大象传媒

My brother John A. Tompkins always known to us as Jack was a regular sailor when war broke out and he took part in the evacuation of the army from Dunkirk. We used to listen to the radio for news of his ship and the army being brought home.
After two or three days of anxiety our family was awakened in the early hours of the morning by foot steps coming up the stairs, it was Jack looking very weary. He said his ship had been hit but they managed to reach the nearest port, the members of the crew who lived within travelling distance were allowed 48 hrs leave, for a much needed rest and also to give time for the ship to be inspected ascertain the damage.

He was so tired as he had not slept for two or three days and just kicked of his shoes and just fell on the bed without taking his clothes off and slept all the next day. It was lucky he lived in Surrey which gave him a chance to get home.

After sleeping and eating he gave us an account of some of the things that happened.

They picked up a lot of Soldiers and Marines who had begun to swim out to the ship after discarding their kit. and saying they would swim home! So they were picked up from the sea but despite the seriousness of the situation they kept their sense of humour.

The ship made a number of trips over several days being constantly machine gunned and bombed finally they were hit and had to return to the nearest port.

The name of the ship was H.M.S. AJAX or H.M.S. NUBIAN I cannot remember which.
He said that later while travelling backwards and forwards to his ship he often met some of the army fellows in a pub who used to buy him a drink after recognising the name of his ship on his hat band, which of course was changed to H.M.S. SHIPS later for security reasons.

Jack went back to his ship after his short leave and continued in the navy taking part in various operations, he was twice a survivor and had to swim for his life as his ship was sunk. He then finished the war in the far East fighting the Japanese. And then retired from the navy as a C.P.O. ( Chief Petty Officer )

He died about 8 yrs ago.

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