[Submitted by N. Jones]
Albert Terence “Terry” Jarvis joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in 1942, entering officer training at HMS King Alfred in Sussex as a Specially Selected Rating — a status given to men hand-picked for their leadership potential. Whether he was already serving in the Royal Navy Reserve before his selection is unclear, but being chosen marked him out as someone the Navy believed could command.
At HMS King Alfred, Terry undertook a rigorous three-stage course. The training covered navigation, gunnery, seamanship, convoy tactics, and leadership under pressure, culminating in The Final Board — a formal interview and assessment before senior officers. Passing it meant earning the right to lead men in wartime. On 31 July 1942, Terry passed with 685 marks out of 1,000, commissioned as a Temporary Acting Probationary Sub-Lieutenant (Special Branch).
From September 1942 to July 1943, Terry served at HMS Pleiades in Scapa Flow — a shore-based command managing a flotilla of around 100 small fishing drifters used to transport goods and personnel between the Home Fleet’s warships and the shore within Scapa Flow. Terry was described by his senior officer at the time as an “average officer who has worked well, to my satisfaction ” — understated Navy-speak for steady and dependable.
The locations of Terry’s service between July 1943 and April 1945 are currently unclear. However, in early 1945, he was listed as being posted briefly to HMS Pembroke at Chatham (possibly accounting administrative, Terry may not have physically relocated to Chatham) before then joining Convoy JW66 — the last Arctic Convoy to sail from Britain. Departing the Clyde on 16 April 1945, 26 merchant ships carried tanks, aircraft, ammunition, food, and fuel to Murmansk, escorted by a cruiser, two escort carriers Premier and Index, six destroyers, four corvettes and a sloop. These were reinforced on April 19 with additional destroyers, including HMCS Iroquois and HMCS Huron, four corvettes and 16 Russian submarine chasers.
On 25 April 1945, the convoy reached the Kola Inlet. Terry remained in Murmansk as a First Lieutenant working in Naval Party 100 under the command of the Senior British Naval Officer, Murmansk, in and around a harbour battered by years of war. Naval life overseas took a positive turn for Terry on 21 July, when a cable arrived with news from home; his wife Ruby had given birth to a daughter, Carol Audrey Jarvis; a personal moment of warmth and joy in the coldest theatre of the second world war.
After returning to Britain, Terry served as Naval Representative at the Army Civilian Clothing Centre in Guildford until April 1946, helping demobilised soldiers return to civilian life. He was released from service on 25 June 1946.