大象传媒

If you look at the map of the Med. You will see that the route from Gibraltar to Alexandria has to pass through the narrow Straits of Pantelleria between Tunis and Sicily. The Germans had their bombers based in Tunis and the Italians on Sicily and in Southern Italy so it was on approaching the Straits - through it - and for a short period after that the convoy was most vulnerable.
Ray, Curly and I were part of a team responsible for supplying shells to the Starboard 1 4.5 twin gun turret. As the shells weighing nearly 60 lbs came up from the armoury on electric hoist they were then put on a previously erected conveyor belt and manually pushed along until reaching just outside the turret. Being the shortest I was allocated that position and as the shells reached me my job was to push them into the hole made in the turret every time I saw the previous one taken by a member of the Gunnery crew.
When the first Action Station alarm sounded off over the Tannoy very early one morning we quickly donned our anti-flash gear and light life belts and took up our stations. As I crouched down just outside the turret I could feel my heart pounding and felt a little afraid not knowing what to expect. I soon found out when the first salvo was fired and completely unprepared for the sound blast I must have jumped back several feet but then very quickly kept busy keeping the Gunnery crew supplied.
Our job on the Q.E. was to put up an umbrella of fire from the 16 4.5 guns over the convoy from our position in the middle - the smaller armaments concentrating on specific targets. Wave after wave of German bombers based in Tunis attacked concentrating mainly on the merchant ships and tankers. The first attack went on for nearly two hours and we became wet with perspiration and found it difficult to breathe freely due to the cordite fumes from the turret. Now and again we felt a jolt when we had a near miss. They attacked most of that day off and on and during the brief 鈥渙ff鈥� spells drinks and sandwiches were brought to us - I do not remember going to the toilet but I suppose I must have done. When finally nightfall came the attacks ceased and we were so tired we slumped down where we were to rest. But no sooner had we seemed to have done so Action Stations sounded off again and this time we had to repel the attacks from Italian torpedo bombers based in Sicily and it was nearly dawn before the attacks ceased. How we managed to carry on I will never know but somehow one just did. For the next two days that was the pattern - daylight attacks by the German bombers and night time by the Italians until we were finally clear of the Straits.
The Captain then informed us that although we had lost some ships the majority of the convoy, albeit several damaged, were still with us. Some of the escort vessels then left us to take a section of the convoy to Malta whilst we carried on to Alexandria.
On arrival Admiral Cunningham came aboard the following day and congratulated us for being so successful and to pass on a similar message from General Montgomery for getting vital supplies through for his 鈥淒esert Rats鈥� as he called them.
After a very welcome run ashore looking very smart in our new tropical kit we then had a very busy time replenishing our stores that the Boss had found and obtained from the local traders and from the small local N.A.A.F.I. Warehouse. The crew being similarly busy replenishing food, water and fuel.
When ashore Ray and Curly usually went swimming somewhere, whereas either sometimes on my own, or with Lofty, I usually found somewhere nice to eat and usually finished up at a night club arriving back aboard in the early hours next morning. My favourite was the Kit Kat club where they let me play the drums!
People have often said to me things like 鈥淲hat did you think of the Pyramids ?鈥� or 鈥淒id you visit the wonderful Museum in Cairo ?鈥� yet the average sailor did none of these things. All he wanted after returning from an arduous convoy trip was a good few nights untroubled sleep, a few relaxing runs ashore with his mates to enjoy a nice meal (although food was good on board - albeit predictable), a few pints and perhaps some female company, but not sight seeing.
There was a Royal Naval Fleet Club in Alex. where you could get ice cold Stella beer and where they played Tombola when the Fleet was in. Thinking now of the dear old ladies playing their Bingo at home - at the Fleet Club practically every number had a nick-name, and the numbers were also called out so rapidly that by the time the ladies picked up their pens to play - the game would have been over !
For the next 18 months we took part in several more convoys and assisted in the evacuation of Crete when invaded by the Germans. The other two capital warships with us were H.M.S. Valiant and H.M.S. Barham. When en route to pick up a convoy one day the 鈥淏arham鈥� received a direct hit amidships from three torpedoes from an Italian submarine. There was no warning and I just happened to be on the upper deck when it happened and heard someone shout out 鈥淟ook at the 鈥淏arham !鈥� and we could see she was obviously in trouble and almost stationary, then suddenly listed to Starboard and even from some distance I could see some of the crew abandoning the ship then again, very suddenly she blew up and I saw one of the huge 15鈥� Turrets, complete with its twin guns, briefly silhouetted against the sky before crashing down into the sea. In just 7 minutes she was gone. I just stood there transfixed with horror for several minutes and to this day I will never forget it. For the rest of the trip there was no sound of laughter and everything was carried out very quietly on board. Up to then we had a sort of sense of security but it had now been rudely shattered. We heard later that approximately a quarter of the crew were saved but over 600 went down with her, many of them known by our own crew.
I was just passing one of the 4.5 Turrets one day when it suddenly fired although I did not recall Action Stations being sounded. The blast put my left ear out of action for about a week and I only regained partial hearing in it afterwards.
Mail from home was a rare commodity as unfortunately a high proportion got lost in transit but I treasured each letter received, at that time written on 鈥淎irgraph鈥� reduced in size, usually written by Dad who had a very neat hand. It was so nice to get news from home as we had no idea what was happening on the home front and perhaps just as well we did not. I used to find a quiet corner and read it several times and sometimes just feel a little homesick. Round about the end of January, 1942, I was told a parcel had arrived for me. The circular package looked a bit battered but I eagerly opened it to find a mouldy birthday cake and a card - I am afraid the cake found a watery grave but I did appreciate the thought. They did not know it would take nearly 4 months to reach me !
For the whole time we were in Alex. Harbour the weather never changed, monotonous blue skies every day and I would cheerfully have given a months pay for just one cool, wet day - still it enabled me to tan to a dark brown which stayed for quite some time after we left.
One of the perks sailors enjoyed on board ship, besides their daily issue of rum was to purchase at Duty Free prices cigarettes and tobacco from the Canteen. So for an old 6d you could have 20 Players or Senior Service and for 4d 20 Woodbines. The Boss let us have them free but in moderation. Towards the end of our stay in Alex. normal supplies began to get scarce and we had to rely a lot on local traders.
After returning off a convoy trip early one morning and as I was sleeping on the floor of the Goffer shop, I was rudely awoken by a loud bang vibrating the ship and shaking loose the large Oxygen cylinder which crashed down on my right foot. The 鈥渂ang鈥� was caused by two Italian one-man submarines breaching the harbour defences and attaching Limpit mines to our bottom hull, blowing a hole 50 ft by 30 ft causing us to settle on the sea bed. The same happened to the 鈥淰aliant鈥� putting both ships temporarily out of action.
I was taken to the 64th General Hospital in Alex. where they somehow managed to put my badly broken foot back together again - I reckoned myself very lucky it was my foot which was damaged and not my head. Whilst I was in hospital the Q.E. was put into a large floating dock where the damage was temporarily repaired and the hole covered up with a steel plate. Towards the end of my hospital stay, a small group of us were invited to the residence of the Chief of Police, very palatial in its own grounds, and given a very nice tea. Also whilst there we had a little go on the Bowling Green they had - the first game of Bowls I played. We could not manage the tennis !
Earlier during our stay in Alex. when going ashore alone shortly after we arrived, I found a very nice Greek restaurant just off Mohammed Ali square and became a regular customer. Just opposite was a stationery shop which I used occasionally and got to know the Greek owner Haig Avatis and also his pretty sister - no, I did not manage to take her out as being only 17 I did not pluck up enough courage to ask her !
The repair completed on the Q.E. the call went out for all walking wounded to return, including some from other ships in the Fleet - so with the aid of crutches I managed to get up the gangway to return to lighter duties in the Goffer shop instead of the Canteen and made sure the replaced Oxygen cylinder was very well secured !
At dawn one morning in May/June, 1942, we sailed out of Alex. Harbour and proceeded through the Suez Canal en route around the Cape to Capetown. There was a recreational area with tables and chairs by the Goffer shop and some of the Royal Marine bandsmen who had been wounded used to get together some evenings and have a Jazz Session, and I used to enjoy myself using the metal draining board to beat to their rhythms.
We did not run into any trouble en route to Capetown and arrived safely with our destroyer escort. We found Capetown a beautiful place, and during our short stay there one of the residents stopped his car and took us up to the top of Table Mountain where the view was fantastic and then to his home for refreshments. On another occasion we were returning to the ship one evening when we heard some dance music and going into the dance hall we found all the dancers were coloured. Blissfully unaware whites were not welcome we had a couple of drinks at the bar - but when I got one of the girls to dance with me I noticed one or two funny looks from the men so we decided not to dally any longer !
It was with reluctance we left Capetown to be informed we were going to Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. to get a proper repair done on our damaged hull and we had a practice abandoning ship routine in case we ran into rough weather across the South Atlantic and our temporary repaired plate came loose but luck was with us and we arrived safely.
Shortly after arrival I was given 10 days leave and was told arrangements had been made for me to spend it with an American family in Washington D.C.
My host and hostess were Grover and Annabel Hartman who had only been married a few weeks and proved to be the most hospitable and kind people that I have ever met - in fact, we remained lifetime friends. My stay with them was a very enjoyable experience, I was entertained in the kindest manner and sleeping in a bed again with sheets was just one of the luxuries I appreciated during my leave.
Norfolk, Virginia dockyard and also ashore was a pretty rough place and with the ship crawling with workmen and constant noise, I was not unhappy when I was told I was going to be sent to a shore base on the east coast of New Jersey. I still left with mixed feelings at leaving what had been my home for over 18 months. Before I actually went to the shore base, which obviously was not quite ready, I was sent to New York to stay in a Servicemens residence and had a nice rest there for a couple of weeks - during my stay I was invited to spend Thanksgiving weekend with a rather wealthy American family. They celebrated it in some style and mine host introduced me to the American Highball. A generous measure of Three Roses Rye Whisky, topped up with Canadiian Dry served in a very nice cut glass with ice, which I understandably acquired a taste for during my stay in the States.
Then I received instructions to travel to Asbury Park, a seaside town approximately 60 miles due south of New York on the East coast in New Jersey, where I found that we had been loaned two adjacent medium sized hotels as a transit camp to provide temporary accommodation for Royal Naval personnel from the U.K. prior to them being drafted to crew the new warships being built in the U.S.A. to replace the ones we had lost on the Atlantic convoys. With the Chief there were about 6 of us to run a large Canteen and a smaller one selling stationery, souvenirs, etc. The shore base was named H.M.S. Asbury and whilst there I was promoted up to a Leading Hand (entitled to wear a hook (anchor) on my left sleeve) and a nice increase in my wages and the Chief put me in charge of the smaller stationery shop. Every two weeks a batch of personnel would arrive and be given ten dollars each straight away which the majority promptly spent on some of the approximately 20 brands of ice cream we had in stock! Having been allocated their ships they would then depart to make way for the next intake, so we were kept pretty busy. Every Tuesday evening the Chief paid for us to enjoy ourselves at the local Ten-pin bowling club. There was a very good cinema there showing previews of the latest films and the one I particularly remember was Bing Crosby in 鈥淲hite Christmas鈥� and coming out feeling a bit homesick. After 18 months in the Med. I was not acclimatised to winter conditions on the exposed east coast the States and had considerable trouble trying to keep warm - I think I used at least four blankets at night!
On New Years Eve, 1942, except for the Chief, we all travelled up to New York to join the celebrations. At 7 p.m. precisely in Jack Dempseys bar (a famous ex-boxer) on 42nd Street, we raised our glasses and drank to our folks back home, it being Midnight there. We then had a hectic night managing to get to Times Square in time just before Midnight, returning rather the worse for wear in the early hours of the morning to Asbury.

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