大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People鈥檚 War website by Anne Wareing of the Lancashire Home guard on behalf of Frank William Bickley and has been added to the site with his permission.

It was April 9th 1943 when I joined the S.S. Manchester Citizen which at the time was loading a cargo of war materials for British troops in North Africa. We accompanied the freight and commenced our journey along the vast industrial surroundings of the Manchester Ship Canal leading to the convoy, which would take its fare to the impending war zone in Africa.

A deceptively straightforward voyage soon transformed when approaching the Mediterranean where action stations were called upon until we reached its coast and the Citizen eventually docked. In the course of discharging the ship鈥檚 cargo the captain received orders to transport four thousand German and Italian prisoners of war to Gibraltar where upon arrival they would be sent to Canada and America.

On completion of the duty, which required two crossings our convoy left Gibraltar on July 7th 1943 embarking on what would become an ill fated journey and the Citizen鈥檚 last. Our intended destination, the west coast of Africa, where a general cargo was awaiting collection, to be despatched in England was not to be. At the approximate stroke of midnight on July 9th Manchester鈥檚 S.S.Citizen and associate French passenger ship were torpedoed by an Italian submarine in a little more than a moment of time. There was scarce opportunity to recover a life jacket when the horrifying magnitude of damage from the impact was revealed; the ship was heeled over on one side, its stern completely destroyed. A momentary glance at the crew鈥檚 living quarters depicted a scene which could only be described as a devastating loss of life.

The damage of course was irreparable and so the captain gave orders to abandon ship. Problems were encountered when trying to launch the vessel鈥檚 lifeboats but unrelenting efforts to loosen restricted ropes using a chef鈥檚 knife allowed for their crucial launch. Once our boats were in the water it was necessary to descend along the scramble nets in order to reach them, but halfway down I fell and injured my leg. Despite this, however time was of the essence and eventually just two solitary lifeboats were at a distance substantial enough to observe the Citizen sink below the hostile depths.

It would take no less than fourteen restless hours to be rescued by a French naval ship known as The Destroyer, which transported its collective to the port of Lagos. On arrival our group was escorted to a medical centre and examined by a doctor, then transferred to a military camp supplying food and attire; the British Army鈥檚 uniform which was absent of buttons for reason of us being merchant seamen and not official members of His Majesty鈥檚 Forces. The following day our assembly was marshalled to a camp situated ten miles into the African jungle, a unit of the first West African Rifle Regiment. We would be stationed there for three months awaiting passage to England, but in the course of this interlude I was detailed to join a ship requiring a cook, the S.S. Dahomian.

The liner was docked at Freetown en route to collect cargo from a number of African ports before sailing back to England; the duration of which, a mere three weeks. Once the Dahomian disembarked on the British coast I commenced a short journey home to Manchester where survivors leave allowed for just a transient rest before joining the crew of a new ship on which I would remain for the next eight months.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.