In part eight of our Second World War series, DAN KEEL speaks to a Navy seaman who witnessed the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong and the carnage of Hiroshima.
AFTER spending the early years of the war working as a photographer in west London, 17-year-old William Heywood was itching to join the allies in the fight against Nazi Germany and Japan, and so volunteered for the Navy.
The teenager, who lived in Plumstead, joined on his 18th birthday in 1944 and was immediately thrown into radar school on the Isle of Man.
Now 83, and living in Bexleyheath, he explains: "I volunteered because I didn't want to hang around and get drafted into the Army. I knew I would be happier on a boat and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
"Some of the things I saw were devastating - but generally my time on the ship was good fun."
After completing his training Mr Heywood joined other young recruits on the aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance and following tours in Malta and Sydney the 693ft-long vessel was sent northwards in the fight against Japan.
"I was based below deck and my job was to track the fighter aircraft on radar and then press a pedal with my foot which ordered the big guns on deck to fire," he said.
"I was also given the task of taking photos of every take-off and landing on the carrier.
"Most of the fighting had already been done by the Americans. By the time we arrived, things had started to really calm down."
But it is the images of the aftermath of war which will live in Mr Heywood's memory forever.
On August 6 in 1945 American forces dropped an atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima before dropping another on Nagasaki three days later. The war was over.
HMS Vengeance was given the task of transporting Admiral Cecil Harcourt to Hong Kong who officially took command of the territory following the Japanese surrender.
"We were based in Hong Kong harbour for four months", said Mr Heywood. "The admiral went ashore and the Japanese officials signed the surrender documents.
"When we weren't working on the ship we were taking in the sights of Hong Kong.
"One of the best photos I have (below) is of a Jap being taken away with his hands in his pockets.
"We used to take away their belts to stop them from running away. They had to keep their hands in their pockets to stop their trousers from falling down because of the way their uniforms were made"
Following trips to Sri Lanka and Singapore the aircraft carrier was sent to patrol the Pacific before docking at Iwakuni in Japan - eight months after the atom bombs had dropped.
This was when the ship's crew had the chance to see the devastation of obliterated Hiroshima firsthand.
He said: "We visited the city for what was essentially a sight-seeing trip. It was pure devastation. There was no sign of life whatsoever. Trees were dead, there were no animals and everything was so flat.
"You could see the odd silhouette of where a body had once laid, and a couple of the boys found the body of woman who must have been carrying a child. The two bodies were glued together."
HMS Vengeance and Mr Heywood finally returned to England on August 12 in 1946.
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