大象传媒

LIFE ON AN M. T.B

The first ship I served on was an Assault Vessel. There were no purpose-built assault ships for the landings on North Africa. H.M.S. Karanja was a large merchant ship, commandeered by the Navy and converted for the purpose of landing troops. I joined the ship with several other signalmen but we were rather mystified when we were told we were not part of the ship's company but were to be the ship's signaling staff.It was not until we were under way that we were told the ship was to take part in the North African landings and we were,in fact S.N.O.L. staff .So we were to be attached the Senior Naval Officer (Landing), 'without knowing who he was and what our duties might be! We landed our troops at Bougie, in North Mica, anchored in the bay, and at dawn the following day the ship was sunk by German planes. Thus ended my first voyage in a Royal Naval vessel.
Two years later I was drafted to a Motor Torpedo Boat that was lying at Holyhead. Now the coxswain of very small ships is the kingpin; he has complete control of all the crew, arranges watches, allocates duties, and is in charge of the duty free cigarettes. If you full foul of him he can make your life a misery. He was a Liverpool-Irishman and for some reason he took a dislike to me at first sight. I got on well enough with the rest of the crew but the fact was that they had gelled as a body and saw no reason why a signalman should join their ranks; they had managed well enough without one in the past, and what would he do anyway, except add to an already over- crowded situation on' the mess deck? The coxswain ensured that my stay on that ship was not a happy one but he provided me with the happiest memory of the ship. We were tied up three abreast at the quay at Yarmouth. We were the outermost boat and the fenders of the innermost boat had become dislodged because of a fall in the tide. The only way these could be replaced was for us to push away from the quay with a long boat hook. Members of the crew were on the foredeck pushing with all their might under _ the direction of the coxswain but to no avail, so he took his place in front of the others who were pushing the pole, to add weight to the effort. Suddenly the pole snapped in two with a resounding crack; those pushing surged forward and the coxswain who was at the front went straight over the side into the river! Even now the event makes me smile. I did not get my own back on this nasty character but how the mighty were fallen!
There was just one occasion when I had my moment of glory. We were doing our usual East Coast patrol but on this occasion we had to rendezvous with a destroyer at dead of night when no lights could be shown. It was I, with a very dim signal, lamp who exchanged identities with the destroyer and read an instructional signal, which I reported to my captain while the rest of the crew watched in absolute silence, and I think, amazement.

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