Vernon, the chap on the Dorsetshire that fired torpedoes into the Bismark was from Cape Town. I asked him why he volunteered for the Navy when so many went north to Tobruk. He told me he'd always been interested in ships and, when he was thirteen, he had been about one square rigged ship that was in Cape Town for a few days that they began to think of him as part of the crew. When the ship was ready to sail, he was told he'd better get on board as they were about to leave and he just went aboard. When the ship got to Port  Elizabeth, the police and his father were waiting. He commented that the next few weeks were unpleasant.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vital-Spark-No-Witnesses-What-ebook/dp/B00UNNKUUO