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This story was submitted to the People’s War website by Sandra Beckett on behalf of Captain Gordon Greenslade , the author, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

At the start of the 2nd World War, I was Master of a Coasting Vessel, the SS Islesman, trading out of Portreath Cornwall, to Newport Cardiff and Barry in the Bristol Channel, for steam coal for the mines, and cement, to Preston and Garston, and to Whitehaven and Maryport for house coal. To Charlestown and Par for China clay.
In the first winter of the war, in December, one of our ships, the SS Ruban, hit the rocks off the Lizard in fog and sank - all crew saved.
Later in the war, the SS Florence Reynolds, on voyage to Newport, was in collision with one of our destroyers and sank all crew were saved.
We used to fly a Barrage Balloon at 1,000 feet from the masthead against low flying aircraft and had three Naval Gunners and a 40mm gun mounted on the stern.
We used to go in convoy part of the way, sometimes we were attacked by enemy aircraft.
There were moored mines, acostic and magnetic mines and submarines about.
Later on another of our ships left Maryport for Portreath, she was lost with all hands — we don’t know what happened to her — she was the SS Kyle Rona.
The SS Rosemore left Hayle for the Bristol Channel and was bombed and sank off Newquay, most of her crew were lost.
Another ship from Hayle, the Porthgarret, went ashore at the Nash Bank in a gale and Black out.
We in the SS Isleman were bombed off Bardsey Island- it was a near miss.
We came safely through the war — the only Portreath ship left.

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