MEMORIES FROM NORMAN

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Merchant Navy First Trip aged 16years (circa 1943/44)

Aug 26, 2020, 12:13 PM

Written by Jules

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Merchant Navy First Trip aged 16 years (circa 1943/44)44)

My mind was anywhere but in that pool office when I pushed my discharge book, still with virginal clean pages, through the grill and waited for the usual ‘nothing today, come back tomorrow.’ Instead I got,

‘I’ve a ‘deep sea’ signing on this afternoon. Do you want it Galley Boy?’

Did I want it? Too bloody right I wanted it! Deep Sea? Yes, definitely! No pissing around on crappy little coasters for me, sailing up and down the east coast, take your own victuals! I wanted ‘foreign!’ The North Atlantic, the convoys, and by golly if they signed me on then that’s what I’d get! That afternoon, for the first time, I went upstairs in the direction as pointed by that ‘Engine’ sign and into a large room with a lot of people lined up. Among them were several very Arab looking men, some of whom had cloths around their neck with one end in the corner of their mouths, but more about them later. Words were spoken by a very Naval looking uniformed man.

‘I am the Captain etc., etc.’

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Roneo Vickers Engineer: circa 1950

Aug 26, 2020, 11:20 AM

Written by Jules

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Roneo Vickers Engineer:circa 1950

I was regularly being called out to firms and factories all over the East Midlands. Some I enjoyed going out to but others I dreaded. First among the latter was a Mental Hospital in Northampton.

The building was a late Victorian place set in its own grounds. My visits went like this: The call would come into the office and what was usually said was,

‘The printing machine is only inking down one side!’

Until I cracked the problem I’d be frankly puzzled, for this type of breakdown was being reported even though I’d reset the inking rollers just a few days before.

Every door and gate had to be unlocked and locked in this place. I’d walk down the lane to the prefabricated reception block and knock on the door then out would pop one of the supervising male nurses who would smile and say something like,

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Merchant Navy 1945

Jul 24, 2020, 01:30 PM

Written by Jules

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MORE MEMORIES FROM NORMAN HASTINGS:

Merchant Navy 1945

We were in convoy, of course, and it was early in 1945 as we set off ‘North about’ across the North Atlantic. All was quiet apart from a few bangs in the distance. Eventually, having separated from the rest of the ships, we sailed into New York harbour where we lined up in the saloon to be photographed and have our fingerprints taken. Very shortly afterwards we received a New York dock pass which contained these identifying details. As the ship needed her bunkers replenishing we moved alongside the coal wharf and the bunker hatch covers were removed. We, the crew, were once more called into the saloon and asked ‘how much of a ‘sub’ (advance against wages) did we want.’ Armed with our dock pass we were then allowed to go ashore.

	We two ship’s boys ‘Galley’ and ‘Cabin’ soon found ourselves with older crew members in a bar and silly, silly, were persuaded (although it didn’t take much) to drink American Rye with beer chasers. During this session the bar tender realised we were underage and the two of us were slung out onto the street to the cheers of our shipmates. Let me emphasise I wasn’t drunk, just ‘tiddly’. ‘Cabin’ decided he was going back to the ship but with the night still being young, I set off to see the sights. Fine at the time but an hour later I realised:

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The End of School Days School days

Jul 20, 2020, 11:27 PM

Written by Jules

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Chapter 1: The End of School Days School days,

So they tell us, are the happiest days of our lives. In my case, certainly not so! However, my school days taught me a few tricks that were to stand me in good stead for later in life, and most certainly the old saying ‘you set one to catch one’ stood me in very good stead when I later became a School Boardman, or in modern parlance, an ‘Education Welfare and Attendance Officer.’

But judge for yourself and read on…

According to ‘the book’ in my day, children left school at the age of 14 years. Not so in my case for on or around 31 July when I left school for the last time, I was still only 13 years old, my birthday being 5 days later.

I don’t think there was anything special about my being allowed to leave a little earlier than I should have, although even I recognised that throughout my years spent in senior school I could quite easily have been described as ‘brain dead’ by the long-suffering staff who tried so hard to put knowledge into my thick skull. What a sigh of relief must have gone up when they saw the back of me after so many seemingly wasted years.

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Merchant Navy circa 1944

Jul 17, 2020, 08:08 PM

Written by Jules

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Merchant Navy circa 1944

The Galley was separated from the main bridge structure in which the Officers, the Captain and Chief Steward had their cabins. Also here was the catering staff mess room, main saloon, and pantry in which the food was served out, having been brought over from the Galley. Set in the floor of the pantry was a hatch and steps leading down into the storeroom.

Harry the Cook was now descending those steps to fetch up supplies for the next meal, but some idiot had put a small shelf over this hatch and on this shelf an even bigger idiot had placed an empty bottle. Harry was halfway down the stairs when the ship rolled sending the bottle crashing down upon Harry’s head. The first I knew of this was when crewmen ran past me, coming back a few moments later carrying Harry, as white as the proverbial sheet and with his head swathed in a blood-soaked towel. The Chief Steward was unable to stop the bleeding so the skipper was sent for! A signal was flashed to the Convoy Commodore who contacted the Destroyer escort, ‘Doctor urgently required!’ Within half an hour a Destroyer came alongside and lines were passed between the two ships. When I say alongside, don’t take me too literally as there was quite a space between us. Harry was carried onto the deck and lashed into what looked like a long straight jacket. Should the line snap whilst being passed over between the two ships he would float, head upright. Hooked on, the transfer started, and we held our breath as slowly, Harry was hauled from our ship to the Destroyer. Mission accomplished the lines were cast away and to the whoop, whoop, whoop of the Destroyer, our two ships separated.

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