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At 1.15pm the cables were slipped off the buoys and once more we were under way with the next port of call Suez, We made up for a bit of the time we had lost by getting away from Aden pretty quickly, the stay only being for five and a half hours, plenty long enough for my liking. Locusts, the scourge of this part of the world were everywhere by this time, even down on the mess decks. These insects are much bugger than I thought they were some of them measure a good three and a half inches in length, and are of a colour somewhat similar to that of a boiled shrimp with transparent wings with brown splotches on them, in shape they are the same as the English Grasshopper.

About 10 miles out from Aden a fairly strong breeze got up which helped to cool things down somewhat. At 2am on the nigh of the 16th 鈥� 17th of July we entered the Red Sea, here the wind dropped entirely and the following day (Wednesday) it was scorching hot with the temperature around 110 degrees in the shade, it was more like being on a like than a seam there was a light breeze on the upper created by our movement.

During Wednesday we passed several volcanic islands all that some of them were was an extinct crater sticking up out of the sea, others had a crater at one end and then sloped gradually to the sea for a few miles eventually finishing up with a ragged cliff face straight down into the water. There were numbers of gulls around and large numbers of birds which looked rather like Mallards as they flew in straight line ahead formation low over the water.

On Friday the 19th we sighted land on both sides so we were in the northern end of the Red Sea where it narrows off like a bottle neck and as we steamed on the land got nearer on either side and by Sunday the deserts on both port and starboard were in plain view. On Sunday the 12st we reached the end of another stage of our trip when we entered Suez Bay, this was approximately midnight and as we were off again into the canal at 5am on the 22nd we didn鈥檛 see much of Suez, all we stopped for was to pick a pilot up to take us through the canal. The Suez canal at the southern end is very narrow only being about 150 yards wide, the deep water channel in the middle being about a third of this.

The heat there was really intense as there was little breeze, all that could be seen was sand and yet more sand stretching as far as the eyes could see, in some places it was level and smooth while in other it was heaped up in all manner of ridges and hills. In some sport the canal was lined with palms and some other type of tre3e, and every so often along the banks could be seen Arab police with their red fezzes and rifles on their shoulders sitting astride camels.

About 11am we entered the Bitter Lakes and then on out of these into the next stretch of canal, there are several small lakes which we passed through en route, about 1pm we entered another of them, this one called Lake Timash, it was here that we dropped anchor for about half and hour as the pilot who had brought is up from Suez left here and a new one took over. On the southern end of this lake stands the War Memorial to the men who fell during the 1914-18 war guarding the canal from the Turks. While on the northern shore stands the town of Ismailla. On we went out of lake Timsah and into the last stretch of the canal, on this stretch the railway and a road runs along the banks, Army camps are scattered here and there with troops swimming in the canal. Several ships passed in the canal or rather we passed them as they swung into the side to let us through so we had great pleasure in slinging such cracks at the other crews as 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going the wrong way鈥� and 鈥淲ant a lift to blighty鈥�. After leaving Lake Timsah the canal widened out considerably and shortly before we reached Port Said it was about 350 to 400 yards wise, it was about 5pm when we dropped anchor just our of the canal in Port Said harbour, surrounded by Arab traders all trying to be first on board to sell their wares.

The trip through the canal was very interesting, in fact the most interesting part of the whole trip, naturally our speed was curtailed through there owing to the wash set up, we only did about 6 knots.

Port Said is a fairly large place on modern lines, the harbour is not very big, although there was pretty fair of merchant shipping in there, we were the only R.N ship in. Stores came aboard as soon as we arrived and oil fuel. Shore leave was granted to half the ships company from 7pm until midnight.

Our stay here lasted until 11.30am the following day Tuesday the 23rd and then we were off again out into the blue Mediterranean with only one more stop at Gibraltar and the the good old Blighty. The weather was glorious as we got out into the Med, that sticky feeling had gone out of the air and the sea was calm and of that lovely shade of blue that it is so noted for. We had made up the time we had lost whilst we were in the Red Sea, so now we were right on schedule.

The weather continued the same for the rest of the trip, except for Thursday the 25th when about noon a strong wind blew up very suddenly and we began to pitch heavily but by 8pm this had dropped again and the sea calmed down once more. By Saturday we were looking forward to seeing the famous island of Malta, this was sighted during the forenoon and it was with some disappointment that we looked at it, scarcely rising out of the water, for all the world like a drifting plank caught for a moment against the blue Mediterranean sky. The highest part of the island is only some eight hundred feet above sea level and from the sea there is little to break the monotomous flatness of its outline, or apparently even line of the coast.

As we passed along the coast about 6 miles out we could see quite plainly the island's capital of Valletta with it's grey bastions and domes and spires pointing to the sky, whilst on the other side of the Grand Harbour lie the twin cities of Sengea and Vittoriosa. Above all could be seen the spire of Valletta Cathedral.

The island is very small being only 17 miles long and 9 wide so it soon slipped astern and by noon had disapeared altogether. The sea had calmed down even more so and there was hardly a ripple disturbing the surface, except for when an occasional porpoise leapt into the air an fell back with a smack.

About 5pm we again sighted land, this time it was the island of Pantellaria, this is much higher than Malta, but we couldn't see much detail as we were too far out, being 15 miles away. The following day, Sunday, we again sighted land, this was the northern tip of Tunisia, from then on we passed all along the coast about 10 miles out, past Algeria with its high mountains towering over high into the air with their peaks shrouded in clouds. The weather remained perfect, but was slightly cloudy on Monday during the fore-noon, but by noon these had cleared away and the sun was blazing down once more.

The nights are very cool now and there was a very heavy dew making it unwise to sleep in the open. We were making very good progress and were about 12 hours ahead of time.

As we were so well ahead of time we expected to reach Gibraltar on Wednesday the 31st July during the forenoon, but on Tuesday night an officer who had under gone an operation for appedicitis when we were in the Indian Ocean was taken seriously ill and there was not much that could be done for him on board, so all possible speed was crammed on and a signal sent to Gibraltar about it. At 4.30am in the morning of the 31st we entered Gibraltar harbour and a launch came alongside and the officer was taken ashore to hospital, very hard luck when there's only a thousand miles to go for home.

Our stay here was cut down and instead of staying over night as we expected, we started on the last lap to Portsmouth that afternoon at 4.30pm. During the forenoon we had refuelled and taken a few more on board for passage to U.K.

We did not get ashore at Gibraltar but as we were quite close in shore we could see pretty much what the place was like. The town itself, nestling in the shadow of the famous rock, looked quite clean and mainly consisted of large buildings. The weather was glorious and a run ashore would have been very welcome, not having been off shore since we left Columbo, but everything was in readiness for sea at 3pm and so at 4.30 the anchor was weighed and we were off on the home straight. As we left the harbour dozens of purpoises played around us, never had I seen so many all at once. As we entered the Straits of Gibraltar a very stong wind blew up and the sea got quite choppy, but as soon as we left the straits this dropped and it was calm again.

Passing up the coast of Portugal, the weather was too good to be true as we expected to hit it a bit rough there, but no, the sea was calm although there was a fairly heavy swell, we continued to have the lovely weather. On Thursday forenoon we passed Cape St Vincent away on our starboard with it's high cliffs. During that night there was a very heavy electrical storm over the coastline, with terrific flashes of blue-green lightening lighting up the water and bathing the ship in light as if we had neon lights on the mast heads, the thunder was one continuous rumble. This did not upset the weather though and the next day the sun shone forth again as usual.

Over the weekend the weather remained fine but gradually getting colder, on Monday morning we passed the Channel Islands and then speed was reduced as we were too much ahead of time. About nine o'clock that night we sighted the lighthouse on the Isle of Wight and by midnight the lights on the shore were quite close. We hung around all night just outside the Solent and went in on the following morning, Tuesday 6th August, but a disappointment awaited us as we dropped anchor just outside Portsmouth harbour at spit head; we were not staying at Portsmouth but going up to Clyde where the ship was paying off.

We did not even stay long enough to get any shore leave and at 4pm that afternoon we put to sea again, after having discharged all the passengers to their respective depots.

It was pretty grim having to go to sea again without having a run ashore in our own port, especially as most of us had not been ashore since Colombo, so there was very little excitement at having arrived at Portsmouth. Of course, it was England, but it might just as well have been any port as far as we were concerned, not being able to get any leave.

At four o' clock the anchor was weighed and we slipped out of the Solent round the Isle of Wight again on our way to the Clyde. The weather was dull with bright periods and cold with a fairly strong wind blowing. Rounding Lands End on Wednesday we began to get a bit of roll on and the wind increased, very few of us ventured onto the upper deck, it was much too cold, I'll be glad when I get acclimatised.

It's good to see the green fields again and the cliffs with their green canopy, there's not a shore line in the world that looks the same as the Britsh Isles and it's good to the eyes to look upon it again, it will be better still when I'm on that shore and looking at the sea for a change.

The trip to the Clyde was uneventful and we arrived there on Friday the 9th of August, so bringing to an end a trip of 27,000 miles around the world in exactly eleven months. It also brought me to the end of my sea time in the R.N. and it also brings me to the end of this narrative. ALL I want now is my demob, so goodbye old ship of mine "Bon voyage," you took a long way round to the U.K. but managed it in the end.

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Jim Salveson on behalf of Elizabeth Adams and was added with her permission. The author fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

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