大象传媒

The Samstrule remained in the Mediterranean following the invasion of Southern France. She was to dry dock in Alexandria. The ship had run out of potatoes, and the crew had to subsist on rice cakes as a substitute for a couple of weeks, until the arrival in Alexandria. On his first night ashore Geoffrey went immediately to Mohammed Ali square- the main shopping centre- where he treated himself to a meal, a mixed grill with plenty of potato chips, and two large glasses of milk. Ships milk was always made up from milk powder and was always chalky and tasteless.

On Christmas Eve 1944 the Samstrule arrived in the port of Haifa in Palestine (as it was then). A directive from Elders & Fyffes (who were the ship鈥檚 charterers) said that all members of the crew were to be given two bottles of beer with the company鈥檚 compliments and the season鈥檚 greetings. Geoffrey was somewhat grieved therefore, when he only received one bottle of beer; after all, he was over eighteen. He was told by the Chief Steward who was making the issue that Captain Jones considered him too young to have beer, but, out of kindness, had decided he should have one bottle. In vain Geoffrey pointed out that the deck boy who was younger than him, had been given two. Geoffrey was quite certain in his own mind as to who had had his other bottle of beer. After lunch that same day, the entire crew was informed that before any shore leave passes were issued; everyone must have an injection against bubonic plague. A Jewish doctor came aboard, and all the crew was lined up outside the officers鈥� mess for this to be carried out. The needle the doctor was using was, Geoffrey noted, unusually large. The steward, who was immediately in front of Geoffrey in the queue, fainted when he saw the needle, and collapsed on the floor. The doctor simply bent down and injected him before he had time to recover. Another steward, seeing this, flatly refused to have the injection, and so was unable to go ashore at all during the six days the ship was there. The following morning- Christmas Day- Geoffrey decided he would go to church. So he set his little alarm clock and got up early. He found his left arm, where he had been injected, had swollen up, and he could not raise his arm above the horizontal. He was putting on his No. 1 uniform with a white shirt and starched collar and he had considerable difficulty with his collar and tie. However, in spite of some pain and suffering, he eventually succeeded and walked down the gangplank and into the quay.

Immediately astern of the Samstrule was another British ship called the Princess Kathleen ( or was it Katherine?). Although she was smaller in tonnage than the Samstrule she was an elegant ship, designed specifically for passenger cruising in the years before the war. She was very distinctive, having four funnels. Just as Geoffrey was walking ashore, down the gangplank from the other ship came the assistant purser- also in his No. 1 uniform. 鈥淗allo鈥�, he shouted cheerily 鈥淎re you going to church?鈥� Geoffrey said that he was. 鈥淒o you know where it is?鈥� asked the purser. Geoffrey had to confess that he did not- but he did know that it was called St Luke鈥檚 and that it was in Mountain Road. At this point Geoffrey spotted what he took to be a taxi, some distance away. A shrill whistle from the purser, and the taxi turned round, and came on to the quayside and picked them up. It was about 7.30 in the morning. The taxi driver was a veritable mine of information, and chatted to his passengers during the journey. The service at St Luke鈥檚 was attended by about sixteen people and taken by the elderly priest-in-charge. It was the traditional 1662 Book of Common eucharist with a short sermon and lasted about forty-five minutes. The taxi driver was obviously aware of this, and arrived just after the service to take Geoffrey and the purser back to the dock. Here Geoffrey and the purser parted company, and Geoffrey never saw him- or the Princess Kathleen-again.

Geoffrey Walker

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