大象传媒

This story was submitted by Maureen Tomison and has been added to the website on behalf of David Sandford with his permission. He fully understands the site and the site鈥檚 terms and conditions

I was serving as a 17 year old midshipman on board one of his Majesty鈥檚 cruisers. We were operating off the Andaman and Nicobar islands. One of my jobs was to be midshipman in charge of the second whaler. We were in company with 鈥榝our Woolworth aircraft carriers 鈥� converted merchant ship with a wooden flight deck. Any of our aircraft which suffered damage were not allowed to land back as they might damage the flight deck so they had to ditch. Bail out. My job was to pick the pilots out of water and bring them back on board our ship despite the fact that most of them wanted to get back to war and hence return to his own ship. I remember one pilot in particular pulled rank and demanded that I take him back to his ship which in fact was fast vanishing over the horizon. I had to explain that even with my five oarsmen I was unlikely to catch up the carrier and that I had no choice, and was also under orders, but to take him back to my ship. Afterwards he and I laughed about this and in fact I well understood him having sustained damage and lost his aircraft and thus not being 鈥渜uite himself.鈥�

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