蜜芽传媒

CONTINUED

AW HOWORTH 鈥� 鈥淪ONNY鈥�(G4LNE)

鈥淗OSTILITIES ONLY鈥�

PART 4 of 5

One warm day during a lecture on aircraft recognition someone dropped an oil drum on the deck above. It sounded like an explosion. I must have dozed off. I found myself on deck without a clue as to how I had got there. Sheepishly I went back to the classroom to roars of laughter from my mates. The Petty Officer joined in and said " it鈥檚 good to see how sharp your reactions are, they might save life one day, but please try to stay awake in future! Or some words to that effect!

When off watch, 鈥榮hore leave鈥� was granted and I spent a lot of time in the West End. Charitable organizations arranged for service people to purchase half price tickets to all the London shows and cinemas. As I didn鈥檛 drink much, I took advantage of this and enjoyed lots of entertainment that I would never have been able to afford otherwise. One place you couldn鈥檛 get seats for was the Windmill Theatre, but it didn鈥檛 stop me going. I was surprised how small it was, everyone had a good view of the stage, and although some of the comedians were corny, I had no complaints about the girls. The costumes were lovely, at least, what there was of them. Their boast was that " we never close " but I remember thinking it should have been, "we never clothe much".

St. Martins in the Field entertained troops in the crypt, with lots of food and drink and a bed if you needed it. One night I came out and found a thick fog had come down. I tried to find my way back to the ship, but kept going round in circles, so that I eventually ended up back at St. Martin鈥檚, and stayed the night. I managed to get back for breakfast, before my pass ran out. I certainly found out what a 鈥榩ea-souper鈥� was.

There was always someone who knew about the shady dives, and one night we found our way to a pub off Piccadilly that had more than its share of homosexuals, now it would be called a 鈥楪ay Bar鈥�. There seemed to be more whisky and beer to be had than in some pubs, so we spent most of the night there. Lots of girls liked to touch a sailor鈥檚 collar for luck, but when throwing out time came, and some of the male customers started touching too, we decided it was time to go very quickly.

Charley Browns place was not far from the docks and it was said that lots of stuff pilfered from the docks ended up there. You could leave an order for something in short supply and expect to have it delivered in a few days. I suppose they were the original spivs! Not long after we arrived the air raid siren went, but the locals said we were OK it wasn鈥檛 our turn. I didn鈥檛 share their confidence, all around us were bombed out buildings, so why we should be missed I couldn鈥檛 imagine, but they were right. On the way back to the ship the all clear went, and you could see the glow of fires on both sides of the Thames. Some were not so lucky!

After a show one night, on the way back to the ship the siren went and a warden told us to find a shelter. The nearest subway seemed to be the best bet. Lots of people were already there. It was fascinating how the locals made their way into the subways as if it was the most natural thing to do. When you thought about it, they were more in the front line than lots of the troops.

After the all clear went, on the way back to the ship, we stopped at one of the bombed buildings and offered to help the wardens look for buried people, but they said everyone was accounted for. So we carried on to get a couple of hours sleep before reveille. Near the end of our course, a coach took us to Shoeburyness firing range. Various types of weapons were fired, putting to use the lessons we had learned. At the end of the day, the Petty Officer in charge allowed use to go into Southend. Most of the entertainments were closed, but we enjoyed ourselves as usual, eating and drinking. so that we were a happy crew on the way back to London.

All too soon it was time to go to sea again. For a few weeks we had been taught a bit more about the job we had to do. We enjoyed the wandering around London, eating, drinking and the entertainment, although we may not have been physically rested, we felt better mentally.

Three of us were sent to a 500ton coaster that had been discharging coal. She was ready to sail down the Thames bound for Newcastle to load coal to bring back to Battersea power station.

The trip down the Thames was uneventful, and off Southend we joined a North bound convoy. Early in the trip, a mine was seen floating a few hundred yards away. We got permission from the Captain to try to sink it with machine gun fire, but before we were successful one of the escorts told us to cease fire, they would deal with it. Not long after we heard the explosion, so it was assumed they were successful.

Once in Newcastle loading started immediately. The only coal I had seen before was the bit I had put on the fire. To see it pouring down the chutes was frightening. Coal dust was everywhere, everything you touched was grimy, so that it was a relief when loading finished and the crew were able to hose the ship down.

Down the coast some of the crew pointed out the various landmarks, Flamborough Head, Spurn Head at the mouth of the Humber, off the Wash and round Norfolk to the Naze and on to the Thames. Mostly we discharged at the smaller wharfs where the big ships couldn鈥檛 go, but occasionally went to Battersea power station and Wandsworth gas works. Not far away was the 鈥楬ammersmith Palais鈥� where we spent many happy off duty hours.

If we had the time, a tube was caught to the West End to visit familiar haunts. We took advantage of the cheap theatre tickets and listening to and watching the big bands that only seemed to visit London. We even tried dancing, once we had boosted our courage with a few drinks.

On the Tyne, the entertainment was not so lavish, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. At that time air raids were not so frequent. Cargoes were picked up from a few places, Jarrow, Gateshead, Hebern, Wallsend, etc., so it gave us lots of opportunity to get to know the Geordies on their home ground. They certainly knew how to enjoy themselves and made us welcome too. In a club one night they encouraged amateur talent, so for a dare I got up and sang "Begin The Beguine" but I don't think it was appreciated because the customers were making more noise at the end than when I started. I didn鈥檛 have to pay for any more drinks that night, but maybe that was so that I didn鈥檛 sing again.

One of the gunners lived outside London and had a problem at home . He asked the Captain if he could go and visit. For an official pass you had to ask the Naval Authorities but the Captain could give you 48 hours. This suited him so that he spent most of his time there when we were in London, even after his problems were solved. The other gunner and myself lived in Lancashire, so there was no way that we could go home, spend a bit of time there and back in 48 hours, so the Captain suggested that in our case we could go home and rejoin the ship at our next port of call, providing that the other two gunners stood watch all the time we were at sea. I asked the Captain if he would make out the passes for 48 hours without putting a date on, this paid off once when I was stopped by the Shore Patrol at Euston station, they didn鈥檛 know what to make of it, but said "carry on this time, but make sure you get a proper pass next time". They never even noticed that it wasn鈥檛 dated. It gave us a chance to see our family without asking for an official leave pass, which would have been recorded in our pay book and would affect our leave qualification in the future. As we were unable to get free rail warrants a bit of dodging went on, travelling on platform tickets, and keeping out of the way of the ticket collector. It wasn鈥檛 always easy. I had a ticket from Newcastle to Rochdale, which I used a few times by leaving the train at Todmorden so that I didn鈥檛 have to surrender it at the ticket barrier. It was risky, and the odd time the collector caught us out we had to say we were too late to get a ticket, and how much did we owe?

I didn鈥檛 know it at the time but it was soon to be my last trip to the Tyne on this ship. We joined a convoy at the Thames estuary. A Greek ship was in line behind us. Our Captain got very worried because he kept coming too close to us - too close for comfort. He decided to have a signal flashed to him, " you are treading on my heels, please resume station". There was no response, and the Captain decided he probably didn鈥檛 understand much English. The first mate asked if he could send him a signal, permission was granted. The effect was immediate. He dropped back as if he had stopped. The Captain was impressed and asked the Mate what he had sent. The signal was " f*** off - or I will reverse my engines ". He clearly understood that kind of English!

On arrival at the Tyne I reported to the Naval Medical Officer feeling lousy. He thought I had jaundice and sent me to a hospital in North Shields. After some tests it was confirmed, so that I was put on a fat free diet and medication. I could eat as much sugar as I liked and got plenty of bed rest. After a couple of weeks I was granted two weeks sick leave. I didn鈥檛 feel up to much at first, but lots of wandering around, visiting all the shopping centre鈥檚 with Evelyn, so that when the time came for me to return I felt much better. My 鈥榦rders鈥� said that I was to return to a training ship at South Shields, to do a short refresher course before being drafted.

I wasn鈥檛 looking forward to living by ships routine again, so it was a pleasant surprise to find I was billeted out with a woman and her teenage daughter. Reporting on board at 9 am, the instructors did their best to give us all the latest information on new weapons, aircraft and ship recognition, and generally sharpen up our reflexes. Lessons finished at 4pm, so that I had plenty of time on my hands. Mrs Gibson, the landlady had a spare room so that Evelyn was able to get leave from her job at the Post Office in Bacup and came to join me. I managed to get some afternoons off so that we were able to visit all the big towns like, Newcastle, Middlesborough, Sunderland and such like. We enjoyed the smaller places, like Whitley Bay, Cullercoates, and especially Seaham Harbour. As all good things come to an end, Evelyn had to go home and I was back to finishing the course.

No one told us at the time but it was very close to "D-Day", consequently I was sent to Southampton to await a new ship. Southampton was packed with soldiers, sailors and airmen, and though it was supposed to be secret, everyone knew that we would soon be on the move.

CONTINUED

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