大象传媒

Sea Cruises on the House #1.
Liverpool - Algiers

I have been particularly fortunate in never having to pay for a real Sea Cruise, it has been my good fortune to cruise the Atlantic 鈥� The Mediterranean 鈥� and the Adriatic 鈥� twice, without anyone 鈥� at any time mentioning the cost and how much I am supposed to pay, for these wondrous sea adventures.
The first cruise was from the Embarkation Docks of Liverpool with the majestic Liver Building overlooking the scene as we passed heading for no specific destination that anyone was aware.

Our quarters were not what could be called luxurious by any measure as sixty six of us were allocated an area which had to be very close to the bottom of the SS Franconia, which in other days sailed the world as a Luxury Liner ! The moment the engines started and the ship began to move it was made very apparent that only a sheet of steel separated us from three large whirling propellers with all the accompanying noise and shudders. Later we were to find that as these three propellers came out of the water at the top of a 50 foot high wave, they made an even louder noise which we learned from an Irishman was akin to the noise of a Banshee. We could only take his word for this new found knowledge with an inner memo not to go anywhere near Ireland and it鈥檚 Banshee鈥檚.

The first night was accompanied by a series of curses and other questionable language as various members found themselves falling out of the Hammocks which were to be our beds for the duration of the voyage. The night passed slowly and sleepless ! The dawn brought even more noises as everyone on the entire ship was looking for somewhere to wash and do other necessary duties invariably performed on waking. Two men had been detailed to look after the acquisition, and sharing of food, which was quite good with a small loaf of white bread per man, this was indeed luxury and a welcome change from the dull grey 鈥渂read鈥� we had been accustomed to elsewhere. On clearing up it was decided that we should try and see what the weather was like and so began a long trek up innumerable stairs until finally we reached the top and took a deep breath of fresh air which had been missing all night long. To my surprise I smelled Scotland and sure enough we were in fact sailing up the Clyde to our place awaiting the assembly of a convoy.

The rest of the day was spent in Boat drills and just leaning over the rails watching people go about their normal tasks, until just as we were again fighting with the hammocks, we were moving once more.

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This movement was serious as we were surrounded by many other ships all of whom appeared to be cracking jokes amongst them selves as the asdic lamps were going full blast all around us. It was now time to start the fight once more with the hammocks and try for some sleep which had evaded us the previous night. All night the propellers lulled us to some form of sleep when were rudely awakened by the ship doing a conga and the propellers
doing their banshee imitation. It was now clear that we had left the peaceful waters surrounding Britain and were in the North Atlantic. The voyage then continued with daily boat drills 鈥� lectures 鈥� P.T. as long as the ship was relatively level, and has been the subject of many tales. This voyage was nothing exceptional and after 12 days of eating three men鈥檚 meals per day I was in no shape to do much PT.

One midnight we approached land and saw a strange sight of a whole town all lit up and vying with what Blackpool was prior to the war, on the opposite land was another town equally all lit up which we estimated was somewhere in Morocco. All arguments were silenced as to our destination with these sightings as fairly soon the massive black hulk of Gibraltar appeared on our left pointing us in the direction of trouble, and war !

Somehow the sea had been flattened out and I was as sick as the proverbial dog for the two days it took to reach Algiers, which was a picture with the scorching sun highlighting the multi coloured houses on the hills behind the City. Sometime during the day as we awaited our dis-embarkation
Both the Ship and the wind changed around and we were struck by the awful stench wafting out to us some five miles out at sea. It was unbelievable but only too true!

This stench was enhanced as we moved in to dis-embark in full battledress with all our packs and kit bags in 90 degrees of oppressive heat, to the point that we would have done anything to escape the smell. The Officer who met us fully understood our feelings and informed us that the quicker we moved on the better in order to breathe some fresh country air and followed this with the instruction that we had only to march ten miles to our transit camp to fill our lungs with fresh air !
How he survived is one of life鈥檚 abiding mysteries.

-- 3 --
Sea Cruise on the House # 2
Bone - Naples
This was a cruise from the City of Bone 鈥� now Anabba in Algeria to Naples in Italy, a fairly short 鈥� possibly one day travel. The only recollection I have of this was the dis- embarkation along the side of an upturned freighter with insecure hand railings. On hand was a newsreel cameraman who was taking pictures of various people who turned away as I approached and spent a lot of film on an alarm clock hanging from the big pack of the chap in front of me ! The next memory I have is of two small barefooted urchins singing 鈥淎mapola鈥� as a welcome to Italy and that鈥檚 it !
That was the last of my free Sea Cruises !

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