Tony McCrum was born in Portsmouth in 1919, the second son of a naval lieutenant and a mother who came from a line of naval officers that stretched back to and beyond Trafalgar. He entered the Naval College at Dartmouth in September 1932 and went on to complete his midshipman's time aboard HMS Royal Oak from 1936 to 1939.<BR><BR>In January 1939 he `shipped' his first stripe to become an Acting Sub Lieutenant and in June 1940 joined HMS Skipjack, a fast fleet minesweeper, as navigator. The ship was initially based at Harwich as part of the 2nd Minesweeping Flotilla. Having worked-up to operational readiness the flotilla moved to their wartime station at Dover. In May 1940 Skipjack arrived off the Dunkirk beaches, one of the first ships to help the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force. Having made several successful Channel crossings ferrying home troops, the French coast suddenly became even more dangerous as the Luftwaffe presence increased in support of their advancing army. With a full load of troops aboard, Skipjack was suddenly attacked by ten Stukas and was mortally hit and then quickly sank. Eventually rescue was at hand and McCrum was landed at Ramsgate. 19 of the crew and 294 troops went down with the ship.<BR><BR>In June 1940 he was appointed First Lieutenant of HMS Bridlington, a new minesweeper that was a modern version of Skipjack. In December 1942 he joined HMS Mendip, a Hunt Class destroyer with the task of defending the east coast convoys against e-boat attack. Then came a complete change when he was ordered to HMS Largs to become the Signals Officer in Charge. This was an ex West Indies banana boat that had been converted into a Landing Craft Headquarters Ship. Her task was to carry an admiral and general who would control all the forces in the early days of an assault. In April 1943, Largs arrived in North Africa and began preparations for the Sicily landings. D Day for Operation Husky started on 9 July and proved a complete success. The next step was Italy, the Salerno landing. McCrum was again heavily involved with the HQ planning staff within the US Navy sector.