大象传媒

This story was recorded and posted by Mark Jeffers with permission by the author.

We were grounded in Chinese waters, between the Communists and the Nationalists. We had both sets of guns pointed at us. One night we greased the anchors and silently dropped them into the water and drifted down the river. We were very lucky. A Chinese ferryboat was in front of us by about 400yards with all its lights on. Of course we had a complete blackout.

The Chinese realised we鈥檇 gone but they thought the ferryboat was us! They blew them out of the water and we escaped. On the way home we stopped over somewhere, on the way to Plymouth. I had to stand guard at the entrance but my commanding officer sent me out a few drinks, and warned me not to mess about! Not long after he spoke those words I met a young lady. As it turned out I didn鈥檛 return to the ship that night. My commander put me in the cells for ten days, which meant that I missed the celebrations in Plymouth.

My parents went to Plymouth to meet me; the ship arrived but I didn鈥檛. When he returned home, my father contacted his friend, a local MP and he said that he would get me home. It must have been a few days later when a soldier came into my cell with a big telegram. 鈥淵ou must have some important friends!鈥� he said. It was a telegram from the Prime Minister! He made sure that I was flown home immediately. I missed the Plymouth home coming but was invited to Buckingham Palace instead!

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