大象传媒

Early February 1945 I was a Galley boy on the small Dutch Cargo boat M.V. Bonaire. It had been one of the first ships into Rotterdam after the liberation and we then travelled to Belfast bay waiting for a convoy to assemble.

The convoy featured five rows of ten ships鈥�; each boat was allocated a position in the convoy. We then made our way to Cardiff for repairs in Roath Dry Dock, while there I struck up a friendship with a very nice young lady called Josie Anderson 鈥� I still remember her address 148 Cowbridge Road, she worked for the South Wales press.

When our repairs were finished we sailed for Belfast where we anchored in the bay waiting for a convoy to assemble.

It sailed for America on the 28th April and as much as I was excited I had a few fears, probably being seventeen and not appreciating what was going on around me made it even more unnerving.

One night that I remember distinctly was one of my first nights on board. Being a galley boy meant our cabins were situated near the funnel. During the evening all lights would be out so we wouldn't be seen by enemy ships but the boat was constantly moving in the dark. The boat having a diesel engine did not have a variable speed so to go faster we had to slow down and gradually pick up speed. While the boat was doing this, sparks would fly from the funnel and to me looked like a firework display. The fact that we couldn鈥檛 smoke made it even worse for us. So many thoughts ran through my mind "Can anyone else notice this?", "Am I the only one who can see this?", "Should I tell someone?鈥� At the time I felt it was probably best not to say a thing, however, to this day I still wonder, if I was the only who noticed the sparks.

Fortunately, all the 鈥榮ubs鈥� in front of us surrendered after the 8th May.

But looking back I guess I saw my celebrations earlier than everyone else.

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