and was on its way to the Iceland capital. About an hour or so later I was looking through the window and I actually saw a cow in the air.
Brackets said, “Taff, we need some more coal” and, as it was my turn to collect it, I strapped up and, with a sack, went about fifty yards in the snow to where a new brick station was being built. I managed to get as much coal as I could and started back with the sack over my shoulder.
However, I was unlucky as I was blown down the slope and managed to shelter behind a boulder.
Some considerable time later Brackets came out looking for me and shouting “Taff, Taff, where are you?”. I couldn’t answer as I couldn’t get my breath and I knew I had to make the extra effort. By crawling up the slope I eventually made the flat surface and Brackets came along to assist. However, when we got to the station, I emptied the bag only to find that in the dark and the gale I had collected broken bricks and lumps of mortar, but no coal.
At about this time we had numerous calls from various ships with messages to be passed on and we both managed to cope in the very cold hut. When daylight came and the next watch took over, Brackets and I did the right thing and got a sack full of coal to warm up the hut for our comrades.

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