´óÏó´«Ã½

The following story appears courtesy of and with thanks to Les Jones and Robert Kennedy

The 23,722 tons liner: the SS Strathallan was built at Barrow-in-Furness and owned by the Peninsular & Orient Steam Navigation Company Ltd and requisitioned by the War Office as a troopship during the war. Its last Captain was J.H.Biggs CBE.

When I was on holiday in Plymouth in September 1936 I saw the launching of the Birmingham,
little dreaming that one day I should be in a convoy she was protecting.
We took a zig-zagging course as a precaution against U-boat attacks. As far as one could judge we
travelled about 3000 miles West, when part of the convoy continued on to America and then we
changed course southwards. As we got into calmer waters and warmer climes we got our sea-legs.
My diary notes that I played at one or two impromptu concerts ,did a few guards, continued with
my job doing the pay, went to services and discussion groups (Padre Parker), did some reading but
all through the war years there were hardly ever any books available and I never saw any music,
always had to play by ear.
Tues Apr 1 The great time has come when at last we donned our tropical rig-out. Saw some
flying fish. They jump out of the water and fly along like swallows. Wonderful sunset over the
water - thin wisps of clouds changing colour and the sun going down very rapidly. The water at
night is quite a picture - lit up by phosphorescence like reflected stars.
Thurs Apr 3 Saw school of porpoises. Signs of getting nearer land - birds, fishing smack, seaplane
Fri Apr 4 Land ahoy! We sailed into a magnificent harbour (Freetown).
Lovely scene - high mountains, one-side covered with luxurious vegetation, huts nestling among the
trees., Flimsy native canoes soon appeared and were round us all day long, diving for sixpences and
selling fruit by means of basket and cord. Was surprised to hear them singing "Hallelujah" and "Ay Ay
Ippy". One canoe had got "Apapa" painted on it (NB that was the name of the boat my Uncle Jack, a
missionary in what was then Dahomey, used to travel on out to West Africa). Monkeys on a boat
which came out to bring supplies, natives love to get hold of bits of European clothing. One had bowler
hat, collar and tie and no shirt. Witnessed a "naval battle" between tvo rival canoeists - pelted each other
with fruit - then a chase until one got so much water in his boat that it sank, but he got it up again. One
had some chickens for sale, I got a local coin for my first souvenir.
Mon Apr 7 Set sail again
Weds Apr 9. Crossed the line. The traditional ceremony was definitely a highlight - slapstick well
acted. Father Neptune had a train o£ mermaids, jailer, barber, surgeon. Offenders were summarily
convicted for various offences eg hanging from a yard-arm and pretending was a flag, padre for being
drunk and disorderly, wrapping a penny in silver paper and throwing to diving boys; contents of a
bucket were thrown over offenders' heads - lather was not spared The adjutant got a special ducking for
making us wear greatcoats on boat drill. The court adjourned and everyone dived in the pool

Good Friday Apr 11 Full moon and diamond-studded sky. North star
was low on the horizon and the Southern Cross in sight.
Mon Apr 14 Funny to be going South and yet backs to the sun.
Tues Apr 15, Half of our friends left us (we learned later that part of the convoy had gone on to
Durban). Flags went up. More birds. A few Avros came to have a look at us and then came the great
moment once more - land ahoy. Big mountain with white buildings dotted on its slope
Weds Apr 16 Eventually got in dock and after a rush making out passes went ashore with my friend
George High from six until midnight. Great town. Lights all on. Big American cars.
This was Capetown. All the service-men who went round by the Cape during the war can never forget
the wonderful hospitality offered to us. Everyone was "adopted" by a family for the three or four days
we were there. George and I looked round a bit , saw the Houses of Parliament, museum, glorious
gardens, luxurious trees, pretty birds, squirrels. There were free refreshments at the Methodist
canteen. Sent a cable home. Then a young lady invited George and me to go to dinner. Her parents,
Mr & Mrs Heunis, were waiting with a posh car and drove us out to the suburbs. The next day we
were given instructions to go out there again on the bus and they took us for a glorious drive right
round the peninsula. First view of the Indian Ocean. It was magnificent scenery. I noted seeing
locusts, zebras, natives carrying things on their heads. Every car we saw had soldiers in. A fine
country, and yet as we looked down from the Strathallan's deck on to the quay, there was a glimpse
of the way Cape coloureds, as they were known as in those times, were looked upon as second
class citizens.. A group of them during their lunch break from work were squatting down
eating chicken bones from a communal cardboard box.
Sun Apr 20, We were off again. The man who loosed the moorings was loudly booed. We didn`t
want to go. Table Mountain still in sight at nightfall. A plane dipped to salute us.
The next few days were spent avidly reading all the magazines which had been given to us, then
exchanging or bartering them. We rounded the Cape and travelled North. We kept out of sight of land
but still saw a few birds, including albatross. Again there were flying fish and porpoises to look out
for. As we moved up over the Equator Father Neptune paid us another visit. All the time we were
surmising where we were heading for. Trivial incidents broke the monotony - a ship on the horizon...a
change of position in the convoy….a few bursts of gunfire, probably aimed at some big fish... red
seaweed floating on the sea... Eventually there was a change of direction. The mainland came in sight
and we moved through the straights of Aden and up the Red Sea.
Mon May 5, Great experience. Read Exodus 19 and 20 in sight of Sinai.
At Aden there was a great conglomeration of ships, among them the Queen Mary and Queen
Elizabeth, which were pressed into service as troop carriers, Arabs came alongside in their
flowing robes selling wallets, leather goods etc. The temperature was 109 in the shade. The next
few days were spent waiting about but on Sunday May 11 we were crowded on to lighter barges
(with everyone bleating like the sheep we felt we were). Our long voyage was over.
It was a sad day when I heard that the Strathallan was sunk off the North Africa coast.

'This story was submitted to the People’s War site by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Merseyside’s People’s War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.