大象传媒

Lady Luck
Part five
When we got to the front there was a young girl about twenty years old tied to a lamp post stark naked. Her hair had been shaved off, and was laying in clumps on the ground; a couple of people were tarring and feathering her.
She was sobbing her heart out, I thought it was a bit much but the mob was in an ugly mood. It seems she had been collaborating with the Germans and had a German boy friend.
A few people suggested we visit the German Gestapo Headquarters in a forest, part way up a mountain. The four of us started walking up the hill towards the railway, we passed another mob round a lamppost, and some other young girl tied up naked paying for her past.
We continued upwards, when all of a sudden coming down the hill were two German soldiers armed with rifles, the war had only been over less than twenty-four hours, we wondered if they knew this. After a quick discussion we decided to carry on walking, on drawing level with the soldiers they gave us a smart salute and continued on there way, we did the same, and after a few backward glances we carried on.
Just up the road we came across the railway, the conductor was glad to see us and told us to鈥� get aboard, there鈥檚 no charge鈥� the train ascended the very steep track with wooden houses on each side, it was only a short ride but when we reached the end the view was beautiful.
The conductor pointed out the path we should follow; we entered the forest and walked for about three hundred yards when we came to a clearing. There were eight or so wooden huts surrounded by a barbwire fence, there was know sign of anybody so we went into the first hut.
Someone had obviously been there before us, there was masses of writing paper and envelopes scattered all over the place, we searched all the other huts but one, and all we found were a few pairs of nylons.
We went to the last hut, opened the door and there it was! The room was choc-a bloc with cases and cases of champagne, there must have been nearly fifty crates, four magnum bottles to a crate, 200 magnum bottles of the best champagne, and we did not have a cat in hells chance of getting it down half way up a mountain.
Even if we did we still had the problem of getting it aboard the ship, I do not think the Captain would have been impressed seeing fifty crates of Illegal booze on board his barque.
We tried carrying two crates each, but even they were too heavy, we finish up with one crate apiece.
As we were staggering back to the railway, I swear I saw a tear roll down our stern sheets man Geordie's face. When we got back to the barque we put the crates in the stern and, and covered them up with the boat cover. The Captain never suspected a thing.
We got back to the ship and waited until it got dark, threw the crates overboard, and smuggled the bottles aboard in buckets, that night 16 mess had champagne for supper.
The next day when we went ashore the ships company were invited to a reception and received free champagne, the Norwegians had been up the mountain and confiscated what was left of the bubbly and was giving it to the grew of H.M.S. Devonshire, alls well that ends well.
In return for the reception, on the 18th may 1945 the ships company gave a children's party on board the ship. There were hundreds children running about all over the place, we had fixed up,see-saws,slides,hoopla stalls, and aunt sally's, we used the Oerlikons as round- abouts.
A wire stretched from the bridge to the forecastle, with a small wooden plane attached, and was used as a slide, a favourite with the children. Chocolate was given as prizes, the band played on the quarterdeck. These children had never seen white bread or chocolate before, so for tea they had white bread and jam, cakes, ice cream, and chocolate.
We had a good write up in the Oslo newspaper 鈥淭he Aftenpost鈥�, a good time was had by all. Later on in the year the whole ships company was presented with signed certificates from King Haakon and the Norwegian people thanking us for helping in the liberation of Norway.
After staying in Oslo for three days, we steamed back up the Skagerrak, and then down the Kattegat, our next destination was Denmark. We were heading towards Copenhagen to escort the Prince Eugen and the Numberg two German battleships back to Wilhelm shaven in Germany.
The next day when we went ashore, everybody was asking for cigarettes. You could barter packets of fags for, camera's, binoculars, clocks, watches etc. Money was no good, we went to the Tivoli a sort of amusement park and had eggs and bacon for a packet of cigarettes.
On the way back to the ship we went to a dive on the waterfront, full of prostitutes and villains, we only went in for a beer and there was a near riot among them clamouring for cigarettes. We got out of there a bit sharpish.
We sailed out of Copenhagen with the two German battleships, we had orders to keep our guns cocked and loaded as the German ships still had there ammunition on board, but we safely delivered them back to Germany, where they were disarmed.
Our next port of call was Plymouth; we entered Plymouth sound and tied up in Devonport dockyard. The ships company was due some leave, which we had. On returning to the ship, we were kitted out with tropical gear.
The ship was going to become a troopship, taking new recruits out and bringing personal due to be demobbed back. Our destination was Sydney, Australia, going across the Bay of Biscay, down the Atlantic Ocean to Gibraltar.
We steamed through the Mediterranean Se a to Malta, onto Port Said. Through the Suez Canal and Red Sea with deserts all round. We sailed cross the Arabian Sea to India, stopping at Bombay for a couple of days. Buying and sending tea home at Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Then down the Indian Ocean to Freemantle in Australia, visiting Perth, sailing once more across the Indian Ocean, through the turbulent Great Australian Bight. Into the Tasman Sea, then round to Sydney. It took us about a month to get there.
Our first lot of passengers were a mixture of all the armed forces. The ship left Devonport and picked up a convoy, including the Queen Mary that was going to pick

up the A.I.F. sixth division (Australians) from the Middle East and take them home to Australia; we were picking up and putting down personal all over the place.
After being on Russian convoys, sailing out east was a pleasure, the sun was shining all day; we walked around in only a pair of shorts and sandals.
We used to sleep on the upper deck on camp beds; the biggest draw back was the cockroaches.
There were thousands of them, quite often when you were having your dinner one would plop down in your plate, and you flicked it off with your spoon onto the deck and put your foot on it.
They were all over the bulkheads (walls) and deck heads (ceiling), we tried fumigating them, but they returned in a couple of days.
One of the benefits of the job was the rum ration, when the army or royal air force personal joined the ship; they were entitled to draw their tot of rum. However, once we left the harbour, the ship started pitching and rolling, most of them were seasick, and drinking rum was not there first priority.
The crew took full advantage of the situation, so did this sailor. I have never drunk so much rum in all my life.
On our first voyage to Sydney, we anchored in the harbour near the bridge. The duty Officer piped away the Captains barque; we manned the boat and took him ashore, and had about a five-hour wait. So we went on a tour of the sights, we visited Luna Park, Bondi Beach, Sydney Zoo; we went under the famous Sydney Bridge.
We also stopped and chatted to all the Shelia's on the harbour wall.
After four hours we were getting short of fuel, so we had to dash back to the ship for some diesel oil, we used that motor boat for our own pleasure more than the Captain did.
On the second trip we were about fifty miles out from Port Said, when we got a S.O.S. from the steamship Empire Patrol, she was on fire, on board were 567people of whom 513 were Greek refugee's returning from camps in Abyssinia (Ethiopia). There were other ships in the area all picking up survivors. We also rescued several of them. After sweeping the sea in ever-increasing circles and not finding any more survivors, we continued on our way to Port Said.
A while later the lookout spotted something in the water. As we got nearer we could make out a young boy about 10 years old clinging to a carley float only six foot square, we picked him up and gave him a bath and a good meal. After a few hours, he was running around the ship, none the worse after his adventure.
There are not many 10-year-old black boys who can say they've been sailing on a 8鈥� cruiser.
When we got to Sydney Australia on our second trip I went ashore with Andy a Scotsman, Andy was into all the fiddles going, he used to run an Illegal crown and anchor game every time we went into port.
He had the game printed on a piece of cloth so that if the shore patrol came along he just folded it up and stuck it down his trousers. He made loads of money especially when they were all drunk, he also got a lot of trouble with people turning nasty if they lost, but you did not mess with Andy he could look after himself.
Ceylon had its own gold and diamond mines, so jewellery was cheap to buy, Andy used to go ashore with about three hundred pounds and buy just one diamond ring that he smuggled back to Scotland and sold for four times the price that he had paid for It.
There was a shortage of cigarettes even in Australia, on board we could buy fags for sixpence a packet (two and a half pence metric), and you were supposedly allowed one packet a day. Andy went around to all the non-smokers and bought their cigarette ration off them.
Andy and I went ashore in Sydney, he had a kit bag with him, we went to the centre of the town, and he picked the biggest and poshest club he could find. We went in and with me following behind, he went up to the bar and ordered two whiskies, he said to the barman, 鈥淚 want to see the boss鈥�, the barman called a bouncer over, he disappeared and came back with the boss.
We followed him through a corridor to a big posh office where Andy opened the kit bag and tipped about fifty cartons of cigarettes (200cigarettes to a carton) on to his desk.
After some discussion, a load of money changed hands then we followed the boss back to the bar, he said to the barman "give them what they want鈥� and we sat there all afternoon drinking whisky free of charge.
I do not know what would have happened if we had been caught with the duty free cigarettes in our possession.
I went to Australia and back three times, on the last trip as well as calling in all the usual places, we stopped at Aden to pick up some rating. Then on to Malta to take a prisoner on board, he was going home to be court marshalled for striking an Officer.
I was also going home to be de-mobilised, along with three other mates on 16 mess. For more than three years we had lived, worked, played, and been though some dangerous times together.
When we got to Plymouth those on the mess not on duty went to a pub in the town called 鈥淭he fellowship鈥� where we all got blind drunk.
The next day I was sent to a shore base in Torpoint, where I picked up my de-mob suit and railway warrant. Then I was on my way home. After nearly four years of boredom, adventure, and sailing the world, I was to become a civilian again.
H.M.S.NORFOLK was so badly damaged that she had a 11months refit and rejoined the home fleet in november 1944.sent to the scrapyard 19-01-1950.
H.M.S.DEVONSHIRE was used as a cadet training ship, and went to the scrap yard on the 10-12-1954.
16 mess consisted of leading Seaman P.Falconer; all the others were Able-Seaman, R.Seymour, D.Silvey, N.Parkinson, R.Noble, N.Moss, D. Craker, M.Newman, D.Roberts, R.Ford, H.Pegg, F.Street, G.Crankley, R.Piever, J.Williamson, and myself T.Hulbert. Printed 8th January 2003.

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