大象传媒

Continued from Part Two

There is just one thing which rather irks me; it is an entry in Ron Lewin's unofficial diary which makes me very envious of him and everyone else who was e on board H.M.S.Unicorn. It states:-

Thursday August 16th 1945 the 2nd day of celebrations has for us proved noteworthy in only one respect, namely the enjoyable dinner provided. The soup was quite common-place, but the main course of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and green peas was liberal (a whole turkey between nine of us), well cooked and a complete change from the usual monotony of meat. There followed Christmas pudding and finally a raw apple. The ship "piped down" during the morning.

WHERE THE HELL did they get such an abundance of good food? I think the best we had was a tin of Spam and dehydrated potatoes. Somebody somewhere owes us a Christmas dinner!

With reference to the end of the Pacific war. Sadly and in ways prophetically, Admiral Rawlings wrote, I have not seen the personal signals, or indeed seen all the official signals, but I am in no two minds about one thing; that the "fading out" of the task force and the manner in which this is being done is not only tragic, but is one which I would give much to avoid. To me, what is happening to its personnel and its ships seems to ignore their feelings, their sentiments and their pride; in so doing quite a lot is being cast away, for the Fleet accomplished something which matters immensely. I am not speaking of such enemy they met, nor of the difficulties they overcome, nor of the long periods at sea; I am speaking of that which was from the start our overriding and heaviest responsibility, the fact that we were in a position which was in most ways unique and was in any case decisive; for we could have lowered the good name of the British Navy in American eyes for ever. I am not certain that those at home have any idea of what these long operational periods mean, nor of the strain put on those in the ships, so many of whom, both officers and men, are mere children, for instance Leading Seamen of 19 years and Petty Officers of 21 years. When I look back on that which this untrained youth has managed to accomplish and to stick out, then I have no fear for the future of the Navy, provided, but only provided, that we handle them with vision and understanding, and that we recognise them for what they were and are people of great courage who would follow one anywhere, and whose keynote was that the word "impossible" did not exist. And so I question the wisdom of dispersing a fleet in the way in which it is now being done. At the very least there should have been taken home to England a token force somewhat similar to that which was left in the operating area with the American Fleet when the tanker shortage required the withdrawal of the greater part of the Task Force. It seems to me that here was a matter which could have been utilised. In a dignified and far reaching manner, the arrival in home waters of ships who had represented the Empire alongside their American Allies, and who were present, adding their not ineffective blow, at the annihilation of the Japanese Navy and the defeat of Japan.

It may well be that the days will come when the Navy will find it hard to get the money it needs. Perhaps then a remembrance of the return and the work of the British Pacific Fleet might of helped to provide a stimulus and an encouragement to wean the public from counter attractions and those more alluringly staged. The arrival home of a token force at the time of the Victory celebrations might have fixed the British Pacific Fleet more firmly in the public's memory. But it was not to be. In time the Fleet quietly faded away, with the result that the Far Eastern Fleets may have been the largest assemblies of Commonwealth ships in history, but, like the three old ladies locked in the lavatory, nobody knew they were there.

In 1995 Harry Bannister of the Ponam Association applied to the Pentagon on behalf of it's members for the American Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal in recognition of there service with the American Fleet. As from late 1997, after 52 years, the American Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal has been made available to all those who served in the British Pacific Fleet.

The possibility of pensions or medals, or reflections of a forgotten fleet were not on our minds as we prepared to leave Ponam for home. On the 20th of September 1945, H.M.S.Vindex was anchored off the sea loading line to the south of the island. Fortunately M.S.R.6 were to be one of the first units to leave. The Vindex which had set off from Java had on board hundreds of ex prisoners of war including some women internees. Several of the women were accompanied by young Japanese children and babies. These mothers had offered favours to Japanese officers in the prison camps in exchange for extra rations and medical care for sick and injured men. The hanger deck was full of stretcher cases of men suffering from the effects of treatment received at the hands of the Japanese. I have never seen such a sight of human suffering in all my life than that which I witnessed on that day. It made me realise how idyllic our lives had been in comparison, and that my youthful wish had actually come true: I had visited the island of my dreams in the South Pacific with its waving palms and blue lagoon. And as the golden sun sinks slowly in the west, we say farewell to that exotic paradise island of Ponam.

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