大象传媒

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"OCEAN NEWS"
May 29th 1942 - July 24th 1942
Sir Hugh Cudlipp's shortest lived newspaper

The Santa Rosa was one of four sister ships to enter service out of New York in 1932, described in glowing terms in the promotional literature put out by the owners.
"These deluxe Grace Line ships maintaining regular cruises to the Caribbean and South America - were built especially for warm weather cruising. They have all outside staterooms each with private bath; public rooms all on the promenade deck where there is ample light and air; dining rooms with roll-back domes; clubs with orchestras; and outdoor tiled swimming pools and Beach Decks".
Built to accommodate 300 first class passengers the Santa Rosa became home to 2,400 British soldiers as a troop carrier in 1942, in convoy to the Middle East.

The youngest editor of the Sunday Pictorial, who was destined to become Chairman of the Daily Mirror Group, Lieutenant Hugh Cudlipp, recently posted to the Royal Cinque Ports, 5th Battalion of the Royal East Sussex Regiment, was appointed ship's Entertainments Office on the day they set sail for Egypt, May 28th 1942. He immediately befriended the American Purser, who had remained on board to protect the interest's of his employers and owners of this magnificent cruise ship. Within hours Hugh was rummaging through the bowels of the ship, retrieving, paper, ink and, most importantly, a printing press. Discovering that he had no fewer than six newspaper compositors in the ranks Hugh, (later Sir Hugh) was able to produce the first edition of the "Ocean News" the very next day.

May 29th 1942 also happened to be the day Diane Purcell was born, although it would be nearly 5 years before she would meet her father, John Purcell, the Orderly Room Sergeant aboard the Santa Rosa. It was this position that enabled 'Perce' to collect every edition of this daily publication, which he was to carry in his kitbag throughout the entire war. Present at El Alemain and the Palestinian uprisings in Lebanon. Training in the mountain's of Iraq, for a potential Italian campaign, and later acclimitising for the possibility of embarking for the Far East before Japan capitulated in August 1945. Still in their original file, albeit now somewhat tattered, these 47 issues of the "Ocean News" tell a unique story of life aboard a troop carrier in the Second World War.

News from the various fronts that Hugh Cudlipp gathered by spending hours crammed in to the radio operator's quarters was rarely good. There were defeats and set backs in the allied campaigns in Europe and the Far East. Even the Middle East, to where they were sailing, seemed firmly in the grip of the Germans. Fulfilling his role as Entertainments Officer did enable Hugh to temper the daily bulletins with light relief, plays and pantomimes, a nightly schedule of radio programmes featuring the likes of Victor Sylvester's band and 大象传媒 plays featuring Jack Warner. The instruments abandoned by the ship's orchestra when the vessel was commissioned soon found their way into the hands of many accomplished musicians in the troops, enabling the daily 'dances' to be revived.

On July 23rd 1942, the day before disembarkation and the very last issue of the paper, Hugh Cudlipp published a "Special Souvenir Edition" carrying the morale boosting front page headline: BRITISH ADVANCE - ROMMEL HELD UP. This welcome news was accompanied by a rare colour photograph, uncovered by the Purser, showing the Santa Rosa in happier times, with bathing suited young women gathered around the pool, with the caption: "The ladies are rather pleasing too!".

OTHER INTERESTING DOCUMENTS

In addition to the entire set of "Ocean News", John Purcell also has souvenir editions of other army papers produced in the Middle East for both VE Day and VJ Day. But
perhaps the most interesting is the hand written letter from Winston Churchill. On August 15th 1945 Perce sent a telegram from their base in the Middle East to:
WINSTON CHURCHILL, CHARTWELL, WESTERHAM KENT.
YOUR CINQUE PORTS BATTALION SENDS GREETINGS ON THE OCCASION OF THE TOTAL VICTORY ACHIEVED UNDER YOUR INSPIRED LEADERSHIP
Winston Churchill replied personally, in his own handwriting. This signed letter, together with the well travelled envelope in which it arrived, remains with that unique collection of newspapers from one of Britian's foremost journalists, Sir Hugh Cudlipp.
TV PROGRAMME
It is our intention to produce a docu-drama of this story for television broadcast.
TIM PURCELL - PRODUCER
COMPLETEACCESSTV .COM
P.O. Box 6113 LEIGHTON BUZZARD
BEDS LU0 0UW
tim.purcell@completeaccesstv.com
01296 682175 - 07939 541337

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