- Contributed byÌý
- ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Foyle
- People in story:Ìý
- Jack Sheard
- Location of story:Ìý
- Derry, Halifax and Liverpool
- Background to story:Ìý
- Royal Navy
- Article ID:Ìý
- A8977819
- Contributed on:Ìý
- 30 January 2006
Jack Sheard
This story is taken from an interview with Jack Sheard, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interview was by Deirdre Donnelly, and transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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I was on a corvette from Derry, HMS Salmonbank. Escort duties on convoys to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. It was rough at the time.
We used to come in, resupply and pick convoys up. Not a lot of time ashore. We tied up in Derry, on the quay and there was a pub. It’s all redeveloped now.
Couple of days in, then off again.
V rough seas and a feeling of danger all the time. Corvettes were a hard ride. I was wet through all the time. 3 wks escort duties, sometimes you never got in to port at all.
the U-boats were a curse, one ship was torpedoed. HMS Burbane. The corvettes were 900 ton — just shells could sink you, really, when they hit the ship just folded up, there’d be very few survivors on these occasions.We got through it.
[The first sight of Ireland from the Atlantic?]
It were lovelly! I’ll always remember coming up. The starboard side … Inishowen, Donegal. The bum-boats came with poteen. We used to get the bottles and trade cigs. The men weren’t allowed aboard ship, they passed it up and we passed stuff down. Tobacco and stuff.
Perhaps a week or so in St Johns, the same in Halifax. Re-stored and re-provisioned. Then we picked up convoys from the USA and escorted them to Liverpool. Albert dock, Liverpool.
Sometimes down to Gib rock on escort duty.
[Any girls?]
I was too shy.
It was more free. In Albert Dock in Liverpool, where the Corvettes went. They were small, you could get in and on to shore. Sometimes we had to go to Gladstone dock, where the Customs were. Carrying stuff through, contraband.
In Albert dock we knew the guy there. Coming over we used to save the rum, neat, in sauce bottles. At Albert dock we gave him the rum. US nylons, tobacco and all, we could get it through. Unfortunately he got tippled and caught one night!It was agood life but a hard one. I was glad when it was over but i missed the lads.
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