大象传媒

Whilst serving on HMS Matchless based at Scapa Flow and working on convoy duties, there were a couple of indicators on board ship that were tell tale signs that we were heading north. As we passed north of Iceland and headed into Arctic waters our radio signal would become gradually weaker and weaker until we reached a point where we could get no signal at all. The cabins and mess areas would then seem strangely quiet as we lost one of our few sources of entertainment. At the same time and as the air gradually became colder the ship's resident cockroaches abandoned their usual haunts and would swarm around the electric fires seeking out the heat and warming themselves.
Eventually after a few days as the ship turned and headed south the radios would gradually come back to life and we could once again hear our favourite songs, Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton, and life and noise seemed to return to the cabins. The cockroaches would disperse and return to their hiding places and we knew we were once more on our way to home and safety.

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