大象传媒

HMS Barham 鈥� Eastern Mediterranean Fleet, 1940 (5)

With Cunningham鈥檚 Eastern Mediterranean Fleet based in Alexandria. My father, Surgeon-Commander E.R.Sorley, RN was the Principal Medical Officer and during this period wrote numerous letters to my mother. Extracts from these give an insight to life on the ship during the period October 1940 to November 23rd, 1941. Much time spent ashore in Alexandria and worrying about mail and family back in England.

29th November, 1940: Alexandria; Tennis; St. Andrew鈥檚 Day

鈥淚 had a tennis singles yesterday with Jasu Pitts and managed to get the better of him in four sets. The courts are really excellent - just as good as Bukit Sembawang of delicious memory is, and not so subject to rain storms. Actually we had a few showers yesterday, but they didn鈥檛 interfere seriously with the game. Jasu went off afterwards to have a lesson in Italian, while I went back to the ship. I wrote to Mrs Cooke last night by airmail, just to reassure her about the skipper. He has been sick with a bad cold, and I thought it would be a good thing to say that he is now fit and well and clamouring to be allowed to smite a golf ball again. He makes a rather impatient patient, because he always professes to robust health and feels he is a fraud if anything lays him low. I thanked Mrs C. for having corresponded with you. It is good to feel you are in touch with the foremost head of official information.

To night, I am going to attend a St. Andrews Day dinner at a local pub. I wasn鈥檛 terribly keen to go, as I know what these functions are in alcoholic consumption, but as all the other Scots in the Wardroom had arranged a party, I felt it would be churlish to stay back. But Moncrieff is the leading spirit; he hasn鈥檛 dined ashore since we left Liverpool, and he says he is keen to have an evening, so there you are. So long as the function is not too much of a boozing session, I鈥檒l probably enjoy it. This evening before going ashore to the St. Andrew鈥檚 binge, I feel I must get some medicine ball to offset the strain of what might be a trying night. I鈥檒l let you know later on.

I wonder how Graeme is getting on with his schooling. There are so many things I want to hear - the silence is the very devil.鈥�

2nd December, 1940: Alexandria

鈥淚 hear from the Padre that there is a hurried chance of getting a reasonably quick letter home, so I am simply dashing this off. I wrote you 4 letters last week - one by airmail and one by sea, and it is possible that this one will get home first. A most unexpected mail arrived for us on the day before yesterday. I had 5 letters from you including notes from the children, and you may be sure they cheered me up tremendously. There are moments when you don鈥檛 feel so near to me as others; sometimes you actually seem to be in my cabin, blessing me with your companionship.

I鈥檒l tell you about the St. Andrew鈥檚 dinner later on - probably by letter tomorrow. I鈥檓 so sorry about this letter being simply dashed off, and only hope you鈥檒l be able to decipher it. My writing is usually legible, but not if I have to write about 1000 words in a few minutes. I鈥檒l comment on your letter in my coming effusion.鈥�

4th December, 1940: Alexandria

鈥淭his is just an ordinary sea mail letter cast with the welter of letters which will struggle to reach England in the months to come. One feels like a shipwrecked mariner placing a scrap of paper in a bottle and consigning it to the waves in the hope that the winds of Heaven may carry a message to his loved ones. The sea mail may improve, of course, with the possible defeating Italy in the Mediterranean. Anyway, it can鈥檛 get worse.

I hope you get my nice long airmail letter which I sent off yesterday. Using thin airmail paper, I continue to pack as much news as possible into one sheet, and to send notes of cheer to the pippets as well. I think such a plan is one to be adopted weekly, so I have laid in a stock of thin paper and envelopes, in readiness for a weekly service. I hear that we are to be permitted to send one free Christmas airmail letter home (a special Admiralty concession). As the closing date is 8th December, I鈥檒l be sending yet another letter this week, with a very good chance of its penetrating to you by the 25th December.

I go ashore on most days at present, while the chance is there. My tennis is progressing. I鈥檓 trying to work my way up the tennis ladder. I feel cheered by the fact that my opponents up to date are respectively 14,15 and 18 years younger than I: That makes one think doesn鈥檛 it? - makes me feel quite a veteran, although I do not feel like one bodily. My old Slazenger racket is bearing up well, the tropical gut being pretty tough, but not as tight as it might be. Yesterday, I went ashore with the Pay in the afternoon and stayed ashore to dine with the Creans. Tonight, Hearson and I have planned a meeting ashore, and this time, after many disappointments, the fixture looks like coming off. It will be interesting to hear his views on the Greek successes against the 鈥溾��.Italians鈥�. I don鈥檛 see how he can stick to his argument that the 鈥溾�︹�︹�︹��..Italians鈥� have come on a lot鈥�. Mussolini鈥檚 鈥�8 million bayonets鈥� have been shown to be made of papier-m芒ch茅 after all, as we suspected.

I hope that by the time you get this letter we shall be a step nearer victory in this sad, futile but very necessary war. There is a hard road to travel yet, but slowly and surely the powers of evil, cruelty and bad faith will be borne down; let us hope, never to rise again. Let us pray that the lives of Graeme and Dansie may be unsullied by war in their middle courses and in their ends. It is for them and their brothers and sisters the world over that we are fighting. We may be sure that British grit along with 鈥渙ur extraordinary talent for enduring tedium鈥� will come out on top. Hitler won鈥檛 understand us until he is gasping for mercy, or holding a revolver to his wretched head at the finish. I liked a phrase I saw in a paper today. 鈥淭he British people still look upon Hitler as an unscrupulous house painter, and no matter what they have to endure will refuse to let him be victorious鈥�. So there鈥檚 maybe something to be said for our Island snobbery, after all.鈥�

9th December, 1940: Alexandria

鈥淕reat was my delight this morning (about 12.30 a.m.) when on returning on board my ship or vessel from Gerry Weldon鈥檚 ship, I found a cablegram from you with the splendid words 鈥淎ll鈥檚 well鈥� The message had taken just 8 days to come. This seems to be about the average time. The Pay had one the other day which took 10 days. I think it would be a very good thing if you sent one monthly just to say that everything was all right. That means, of course, you would have to write to the Secretary Admiralty from time to time to maintain your supplies of forms. Now and again, you might try an airmail letter. They usually get here ahead of the sea mail letters. Gerry Weldon, with whom I was dining last night, said he was very fed up because he hadn鈥檛 seen Isabel for over 18 months, and didn鈥檛 see much prospect of improvement in the situation. We all agreed that the snag of this place is the capriciousness of the mail service, and the periods of silence during which it is difficult not to worry.

Yesterday afternoon I had five grand sets of tennis. At first I thought this tennis would not come off, because in the morning the Skipper said he wanted to go round the local hospitals to visit our cases, and directed me to order a service car. This I did and reported to him when I had done so. I suppose I must have had a yearning expression in my eyes, for he said 鈥淧.M.O. I don鈥檛 necessarily need you to come, send Roberts or Sherwell, if you like!鈥� So I said 鈥淲ell, Sir, I had arranged some tennis; so if you are happy about it, I鈥檒l depute Roberts to go with you鈥� And so it happened. Very decent of the old boy, wasn鈥檛 it? He is very human. He went off with Roberts and eventually came back in a local shore-side boat because the boat he had ordered was late. He treated it all as a great joke.

I have more or less arranged to take a course of 8 French lessons from a lady tutor - all very right and proper so you needn鈥檛 be worried about the proprieties. She is just past her youth, and is chaperoned by a sister. I am going to buy an elementary French grammar and start at the beginning again.

You have no idea how much your cable meant to me - to know that the hazards of this beastly war have left you and dearest Graeme and Dansie unharmed makes such a difference to my tranquillity of mind.鈥�

19th December, 1940: Alexandria

鈥淭he weather has turned much colder now, even although bright sunshine makes its appearance every day. Altogether, the conditions are very health-making and there is no excuse for not keeping fit. I am trying to maintain a regular tennis routine of two singles fixtures per week. I challenged another singles enthusiast on Monday - a Sub.Lt. RNVR. - and we managed to get in only two sets before a thin drizzle started (quite unusual for this place to produce rain at tennis time. It still amuses me to reflect that I am about 18 years older than this latest opponent - almost old enough to be his father. I won鈥檛 overdo the exercise as you thought I used to in Singapore. I think that tennis twice a week is just about right, along with the occasional medicine ball.

The war news continues to be cheering, but there is no doubt the next six months will see a great intensification of submarine attacks on our shipping, and possibly a desperate attempt by Germany to invade the British Isles, aided by concentrated air warfare. I don鈥檛 think that there is any doubt about the result, but I feel there are grim times ahead before our resources begin to tell. Hitler must do something, and the diminution of air attacks on England at the moment - probably only means a mustering of the strength of the Luftwaffe before a big attack. It seems certain that the spirit of the people at home - always marvellous - has been made stronger and more impregnable by the recent successes in Albania and Africa. All the same, I shall be glad when the winter is over, with its threat of commensurable disease amongst the 鈥渟heltered鈥� population in urban areas. From what I hear, the medical powers that be are doing well. My British Medical Journals are, of course, very irregular in their arrival in common with more important personal mail and it is difficult to keep consistently abreast of medical affairs at home.鈥�
To be continued

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