大象传媒

This is Michael Charnaud鈥檚 story: it has been added by Pauline Colcutt (on behalf of the Fernhurst Centre), with permission from the author who understands the terms and conditions of adding his story to the website.

An unusual and true story of a young boy who with his mother became a prisoner of both the Germans and the Japanese May 1942 - August 1945

CHAPTER 1 - A FATEFUL JOURNEY (PART TWO)

We had a small pokey cabin which although first class, was I suppose well appointed for a ship built in 1910 that was originally coal fired. There were two bunks one on top of the other, and being young and nimble I slept on top. Under the lower bunk and in a small cupboard we stowed our clothes for the voyage, the rest of our heavy metal cabin trunks were locked away in the ship鈥檚 hold which we visited occasionally. As we headed out from the shelter of Port Phillip into the open sea of the Great Australian Bight the wind rose to storm force and the seas became mountainous and stayed that way for a week whilst we battled against the gale towards Fremantle. The ships rivets continuously creaked and groaned , but I was told that it was a good thing as it showed flexibility and strength under adverse conditions, and certainly she was a tough well built ship as she dived through the enormous rolling breakers that engulfed the bows that always thankfully rose again. The cargo well decks and hatches were permanently awash with green water sliding over them, and even the main promenade deck skimmed barely a couple of feet over the sea on the lee or starboard side of the vessel. One morning when I was in the music room just below the bridge, a wave hit the port side of the ship, smashing both the protective angle of wooden weather shielding, and also the main door. Tables, chairs, a piano were all flung in a solid body of water to the other side of the vessel in absolute chaos. Curiously after the first day of feeling sick, I never suffered any more seasickness in spite of being aboard ships continually for the next three months. Never again during the rest of my life have I ever experienced a storm quite as severe as that one which seemed never ending. Mother took the storm stoically. She was more concerned with a body belt that she was making with little pockets to keep all her jewelry and trinkets, in case of being torpedoed and having to swim for it Most of the rest of the time she retired to her cabin and read..

Eventually a week later we entered the calm waters of Fremantle Harbour to spend three days and take aboard our final supplies and some extra passengers. Perth was in those days rather like a small English country town, with small Edwardian brick built banks, such as one might expect to see in a country town such as Dorchester today. Its very isolation from the busy east coast gave it an air akin to a quiet island cut off from the mainland by a sea of sand. Quite different to Melbourne which even in 1942 was a bustling city with over a million people. Finally at midday on Tuesday morning 5th May we set sail from Fremantle travelling at our full speed of 12 knots. For the first day the weather was rough and we had a corvette escort which tossed up and down in the heavy sea sometimes showing its rudder and propeller as it rose on the crest of a wave, but after that we were quite on our own sailing thankfully in fair conditions westwards towards Mauritius. Each morning after we left Fremantle Capt. Stratford made all the passengers and crew undergo full wartime emergency lifeboat drill. We all lined up by our allocated boat stations, each wearing our capok lifejackets, whilst detailed instructions were relayed over the tannoy of exactly what to do in the case of and enemy attack so it all became second nature to us...
Things were suddenly about to change, and on Sunday the 10th May I came up on deck at about 7 am into the bright sunshine, on a lovely calm day and was surprised by groups of people talking earnestly together.

鈥淲hat is going on, and why is everyone in a huddle?鈥� I enquired.

鈥� Well we spotted a plane flying very high at 10, 000 ft or so. We are all a bit worried and apprehensive and wonder whether it was from Mauritius, but that is about 1,000 miles away as is Ceylon and Sumatra. So the probability seems that is from an Aircraft Carrier either British or more worryingly Japanese鈥� The men continued talking and shaking their heads together looking glum and very serious.

I rushed round to find Mother in our cabin and told her about the plane, and she too was concerned and wisely told me to get some things together and keep them with me at all times. So even though the weather was very hot and calm, I collected a coat, a sweater, my hat and my kapok lifebelt all of which I kept by me all the time from then onwards even during the church service at 10 o鈥檆lock on deck and another repeat lifeboat drill afterwards. At midday Captain Stratford took a bearing and the ship was 27 . 03 South and 90.08 East.

After lunch Mother once again retired to her cabin whilst I joined two gentlemen, Mr G.P.Stewart ICS and a Mr . Walker who both were going to give me my first proper lesson in the tactics of chess, as prior to this I had merely been learning moves. We sat at a card table towards the port side of the music room, at almost the highest deck level and I faced aft as I concentrated intently on my moves with my life jacket and clothes bundle by my side. After a while at about 2.30 pm, I could hear a lot of commotion on deck, and one of the other younger boys Howard Guy rushed in to call me to come and see the plane which was now circling quite close. In fact I could clearly hear the noise of its engine, but as I rose to go, I was sternly held back by Mr Stewart who very calmly and firmly putting a hand on my shoulder pressed down and said.

鈥淛ust stay here and get on with the game my boy, I want to see your next move you are not going out now on deck鈥�.

Suddenly there was a deafening roar and the sound of machine guns firing .

鈥淣o time to waste Mike, quick get down flat and save your eyes above all鈥� I said to myself, and instantly flung myself on the floor with my eyes buried in my elbows whilst the cannon fire raked through the room in front and alongside of me. In spite of my eyes being covered I could still see a series of bright sky blue flashes all around and heard the ear shattering noise of the cannon shells exploding and ripping through the furniture. But my quick instinctive reaction in getting down flat undoubtedly saved me , as both my instructors sustained shrapnel wounds to their bodies, but I do have to thank them for keeping me inside instead of being on the open deck. There was a lull in the firing whilst the plane circled again and I ran down to the dining saloon as ordered that morning when we had all been exercised at 鈥淭ake Cover鈥� and 鈥淎ction Stations鈥�, after the plane had been sighted before Sunday Prayers on the Boat Station or promenade deck. By now I had put on my lifejacket and clutching my clothes I awaited Mother who moments later rushed down to join me.

鈥淭hank God you are here鈥� she gasped, 鈥淎s I ran across the deck carrying my lifejacket I passed two Lascars that had been killed, one poor chap with his entrails lying strewn across the deck, and blood everywhere which I had to leap over. Heaven knows what will happen now, but the thing now is just to try and be very cool and very calm if we are going to survive, and above all do not panic鈥� We were all now crammed into the dining room and awaited and listened to the noise all around. Here below decks all one could hear was a constant rattle of our Vickers anti aircraft guns aloft, and the steady heavy thud of our small 4.5鈥欌�� aft anti submarine gun which fired a total of 23 rounds . Suddenly at 3.05 pm there was an almighty crash and the whole ship shuddered from the explosion as we were hit on the Port Bow a few feet above the waterline by a large shell. Then there was a sudden quiet eerie stillness for a few minutes, whilst moments little later the ships foghorn sounded continuously adding still more drama. Then officers started rushing around, shouting orders in all directions, to cut the flags down, cease firing and all assemble at our Boat stations. Curiously whilst all this violent action was taking place I did not feel any sense of panic or even real fear, more a wonderment of what was going to happen next. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, people particularly the Indians and Chinese started moaning, babes were crying whilst others were just grabbing their things together with their families. Suddenly at 3.15 the order was given over the Tannoy to 鈥淎bandon Ship鈥�. Ships papers, codes, and other naval papers were dropped from the bridge overboard in a perforated steel box making a big splash, whilst orders in the engine room were given to commence scuttling the vessel. All the time whilst the whole action was taking place, distress messages were being transmitted on various frequencies from the start of the Arado seaplane attacking us, to when we ceased firing. On the first sweep by the plane as she had opened fire, something had dropped into the water, presumably a grappling hook to rip out the aerial, but the quick and vigorous response from our machine guns had forced it to fly a bit higher, and as a result transmissions were maintained continuously and were picked up in Ceylon..

Our lifeboat station was No1 forehead on the starboard side and we steadily made our way to it and stood in a quiet orderly group to await instructions. There were 8 boats in all, 4 on each side of the vessel each designed to carry 62 persons . In fact we had about 20 less and even then it was really overcrowded. Ours was the last to finally swing down from the davits to the promenade deck where we were standing, as we had Captain Stratford who wanted to be last to leave the ship. We all stood quietly waiting as the davits slid, and the boat was lowered level with our deck. Capt. Stratford had held us back in an orderly fashion and then he shouted briskly:
鈥� Come on now get into the lifeboats, women and children first鈥�
We climbed in without fuss and then he shouted:

鈥淟ower away 鈥� and the boat descended in a copy book manner into the fortunately calm sea. But even then he waited till the very end before finally clambering down a Jacob鈥檚 ladder and joining our boat sitting in the water, which then with long oars out we pulled away steadily from the listing ship. Suddenly we spotted the ships purser Mr Elsy in the water and rowed towards him, quickly picking him up, and then all oars were in a steady rhythm as we rowed away. There is nothing that one can really say or even put into words to honestly fully convey all ones surge of feelings when abandoning ship in the middle of a huge ocean in wartime. Until now I had no real sense of fear or panic whilst all the action had been taking place, but now alone in the water seeing our ship listing in the ever increasing distance and getting smaller by the minute, gave me a feeling of the most intense fear and foreboding as though my stomach was a complete void. I felt completely all alone, empty, vulnerable and ominous of our likely fate and just what the future held as I sat next to Mother in the bows of the boat. Then quick sudden calculations whirled and flashed chaotically through my head. I thought wildly to myself:

鈥� How far to the nearest land, 1500 miles or so? Then there was the condition of the boats, which had been built in 1910 and were described by one crew member as only being held together by the woodworm linking arms! How many of us , and who would die of starvation, dehydration and sunstroke before we were rescued? I am only a child, would I survive better or being frail be among the first to die in the blistering heat of the day and the cold of the night?鈥�

I had heard so many horrific stories of lifeboat ordeals in the war already, so much so in fact, that the fear of the unknown gripped my whole body in a desperate convulsion. It is when you quietly realise that you are faced with a negligible chance of survival and a slow lingering death from dehydration and starvation that the shock really hits you squarely. There was no conversation as we rowed away, no normal sailors banter, everyone had similar thoughts and it was no time or place for jokes. Then suddenly for the first time we saw laying off about a couple of miles or so away as we rose on the crest of the deep swell, a small merchant ship lying low with her decks crowded with crew lit up brightly in the strong afternoon sunshine. No sooner had we seen it , there was a loud roar and the seaplane swooped low over our heads, and everyone ducked in case it opened fire, but it landed in a distant splash close to the ship and was immediately hoisted by a derrick onto the foredeck. The sea was calm, and deep blue, but with a heavy ocean swell and the sun blazed bright and brilliant during that action packed afternoon as we viewed on the one hand the raider low in the water and on the other side our ship listing to port. All around were the other lifeboats a few hundred yards. apart and I wondered how long we would keep together But then suddenly there was a fast picket boat with three or four crew on board, one of whom had a loud megaphone hailer, coming at full speed with a huge bow wave between the lifeboats and then slowing down.

鈥� We want your Captain, First Mate, Chief Engineer, and Chief Steward. Please report which boats they are in.鈥�

We replied the Captain was in our boat, and the picket boat quickly drew alongside, picked him up Capt. Stratford first, then the Chief Engineer from another boat, and so on, and quickly sped off at full speed towards the 鈥淣ankin鈥�. Although it was only a small incident which took place very quickly it was particularly important, because it told us for the very first time that our enemy was in fact German, and not Japanese as we had assumed, which was at least some small comfort On the Nankin the repair gang set to work in the engine room closing the stop cocks that had been opened trying to scuttle the vessel, and then worked to restart the engines, activate the pumps and thereby save the vessel which became a 鈥淧rize Ship鈥�. Later the remainder of the Indian crew and a few of the Lascars were brought back to the 鈥淣ankin鈥� to work the vessel. Capt. Stratford and the other officers returned to the 鈥淭hor鈥� at 8.00 pm, but the Chief Engineer was kept aboard and not seen again, and presumably travelled with the ship to Yokahama later.

Although at the time we were totally unaware who had been attacking us, it was in fact the German Surface Raider 鈥淭hor鈥� under the command of Korvetten-kapitan Gumprich. The 鈥淭hor鈥� 3,862 tons (ship 10) or called by the British Ship E, was the smallest of the German disguised merchant ships, termed by them a 鈥淗ilfs Kreuzer鈥� and had set sail from Bordeaux on the 14th January 1942 on her second voyage. In her two voyages she would have accounted for almost 140,000 tons of allied shipping, a success rate only slightly second by 6,000 tons to the Atlantis.. Also she had been attacked on three separate occasions by British Armed Merchant Cruisers, and had beaten off HMS Alcantra and HMS Carnavon Castle and had sunk HMS Voltaire. She was armed with 6 x 15cm guns (5.9鈥�) and had an Arado seaplane which could be set to take off and land only under reasonably calm conditions such as we had that day..

Cont/ see A Child鈥檚 War Part Three鈥︹��.

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