大象传媒

A month after Dunkirk, my father came back from France; he was ex Highland division. He tells my mother that she must go to Australia with me and be safe as he thought England would be invaded having seen all the German army in action in France.
4 days later, on 3rd July 1940, we were on a ship from Southampton. 6 hours out of Gilbraltar the ship picked up 2 boat loads of torpedoed Greek sailors, and we landed them at Gibraltar. There I watched Admiral Somerville's fleet (flag in HMS Hood with Valiant, Ark Royal, 3 cruisers and 10 destroyers) having just blasted the French fleet in Oran to prevent them from being captured by the Germans. On the day this happened it was my 13th birthday and I found it very exciting. My mother was very scared; she never undressed in case the ship was torpedoed in the night. We then sailed to Sydney via Capetown and Freemantle, where I spent 18 months in Australian secondary schools being teased as a Pommy. The return journey was in April 1942 after the Japanese forces had arrived in New Guinea just north of Australia. The American soldiers were pouring into Australia. Mother decided we needed to go back to England; my Australian Uncle was furious. We travelled back through the Pacific through the Panama canal having avoided Japanese submarines. This time our ship had 3 heavy guns on the stern. The American security put a telephone line from the bridge to the engine room to duplicate alpl orders. We arrived at Glasgow in thick fog to be met by my father.

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