As an accomplished photographer, Kenneth Fenton was in a unique position to document his wartime experiences.
The Bartonvale Gardens Retirement Village resident, who saw active service with the Royal Australian Navy from 1943-45, still treasures his collection of photographs and memories of his service.
Born in Doncaster, England in 1922, Kenneth came to Australia as a two year-old and went to school at Alberton, South Australia.
Developing an early interest in photography stood him in good stead to record his time at sea.
“I got into photography at a very young age, before I went to war,” Kenneth said.
“A friend showed me how to do it. I enjoyed it.”
Upon the outbreak of war, Kenneth joined up and served on the minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine, one of 60 Bathurst Class corvettes built for use in World War II, and the last of its kind still afloat.
“At first life at sea was a bit strange but we got used to it,” he said.
“It was a lot of work, but mates all helped each other. I was a stoker as well as a photographer. We always had to be ready and be careful about what we said in public.”
Amid the serious, and often dire, situations the Allied forces found themselves in at various stages of the conflict, Kenneth used his skills to boost morale aboard the ship.
“I’m proud of making people happy in an awkward situation,” he said.
“I enjoyed taking the photos, developing them, showing the boys, and making them laugh.”
In August 1944, Castlemaine completed survey duties along the north coast of Australia, before sailing for the Philippines and Hong Kong, where it took part in the historic Japanese surrender ceremony. After clocking up over 188,000km of wartime sailing, the ship was restored and is now a museum exhibition at Williamstown, Victoria.
Kenneth is now comfortably settled at Bartonvale Gardens since moving into there in 2012, and enjoys leafing through his treasured photo albums and remembering his wartime experiences.
“All the photos are my favorites because I was there and they bring back some good memories,” he said.
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