大象传媒

My father, Commander W.M.Passmore RN (1905-1988) was a hydrographer. He commanded the survey vessel "Gulnare" in 1944 and was attached to the Americans landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for bravery in guiding Americans ashore under heavy fire. When he borrowed the book "Mulberry Harbours" from his local library he was surprised to read his name.
He was subsequently sent to Trincomalee to join Lord Mountbatten's staff.
My mother (Molly, 1907-2002) was worried about her marriage and so she joined the WVS and asked to be posted to Ceylon. Instead, she was sent to India!
My mother and I had been evacuated to Cape Town in 1940 aboard the "City of Paris". We were in the same convoy as the "City of Benares" which was sunk with many children aboard (a model of the Benares is in the Naval Maritime Museum, Greenwich).
My Mum, starting to be worried about her marriage, returned with me to the UK in 1942 aboard the "Windsor Castle". We sailed for the US to pick up a convoy, but a Sunderland aircraft circled us off Trinidad and flashed an Aldis signal to say that a couple of U-boats were ahead of us so, because she was a fast ship, we crossed the Atlantic alone to the UK. As we neared home waters, soldiers lined the decks with rifles at the ready in case of enemy aircraft. The "Windsor Castle" was sunk by an aerial torpedo off West Africa in 1943.
My father was sent back to the UK soon after the atom bombs were dropped, but I went to join my Mum, sailing aboard the "Britannic".
My Mum and I lived in Deolali (from which the term "Dullaly" is derived). This was the transit camp near Bombay which all soldiers passed through. We returned to the UK with the last of the soldiers aboard the "Empire Helford" in 1947.
My parents were divorced in 1948. My Mum once said that my Dad would never have wanted a divorce if his Best Man, Lt.Cdr. Michael Beech-Thomas, were still alive. His minesweeper was bombed in the Johore Straits, and he was last seen trying to save a drowning man.
My Mum wrote her autobiogaphy "In His Wake", which was published by Merlin Books, Braunton, in 1988, ISBN 0 86303 397-0.

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