大象传媒

I was fascinated to read Sheila Dawn's account of Scotland's Kennedy brothers and of the fate of the "Cape Howe" My uncle, Harry Rainford was radio officer on the ship and sadly did not survive the U boat attack.His name appears on the Roll of Honour in the chapel of Corpus Christi College Oxford where he studied. In 1939 he was serving on the "Clement" which was scuttled off the South American coast by the Graf Spee. THe crew were allowed to take to the lifeboats and eventually found their way ashore.His letters home describe his adventure.
My father was also a radio officer for the duration of the war on merchant ships "Davisian", "Spero", "Athelduke" "Samadre" and"Fort Tadoussac".His war diaries provide a graphic picture of the extreme dangers facing merchantmen .Soon after my father transferred from the "Davisian" to the "Spero" the former ship was sunk off theWest Indies.There are numerous incidents recorded in the diaries over the war years- I have selected one at random from 1940.
When entering the Channel in May of that year on a voyage from Bermuda my father reports that things are "getting hot".
Fri 24th Sub waiting on our track 49N 8W.Sleep in your clothes tonight Geoffrey, what-ho!
Sat 25th 1.30a.m.God damn that knocker -up.Sighted 2 subs.Escort dropped depth charges."Prepare to meet enemy aircraft (from GNI) Hell's bells!Why does everything happen on my watch?
In the following hours messages are received of shipping under attack- "King Orrie,"Alca" and "Queen of the Channel".Finally on Tuesday 28ththe bells on the buoys at Dover are heard- safety at last.
In addition to the war diaries, there is copious correspondence, enough material for a book!

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