Eldred, I will answer some of Ray's questions to, hopefully, ....be helpful.
When I joined HMS RALEIGH at age 16 in 1861 or was it 1961, I was given a mini-'janes warships' book (published circa 1952) which I kept. It included the two ships you served in. Sadly it is one of the very few things I have from my time in RN.
As an aside in 1961 I was issued with 'evening' shoes, black with a two inch wide silver buckle, a kit bag and a small attache case to keep my belongings in. I wish I had kept the shoes, they seem to appear in every swashbuckling pirate film I have watched.
I wonder what meager items of 'uniform' you were issued (apart from Gas mask and Lifebelt) ?
Anyway - herewith the info from my "mini Jane's and other sources:
HMS Kenya was a Crown Colony-class cruiser.
Research into declassified State Department records on the Soviet Union has revealed that on 19 March 1942, Kenya transported 10 tons of gold from the Soviet Union to the United States as payment for loans and war materials.[1]
Kenya also avoided damage in air attacks by the Germans on 27–28 March. She had by now received the nickname "The Pink Lady", due to her Mountbatten Pink camouflage paint, during the commando raid against installations on Vågsøy Island off the Norwegian coast. This was attributed to her Mountbatten Pink camouflage blending in with the pink marker dye the Germans were using in their shells, preventing German spotters from distinguishing between shell splashes and the ship. The force returned to Scapa Flow in early January 1942. Kenya returned to escorting Arctic convoys between March and May 1942. On 22 March after escorting PQ12 to Murmansk Kenya was loaded with 10 tonnes of Russian bullion and took it back to Britain for safe keeping.
HMS Activity was an escort carrier that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. After the war, she was sold into merchant service as the MV Breconshire, serving for over 20 years until scrapped in 1967.
Operation Pedestal (referenced in Italian sources as the Battaglia di Mezzo Agosto) was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942.
Eldred, I wish you good health and hope you can find the time to enlighten us with your experiences in the Met branch, - what Met data was available at sea, how it was transmitted and received (was it coded, other than SYNOP?) did you have radio-sonde etc.
Would also be very interested in your career paths after your RN service.
With very best wishes - SPUD
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