大象传媒

Able Seaman ASHWORTH WILLIAM HOWORTH.

Known by his family and friends as "SONNY" from childhood. Born in Ramsgate, Kent June 1922 the family (Father Herbert Horrace, Mother Ivy , Sister Edith) moved to the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire before WW2.

He loved and Married Evelyn Mary during WW2. Ashworth ("SONNY") and Evelyn spent most of their 59 years of married life living happily in BACUP, Lancashire.

"Sonny" became a Radio Amateur with Call Sign G4LNE and spoke to others from all over the world.
He was a keen Member of the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society (RNARS) and the Radio Society of Great Britain (R.S.G.B.).

He was very sad about all aspects of conflict, wars and death. He did not communicate his horrific wartime experiences to his family during his lifetime but he left these word-processed accounts on his computer.

He Loved the world, its natural beauty and his family and friends and was a very keen Photographer.

He cared for his wife Evelyn Mary at home for 19 years after she had a very dense stroke which took her speech and left her 50% paralysed. Evelyn died 5th December 2002. This left him heartbroken.

He had wanted to take part in the June 6th Commemoration Ceremony of D-Day in Normandy but didnt make it.

He Died on March 3rd. 2004. and is sadly missed by his family: - Son David, Daughter-in-Law Marion, Grand-son Neil, Grand- daughter Nicola and Great-grandson Kieron.

AW HOWORTH 鈥淪ONNY鈥�(G4LNE)

鈥淗OSTILITIES ONLY鈥�
鈥�
PART 1 of 5

Monday 6th October 1941 was the day I reported to 鈥楬MS Glenndower to start my Naval Training after volunteering to serve during hostilities. 鈥楬MS Glenndower鈥� was a land based training ship situated outside Pwllheli and taken over from Butlins for the duration.

On the train from Manchester were more volunteers wondering what on earth we were going to. It didn't take long to find out. We were met at Pwllheli station by a Petty Officer who immediately took us to a mess hall where we had jam, bread and cakes, the last time we had jam and cake at the same meal.

The following few days we were kept busy with more medicals, injections and kitting out. For 10 weeks we were busy square bashing, gunnery drill and all the necessary skills to make us fit to man the guns on ships. At the end of this period we learned that we had qualified as DEMS Gunners (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships), and entitled to 7 days leave with instructions to report to 鈥楬MS Wellaslly鈥�, another shore based ship in Liverpool.

Once on leave it was strange to be seeing all the old faces and yet feeling so different. Obviously the uniform was having an effect. The 7 days flew by, and the time came to report back to Liverpool.

It was not long before my draft came through. With another 5 DEMS ratings we had to make our way to Aultbea on Loch Ewe in the far north of Scotland. Our journey to Glasgow was uneventful, and owing to snowstorms to the north we had to spend the night in the St Enoch Hotel.

The following day the train took us to Inverness where we arrived during a snowstorm. A change of train took us to Achnasheen; the end of the line as far as the train was concerned. We still had another 45 miles to go by lorry under the supervision of a leading seaman. He told us that Loch Ewe was the assembly point for convoys, and that we would be standing by as replacement gunners.

No one seemed to know what to do with us, and to keep us out of lumber we were detailed to clean offices, mess halls, even white-washing the stones outside. I was on one of these details when a call came for a gunner to join an outward-bound cargo ship. My name was called as next in line alphabetically but not being available, a lad from Rochdale was sent. Later I heard that the ship was torpedoed and he went down with it.

My turn came soon; I joined an inward bound ship from the States called 鈥楨mpire Leopard鈥�. No sooner was I aboard than we sailed in a coastal convoy through the Pentland Firth and down to Hull. Because the other gunners on board had been at sea for three months, they were entitled to leave, so I didn't argue when I was given some too.

Although it was only a few weeks since I had been on leave, everyone wanted to know what life in the Navy was like and seemed to think I was an 'old-salt' just because I had a bit of sea time in. I had more offers of free drinks than I could take advantage of. The most often asked question was "When are you going back?". Evelyn, my girlfriend went with me to Todmorden where we said our 'good-bye' as I caught the train for Hull.

Back on board they were still loading ballast in readiness for a trip across the Atlantic. Hull was being bombed as we sailed down the Humber, so it seemed good to be leaving. Escorts took us round to Loch Ewe, where we anchored until all the ships had gathered. The ships Captains went ashore for a briefing, to get their instructions regarding convoy stations and all the various procedures for the trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our station was on an inside lane in the middle of the convoy. Every one seemed pleased and thought it was a reasonably safe position. The 鈥楨mpire Leopard鈥� was a 7000ton cargo ship and we were bound for Philadelphia to load general cargo.

The weather was good as we left Loch Ewe, glassy sea, blue sky, a glorious day to put to sea. Ships started to take up their stations according to instructions. We rounded Northern Ireland and as far as the eye could see there were ships all around. It felt safe tucked away in the middle of the convoy. This feeling didn't last long. Next day the weather broke with a vengeance. Soon we were being tossed around all over the place. I didn't feel like an 'old-salt' any more. I was sick as a dog, felt like I was dying and didn't care if I did. It didn't help when some of the crew made suggestions as to how I could be cured. One of which was to tie a slice of bacon to a piece of twine, swallow it, and you can guess the rest.

The sea sickness happened every trip but luckily usually cleared up after a couple of days and I was all right until I had a week or two ashore when it started all over again on the next trip. The Captain wanted two gunners on watch at a time, which meant that the six of us had to do 4 hours on and 4 hours off. The rest of the crew worked 4 hours on and 8 hours off, being Merchant Navy men, if they had worked our hours they would have been able to claim overtime. One of us stood watch on the bridge and the other one on the 4-inch gun platform, which was mounted on the poop deck. We kept lookout, reporting everything to the bridge, but we were allowed to fire at our own discretion.

Early in the voyage I was off watch sleeping and came to with a shock because the Leading Seaman was shaking me and tearing me off a strip about not getting out of my bunk when depth charges were being dropped all around us. He said "he had no intention of risking his life to wake me again so I'd better get up in future". Lots of activity took place as the escorts made contact with U-Boats but fortunately they kept them away from the convoy.

A couple of days later a storm blew up. The waves were enormous, one minute on top of a wave, you could see all around, with the ships like toys struggling to keep station. Next in a trough, all you could see was water piled up in all directions. Then would start the slow climb up the next wave, once on top, the ships propeller would race like mad as it came out of the water before the governor took over. But suddenly it would feel as if you had run into a brick wall as an extra large wave rolled by. Some of the crew talked about 鈥�40-footers鈥�. All I know is that the ship was creaking and groaning and felt as if it was breaking up, but they said it was a good sign, the ship was built like that to allow the steel plates to move slightly and so in theory stopping the ship breaking up, but I wasn't entirely convinced. The storm was so severe that in 24 hours, our position was still the same as the day before.

We had one or two scares from reported U-Boats and lots of depth charging, but we arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia without any real problems. We anchored in the bay until a few ships were going South, and then made our way down the coast, close in to Cape Cod and the New Jersey coast line until we arrived at Chesapeake Bay. Sailing up the Delaware we were able to relax. I sun-bathed on the Monkey Island until we tied up in Philadelphia docks.

The crew started immediately getting rid of the ballast and cleaning the ship ready for loading cargo. Our duties now consisted of keeping a gangway watch but as only one person was needed at a time, the rest of us were able to go ashore.

Getting dressed in our No l's we were soon at the nearest shops, and the first things we bought were bananas, they had disappeared from the UK shops at the beginning of the war. It was fascinating to see pawnshops, drug stores, clothing shops etc, full of goodies that we only remembered. I had never seen so many cameras and radios and other goods that we regarded as luxuries. We decided to leave the shops near the docks and visit the city centre, so we hopped on a street car which was soon an elevator and subway combined. The price was 5cents to anywhere within city limits. Having lived in blackout conditions so long, it was marvellous to see Philadelphia lit up at night. Apart from the normal lights, the Theatres, Cinemas, Restaurants and anywhere that they hoped to get your money had fantastic lighting set ups.

Hunger got the better of us again so we sampled the Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and especially the Apple Pie and Cream. Then we went into a cinema. I seem to remember seeing my first colour film there. Some of the Cinemas showed films first and then had live performers. Lots of the big bands played there. Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, with solo or group acts, like the Andrew Sisters, are a few I remember seeing. It was certainly different than the fleapits at home.

All the clubs and social organizations were geared up for helping service personnel enjoy their free time. Most of them had table tennis, basketball, dancing and refreshments. Local people invited us into their homes and the hospitality was marvellous. I remember going with one elderly couple that lived in a flat near the city centre. We took the lift up to their apartment, it seemed strange to be in the middle of a building, no windows in sight, and certainly different to the houses I was used to at home. We soon got used to it after a drink or two.

One Sunday we went to Trenton, New Jersey to a 鈥楤urlesque Show鈥�. As it was a strip show they weren't allowed to start until after midnight on Sunday's, but as everywhere was open all night, it didn't matter. Never having seen anything like this, it was quite an experience.

Back on board ship, the loading had been proceeding. The cargo was mostly foodstuff, salmon, tinned fruit and the like, we wondered where it all went, and no one could remember seeing any on the shelves at home. It took about 2 weeks to load, including our coalbunkers.

We then went down the Delamare to Norfolk, the big American Naval Base, to meet up with ships for the trip North. It only took a few days to retrace our steps to Halifax, Nova Scotia to await the convoy assembly. As usual the ships Captains went ashore for briefing, and on finding we had to wait a couple of days before departure, we were granted us shore leave.

Halifax seemed a peculiar port to us, lots of timber houses and shops, one thing I noticed was the very high kerbs to the sidewalks as they called the pavements. Later on when I was there during snow I could see why. The streets got full of packed snow so that the road and sidewalk seemed to be on one level, they didn't try to clear the snow, just packed it down and rode on top of it. Lots of the crew spent most of their time in the bars, but one or two of us enjoyed trips to the cinema and filled ourselves up at the drug stores and social clubs. I often wonder where we used to put it.

Once back on board it wasn鈥檛 long before we started back to the UK. We had about 40 ships in the convoy with 2 or 3 escorts. I remember one ship turned back early on with engine trouble. The rest of us plodded on at around 7 knots, with all sorts of rumours flying around about the U-Boats that were lying in wait for us.

The Commodore in charge of all the ships did his best to outwit them by taking us North among ice flows and eventually pack ice that seemed to be forming all around us. It was a strange feeling to be among massive icebergs. The air was piercing cold, even wearing all our woollies, duffels, sea boots etc., it still got through to the flesh. Moving away from the ice it was literally a topcoat warmer. The diversion certainly paid off. It wasn't long before we had protection from flying boats and coastal ships escorted us to Loch Ewe, so that we could join a convoy to go round to Hull.

The Pentland Firth is a wild stretch of water most of the time, but we were unfortunate to get there during a stormy spell. A seaman going from the forecastle to the bridge was caught by a massive wave and swept overboard, but by some miracle was washed back onto the after well deck. He was caught up in the winching gear and only suffered a broken arm, bruising and a good tale to tell. I would imagine it would provide him with a pint or two in later years, if he survived the war to be able to tell it. There was an E-Boat scare on the way South and the odd plane that was chased off by our Spitfires, so we were pleased when we arrived at the Humber. Our round trip had taken over 3 months to complete, so we were given rail warrants and sent on 7 days leave immediately.

It was good to see Evelyn and my parents again. I had managed to get a few small presents and some duty free cigarettes, which were very welcome. All too soon it was time to go back. The Empire Leopard had not finished unloading so I was sent to a new ship, the 鈥楨mpire Union鈥�, which was a captured prize, from Italy. Like the Leopard she was about 7000 tons with a top speed of 10 knots, so things didn't seem a lot different.

We found ourselves round at Loch Ewe again, going through the same procedures. Skippers went ashore while the crews got the ships ready for the Atlantic. We were bound for Philadelphia again.

The trip across was reasonably uneventful and I soon found myself meeting up with the friends I had made whilst on the 鈥楨mpire Leopard鈥�. Visiting homes and clubs, we had a whale of a time. One family took us to a big amusement park, much bigger than South Shore at Blackpool, with some real scary rides. As we didn鈥檛 have to pay for much, it made it that much more enjoyable.

As with all good things it ended too soon, and we were soon on our way home again. Back up to Halifax to join another convoy. The Newfoundland Banks lived up to their reputation and gave us plenty of fog. One consolation was that as difficult as it was for us, we hoped that it would hinder the submarines more. We soon started getting rumours about U-Boats being in the vicinity, and everybody was warned to be on their toes.
CONTINUED

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