British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd.

Journal By Cadet Philip Dilworth.

Simonstown

Simonstown is a naval dockyard about 30 miles west of Cape Town. Between Simonstown and Cape Town is a railway which serves about 8 or 10 townships located between the two. Train services were quite frequent.


The dockyards at Simonstown.

After arrival at the dockyard, within a short time the ordered routine and way of life at sea underwent a dramatic change. A ship at sea and under commission is like a live being-it feels alive-there is a continual hum from the ships generators and air conditioning equipment, and a slight vibration, which is not normally noticeable except on a sub conscious level. When the ship's power is turned off, this feeling of life disappears-there is a feeling of loss-the ship appears to have died. This is what happened a few days after our arrival at Simonstown. Repair and spares inventories compiled by the ship's engineers were handed over to the dockyard authorities - power, lighting, telephone facilities were supplied by the dockyard -the ship's boilers and machinery were shut down and opened up for overhaul and repairs-the ship swarmed with dockyard maties carrying out the multitude of tasks which required to be done. The ship's Engineers, assisted by the Chief ERA's and Chief Stokers were responsible for generally overseeing the work that went on. Lieutenant Gillespie was responsible for the work in the Boiler Rooms, Lieutenants Miles and Porter for the Engine Rooms, and Sub Lieutenant Simons and myself for the work on the domestic machinery and ship's motor boats. The Commander (E) and Senior Engineer were in overall control.

Every 4 or 5 days an Engineer was on duty for 24 hours-this didn't involve much apart from inspecting all the machinery compartments once or twice out of the normal working hours, and on the 1st dog watch carrying out a fire drill with the duty watch i.e. a squad of stokers and an ERA. The fire drill consisted in transporting a portable diesel powered fire pump (Drysdale) mounted on tubular skids, at the double, down the gangway and along the wharf to a point opposite the stern or bow of the ship-dropping the suction pipe over the side of the wharf-unfurling the hose-pipe, starting up the diesel and spraying the side of the ship with the water jet. There always seemed to be an audience for this exercise from some of the ship's company, who by this time had finished work for the day, and so there was an incentive to carry out the exercise well.

Capetown-recreation

Before arriving at Simonstown the ship's company changed into 'blues' as the climate became cooler. It was autumn when we arrived and the weather was lovely-much cooler than Trinco. but still nice and warm with sunshine for 90% of the time.

After arrival the ship's Commander reminded the crew that apartheid was in operation in South Africa-this meant it would be forbidden to walk on the pavement with a coloured person or to mix with them in any way- and he said the South Africans were very strict about this, and penalties were very severe. In spite of this warning, occasions did occur when our sailors were apprehended and ended up in goal for breaching this law. This was understandable because there were many beautiful coloured girls in Capetown. On one occasion I saw a British sailor apprehended by a South African naval patrol which happened to be passing when the sailor was following and attempting to chat-up a coloured girl. I don't think he was one of ours. Initially our offending sailors were let off with a warning, but after a time when it still went on, it became a punishable offence and they were put on a charge. 'Liberty boat' was at 1730 and 1830 hours. After inspection the sailors went ashore and made for the station to get on the train for Capetown. Many of them would call in at a pub before boarding the train. The trains took about 50 minutes to reach Capetown, stopping at about 10 stations on the way. Each stop lasted about 2 minutes which was barely sufficient for our sailors to dash to the gents, and reboard the train before it started off again. Initially at the first 2 or 3 stops, there would only be a trickle of sailors, but this trickle increased in volume as the train got nearer and nearer to Capetown. One or two stations before Capetown a flood of sailors would disembark and return in a mad stampede. Segregation was strictly enforced-all the railway carriages were marked "Whites Only" or "Coloureds Only", and on the station platforms all seats and toilets had the same notices.

Capetown was a lovely place-magnificent wide streets, lovely shops, restaurants, cinemas, pubs etc., and of course there was no rationing, and no shortage of anything. To the north, Table Mountain provided a beautiful backdrop, especially when it was topped by the table-cloth of white clouds.

A favourite place of entertainment for both officers and crew was Del Monico's. It was a large building enclosing a complex of entertainments. Downstairs was a dance hall, several bars and a cinema. Upstairs, which was the posh part, were restaurants, several bars and lounges-this part was mainly frequented by the officers. I remember having a meal one evening with Sub Lieut. Simon. He was very fond of oysters, and he asked me if I would share a bowl of oysters with him. I had never had an oyster before, but emboldened by a few brandy and gingers which we had just quaffed, I agreed. Three dozen oysters appeared in a large silver bowl, and soon disappeared with the help of several pints of beer. It was a long time after, before I could look at an oyster again with any degree of equanimity. There was another occasion at Del Monico's which I vividly recall. On this occasion I was with Lieut. Miles-he was much older than I-a hard bitten character who had come up the hard way through the ranks-how I came to be with him I can't imagine, because he wasn't normally one of my companions. Anyhow, we happened to be in the toilet outside the dance hall, when in came a matelot of the South African Navy. This character was pretty well blotto-and on seeing the gold braid on our sleeves he proceeded to come out with a mouthful of foul language which cast aspersions on the legitimacy of our parenthood, and upon that of naval officers in general. I remember Lieut. Miles finishing what he was doing, turning to me and saying "Look the other way, Sub."-I then heard a sound which I can only describe as a dull fleshy thud, and when I turned round to look I saw the matelot spread-eagled on the floor, and Lieut. Miles rubbing his fist. "Let's get out of here", said Lieut. Miles-and so we proceeded upstairs to one of the bars for a brandy and ginger. Whilst sipping my drink my mind flashed back to the man-management course we had at Portsmouth. I remember it being impressed upon us that an officer must on no account touch a rating, and when reprimanding a rating, it was essential for a witness to be present. I ruminated that Lieut. Miles' man-management course must have been a different one than mine!

On one of my excursions to Capetown I remember buying a rectangular shaped gold watch for Constance.

Two weeks' leave

About a fortnight after our arrival in Simonstown I went on two weeks leave with Lieutenant Bill ? R.N. We had chosen to spend our leave on a farm about 30 miles from Capetown, near a small township called Somerset West. This had been arranged by the South African Women's Association (known as SAWAS). SAWAS was a very active association which did a lot of good work for servicemen apart from finding places for them to go on leave. Most of the ship's company chose to spend their leave in Johannesburg.

Our farm was owned by the Campbells, and the main activity was growing grapes for wine making. The grapes were sent to Stellenbosch where the wine was made. As well as Mr and Mrs Campbell, there were two daughters, Gwyneth and Ruth. Gwyneth was about 23 years old and managed the farm together with a Boer foreman, and about 20 or so black workers who lived in rather dilapidated shacks on the farm. Ruth was about 13 or 14 years old and still at school. Mr Campbell was an architect with an office in Capetown to which he commuted daily by train. He would be in his early fifties. Mrs Campbell was a very pleasant motherly woman - she was partly deaf, and was never without her hearing aid which she always wore. I suppose the hearing aid would be the best available for that time - it was about the size of an old Box Brownie with a handle attached for carrying.

The farmhouse was a large 2 storey building in the traditional Boer style, with a stoop all round and a Dutch roof. There must have been about 6 bedrooms. Quite close to the house were some outbuildings - living accommodation for the six black servants - a cook and 3 maids, and 2 house- boys.

Life was very easy for the Campbells - everything was done by the servants-cooking, setting the table, clearing away, washing up, house cleaning, washing, ironing etc. Quite often at 11.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. we would visit a neighbouring farm for sherry, and to socialise - or alternatively people would call on the Campbells. I remember on one occasion visiting a farm close by - the Hoffmeyers. Again, the main crop was grapes for wine-making. The head of the family was old lady Hoffmeyer. She would be in her sixties - and she was a character. "Why should South Africa fight your war for you?", she said on one occasion. "Why should we help you roi necks?". All this was said with a twinkle in her eye - but she was obviously very interested to see what our reaction would be. ('roi neck' was the Boer nick-name for British soldiers in the Boer war-its literal translation is 'red neck'. We found out later that one of her sons was a reader at Oxford, and the younger son was an Ordinary Seaman in the South African Navy, and was engaged to Gwyneth Campbell. I liked Mrs Hoffmeyer a lot.

VE day occurred during our second week at the Campbells, and a couple of days later the Campbells held a supper and dance in celebration. About 20 or 30 friends and neighbours were invited. Mr Campbell had run up the South African flag on a flagpole near the house, and I suggested that he ran up the Union Jack also. He said he would liked to have done so, but many of his neighbours were of Boer descent, and this would not have gone down so well with them, as they were not particularly fond of the British. At the dance there was a particularly attractive girl in a lovely long evening dress-the daughter of friends from South Rhodesia. I found myself dancing with her a lot and we were getting on well together, when Gwyneth tactfully collared me for a dance and said she thought she had better tell me that my delightful partner was only 15 years old. I was shaken-I would have sworn that she was about 19 years old. I disengaged myself as gently as I could.

One evening Mr Campbell and I were walking in the garden when he said that he had the gift of water devining, and asked if I would like to see a demonstration. I said I would very much, as I had read about it but had never seen it done. Mr Campbell cut a 1/2 inch diameter branch from one of the trees, and trimmed it so that it was in the form of a Y-piece, with the length of each leg of the Y-piece about 10 inches long. He then gripped one leg of the Y in each hand, with his palms facing upwards, and with the third leg pointing up towards his chin. He said there was an underground stream or well at the bottom of his garden, and proceeded to walk slowly towards it. Suddenly the leg of the Y pointing towards his chin started to flick and vibrate violently, and appeared as though it was trying to bend downwards towards the ground - Mr Campbell in the meantime was having a job to hang on to the Y-piece - there was obviously a tremendous force at work and the veins were standing out on his forearms with his efforts to hold it. Suddenly, after about 5 seconds or so, there was a crack and one of the arms of the Y-piece he was holding snapped and the force dissipated. It was a tremendous demonstration, and I felt fortunate to have seen it. I was then invited to have a go, but to my great disappointment I found out I didn't have the gift.

Time passed very quickly at the Campbells and when our leave was up and it was time to get back to the ship, we left with very great regret. I shall never forget the kindness shown to us both by the Campbell family.

Life back on the London went on in a routine way-I carried on familiarising myself with the ship's machinery, taking an interest in and supervising some of the maintenance work going on, occasionally spending an evening in Capetown, or reading and drinking in the wardroom. Two things occurred which were of interest. The first was the occasion of a 'Clear lower deck'. A 'Clear lower deck' is called after a member of the ship's company has been court martialled and found guilty-all the ship's company assemble on the quarter deck to be told of the charge and the sentence. The practice originates from Nelson's time, or even earlier- the intention being to let every member of the ship's company learn firsthand what the punishment is and the reason for it. In this particular case a Petty Officer had gone ashore and was adrift for 3 or 4 days before returning to the ship i.e. AWOL. The Petty Officer was marched on to the quarter deck escorted by the Regulating Chief Petty Officer and two SP's and brought before the Captain and Commander. At the command "Off Caps", the RCPO knocked the cap off the head of the Petty Officer. The Commander then read out the charge, announced a verdict of guilty, and then announced the sentence. In this case the Petty Officer was demoted to Leading Seaman and dismissed his ship-this meant he would be transferred to a shore establishment and then presumably to another ship. It also meant, as he was regular RN, that his pension would be effected, unless he made Petty Officer grade again. The whole incident was pretty depressing-mainly because of the humiliating way in which he had been marched on, cap knocked off, and everything done in the full view of the ship's company. I later learned why the Petty Officer went AWOL-he had received a letter from his wife which informed him that she had become pregnant by an American airman. He had requested to be sent home on leave, on compassionate grounds, and when asked by the Commander what he intended to do when he arrived home, he said he was going to find the American airman and "kill the bastard". His request was refused and so he went ashore that evening, got himself blind drunk, and remained in that state ashore for 3 days.

The second event worth mentioning was the day before we left Simonstown at the end of the refit. Again we had a 'Clear lower deck'. This time Rear Admiral Burnett, who was the Naval Commander in Chief, South Atlantic, came aboard to address the ship's company before we left to join the East Indies Fleet. Rear Admiral Burnett was famous for being in command of 3 cruisers, the Sheffield, Belfast and Norfolk at the Battle of North Cape in the Baltic in 1943, when the Scharnhorst a German pocket battleship was sunk. He was of medium height, stocky, with a ruddy face, and to some he was known as Bullshit Bobby Burnett. He told us he had taken a keen interest in the London whilst she had been in Simonstown, and had been very impressed by the general behaviour of the ship's company. He said we were now going off to join the East Indies Fleet to carry on the fight and defeat the Japanese. I noticed that a lot of the assembled ship's company were beginning to shuffle with embarrassment at the praises he was heaping on them, and when he finished off his speech by saying how fortunate we were to be able to take part in this crusade, and that he wished he was corning with us, an audible murmur of disapproval arose from the assembled company. As we moved off, I heard someone say that Bullshit Bobby was well named!

We left Simonstown, bound for Trincomalee, about the middle of June 1945, and arrived there about 10 days later. On the way we had problems with the ship's lube oil system. At Simonstown the lubrication oil for the ship's main engines and gearboxes was drained, and the whole system cleaned out. The new oil was a detergent oil which at that time was a new development. Initially we had quite a problem with the oil frothing up- froth leaked out of all the main turbine and gearbox bearings and also out of all the vents on the lube oil tanks, and made a terrible mess. We were a bit worried that this frothing of the oil would affect its lubrication quality and increase the bearing temperatures to an unacceptable level - consequently a strict watch had to be kept on these temperatures. The frothing and foaming went on for several days before eventually disappearing-it was probably due the cleaning action of the new detergent oil in a system which had used a straight mineral oil for years.

East Indies Fleet

There was a considerable fleet at Trincomalee of Cruisers, Destroyers, Submarines and 'Woolworth' Carriers. We understood the Fleet would be taking part supporting landings in Malaya, to support the 14th Army who by this time had regained almost the whole of Burma. This operation would take place in about 2 months time. As far as we were concerned there was not much to do except swing around our anchor in the harbour.

Our Marines however, who numbered about 120 all told, including a Marine Captain and 2nd Lieutenant, went ashore to take part in jungle training. They came back after about a month with several amusing tales to tell. On one occasion they were defending a bridge over a small stream when a wild elephant came charging along. According to my marine servant, who told me this in great glee, the 2nd Lieutenant, (who was a very tall, lanky, and rather gormless looking individual) stood in the middle of the bridge and put his hand up like a traffic policeman, and tried to shoo the elephant away. However the elephant, apparently had never seen a traffic cop before and came charging on. Catastrophe was averted at the last moment by the 2nd Lieutenant catapulting himself over the parapet of the bridge into the water. On another occasion, the marines were camped out one night in the jungle when a colony of baboons appeared in the surrounding trees. One of the marines heaved a coconut at them to drive them away-with the result that the baboons retaliated by hurling masses of coconuts, wrecking the whole camp.

One day I managed to get a lift on a truck taking provisions to a rest camp on the coast south of Trinco. The camp was very small and consisted of 7 or 8 'huts' on the beach above the tide line. The 'huts' measured about 20 ft. by 12 ft., had no walls, and were little more than roofs made from palm leaves mounted on poles. The men slept on portable camp beds. The beach was magnificent, in the shape of a shallow concave curve, and it was fringed by tall and shapely palm trees. There wasn't much to do except swim, fish, or go looking for shells. About 20 to 30 of our ERA's and stokers were the only inhabitants on this particular day- they were there for a week- and most of them were beautifully tanned and dressed in grass skirts they had made from palm leaves. Around their necks quite a few were wearing necklaces they had made from the large variety of shells, some of them quite beautiful, which could be found on the beach. After having had a meal with them- fish they had caught cooked over an open fire-I was taken by a couple of the ERA's to some ancient ruins, overgrown by the jungle, about half a mile away. There had obviously been a temple there hundreds of years ago, together with other buildings. We explored the area around the ruins, by following various paths through the trees. Most of them led us to another heap of stones, but on one occasion not far from the temple we entered a small clearing in the centre of which was a phallic symbol, about 3 ft. high , carved from stone. It must have been used for fertility rites in the past, and probably still was, because we noticed candle fat on the tip.

At this time of the year, almost mid summer, it was very hot in Trincomalee. On most days there was very little breeze to cool things down, and it was often stiflingly uncomfortable below deck. It was the normal practice for the ship's company to work until lunchtime-thereafter they were off duty. Many people had a nap in the afternoon, but there were 'liberty boats' available at various times to take people ashore if they wanted to go. On some days swimming parties were held off the side of the ship, with the ship's motor boats in a semi-circle on the periphery to look out for sharks, and to act as lifeguards if any one got into difficulties. These swimming parties were very popular. When it got a bit cooler, round about 8 bells (teatime), there was quite often a deck hockey match. This was held on one side of the ship, amidships, where there was a reasonable area of clear deck. These hockey matches, about 4 or 5 a side, were not for the faint hearted. They were very rough, with few rules, and usually no quarter was given by either side. Off duty dress for most of the crew was a pair of shorts and sand shoes. The evenings however were more bearable. Fortunately, a canvas awning was erected which covered most of the quarter deck, and it was delightful to sit there in an evening, in a deck chair, especially when some of the musicians from the Marines band gave a concert-which usually took place about twice a week. Many officers, myself included, took the opportunity to sleep on the quarter deck on a portable camp bed. An unforgettable memory of mine is of a Sunday evening seated on a deck chair listening to the Marines orchestra, playing Crimond. This was followed by a bugler playing Sunset as the ensign was lowered. I shall never forget it.

Runs ashore were very infrequent, as there was very little to do except go to an officer's club for a John Collins, or wander around the village which had nothing of interest except a few jewellery shops. I remember on one run ashore seeing a small crowd of sailors standing round a man squatting on the ground. I joined the crowd and saw this fellow push something like an acorn into a brass pot containing soil. Lo and behold, before our very eyes, a small bush sprouted from the soil and gradually grew until it was about 12 inches high. I have no explanation for this - but that is what I saw, or thought I saw.

Whilst at Trinco I became responsible for the maintenance of the ship's motor boats, together with an ERA named Coe. Coe was about my age, an excellent mechanic, as all the regular RN types were-he was not very tall, about 5 ft. 4, and he hailed from Kent. We got on very well together. There was a small motor boat workshop, on the port side of the upper deck, under one of the 4 inch gun decks. It contained a couple of work benches, a number of vices, and a vertical drill. In the past, the ship had somehow acquired a small dinghy about 8 ft. long, and an old Johnson Seahorse outboard motor which could be fitted to the dinghy. When Coe and I took over the motor boats, the outboard motor was in a poor condition-and in our spare time we overhauled it, and perfected the art of starting it . This could be very tricky to the unfamiliar-however provided the choke and throttle controls were set at certain specific positions, we found we could start the motor invariably at the first pull of the starting cord. The dinghy was available to any officer or senior rating to use for recreation, such as going for a trip round the harbour, or on a picnic. However because it was known that the motor was a bit difficult to start, very few people were prepared to take the risk, and suffer the indignity of sending out an SOS and be towed back to the ship. Consequently, Coe and I spent many an enjoyable hour cruising around the harbour in Trinco. on our time off. The Johnson Seahorse was not a good match for the little dinghy- it was really too heavy and too powerful, and even with the passenger seated right in the bows, the dinghy would be inclined about 30 degrees with the bows stuck up in the air, and it would turn on a sixpence. I remember an occasion later on when the war had ended and when we were anchored out in Aden harbour-Coe and I were out in the dinghy when a large troopship entered the harbour crowded with troops on their way home to be demobbed. We decided to put on a show for the soldiers lining the decks-and so we charged up and down, alongside, at full speed which lifted the bows up much higher than the 30 degrees, and then treated them to our 180 degree turns on a sixpence. This was great fun and we were rewarded by tremendous cheers and catcalls from the troops who appeared to be in great spirits, no doubt because they were on their way home.

One day, the battleship HMS Nelson arrived and anchored quite close to the London. I was delighted to learn that two engineers of my year at Leeds University were aboard. They were Johnson and Beaumont. They invited me aboard the Nelson for dinner one evening, and I returned the invitation 2 days later. Beaumont subsequently joined the Dyestuffs Division of ICI after being demobbed, and so our paths met once more several years later.


H.M.S. Nelson.

The day after their arrival, the Nelson's Midshipmen raided the Gunroom of the London, and carried off one of their trophies-which was, I believe, a sword of some kind. On the evening I went to dine aboard the Nelson, the Nelson's Midshipmen were expecting a return raid from London's Midshipmen, and preparations had been made to repulse the raid. Fire hoses had been connected up so that they could be aimed at the raiders when they attempted to climb up the gangway. I understand the raid did take place that evening, although I didn't witness it, and honours ended up about even.

One morning I was working in the For'd Engine Room helping an ERA to remove the door from an evaporator. The evaporator made fresh water by evaporating sea water, and the door was fastened on by about 12 large nuts. I was heaving away on a tommy bar fitted over the end of a large spanner, when felt a slight strain at the base of my spine. It didn't seem to be much at the time and I kept on working. I had lunch as usual and then turned in, on my bunk, for an afternoon nap, as most people did. I awoke about 4 o'clock to go for a shower, before going for a cup of tea in the wardroom, but found it difficult to get off my bunk because of an ache in my back. Eventually I staggered down to the shower room and had my shower. As I was towelling myself one of the other officers said "What on earth has happened to you?". I said "What do you mean?", and he said "You are all lop-sided-look in the mirror". I looked in the mirror on the wall of the shower room and was horrified to see that one hip seemed to be about 4 inches lower than the other. I went off to see the ship's doctor-a Surgeon Lieutenant RNVR, who pronounced that I had pulled a muscle in my back, and suggested I should attend the Sick Bay each day to have my back massaged. After about a week of this treatment my back responded and fortunately I was soon back to normal.

In the tropics, Mepacrin pills were taken as a precaution against malaria. In the Wardroom, the pills were left in a dish, on a table, and we would help ourselves. Many servicemen were reluctant to take the pills, because of a rumour they could cause impotency.

VJ Day

VJ day was on the 15th of August whilst we were still at anchor at Trincomalee. This was the day that Emperor Hirohito made a radio broadcast accepting the surrender terms of the Allies. Several days before this we had heard that a bomb of tremendous power-a new type of weapon-had been dropped in Japan, and then a few days after this we heard the Japanese had been asked to surrender. Nevertheless it was a surprise that the war ended so quickly. That day and evening the Navy became somewhat light hearted and strange things must have taken place on many of the ships in the Fleet. Round about 4 bells (tea time), a Rear Admiral visiting the London was greeted on the gangway by a large Lieutenant RNVR, waving a blown up condom, with the words "Hi ya cock". After sundown all the ships in the harbour 'lit up' with all the illumination they could muster, and searchlights were dancing about on the night sky. On the London someone fired off one of the 4 inch guns but no one seemed to care all that much. Later on in the evening all the lights were suddenly switched off on one of the 'Woolworth' Carriers anchored quite close to us-I think it might have been HMS Warrior, but I'm not sure-and we subsequently learned that 4 of their officers had been tragically drowned in an escapade when they were pretending to raid another ship. A Very light shell fired into their dinghy as part of the jollifications resulted in them jumping overboard when they were swept away by the current and drowned.

A few days after VJ day the East Indies Fleet set off for Singapore.

Surrender of Sabang

The formal surrender document was signed on the morning of September 2nd on the quarterdeck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed with General Umezu for Japan. (Togo had resigned once the surrender terms were agreed.) General Douglas MacArthur signed as Allied Supreme Commander, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz for the USA, Admiral Sir Bruce Frazer for Britain and General Sir Thomas Blarney for Australia. A massed flypast of about 2000 Allied planes roared overhead. World War II was officially over. At General Macarthur's orders, the surrender of Japanese forces in outlying areas was delayed until after the Tokyo Bay ceremony. This caused considerable chaos, and it was not until September 12th that Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten accepted surrender at Singapore.


Shigemitsu signs surrender.

About half way across the Bay of Bengal the East Indies Fleet comprising Battleships, Cruisers, 'Woolworth' Carriers, Destroyers, and several support ships received the order to delay its arrival in Singapore, and for about 5 days the Fleet steamed up and down at low speed to conserve fuel. On the London, games and quiz competitions were organised to help to pass the time. Over the ship's Tannoy system, questions were asked and the first one to ring up the bridge with the correct answer gained a point for his messdeck. Prizes of cigarettes, chocolate, beer etc were awarded for the winning messdeck. Competitions were also held for deck hockey, rifle shooting etc. On one occasion we got a signal from the ship in line ahead of us to stop the rifle competition on the foredeck as one of their seamen had received a minor wound in the buttocks. Eventually we received orders to proceed once more to Singapore.

Just before entering the Malacca Straits, the London and a Destroyer were detached from the Fleet to take over the surrender of Sabang, a small island on the northern tip of Sumatra. This was the island we had bombarded earlier in April.

Shortly after anchoring in the harbour of the town of Sabang, a Japanese launch approached the ship carrying a Marine Captain, who was the emissary of the Japanese Vice Admiral commanding all the forces on the island. The Japanese Marine Captain could speak English and subsequently acted as interpreter. He was the first member of the Japanese forces most of us had ever seen, and so we were interested to see what he looked like. He was dressed in an open-neck khaki uniform, with knee length black boots, a khaki forage cap, and was wearing a typical Japanese curved sword. When he first came aboard he was very nervous. Over the next few days he was a frequent visitor, and became known to the ship's company as 'Little Arthur'.

We were informed there were approximately 5000 Japanese Marines occupying the island, and a number of their patrols in the interior of the island were not aware of the Japanese surrender-it being their practise to send out patrols into the jungle for 2 or 3 weeks at a time before returning to base. As we were hopelessly outnumbered the situation was rather tense for the first few days-very few of our people went ashore - it being the policy to keep contact between the two sides to a minimum in order to avoid the possibility of any awkward incident arising. We were waiting for naval transports to arrive from Sourabaya to embark and take the Japanese away-this occurred after about 10 days-the day following the visit to the ship of the Japanese Vice Admiral, to have discussions with Commodore - - - - - - - - - - -, who was the British Commander at Sabang. I have photographs of this event.


Japanese Vice-Admiral arriving onboard HMS London, September 1945


Japanese officer accompanied by Royal Navy officer.


Japanese Admiral's Envoy and British Guard Of Honour, HMS London.

One incident occurred which is worth mentioning. One of our seamen used his initiative and managed to pinch the Ensign from the Japanese launch for a souvenir. Shortly afterwards 'Little Arthur' came aboard with a message from the Vice Admiral to the effect that it was imperative for the Vice Admiral to get the Ensign back as he would be required to return it to the Japanese Emperor-if this could not be done, the disgrace would be such that he would have to commit Hari Kari. As we were extremely anxious to avoid any incident it was considered imperative to hand the Ensign back. The Captain broadcast to the ship's company over the ship's Tannoy, explained the situation, and appealed for the ensign to be handed over-he said that whoever had the Ensign would not be punished. After about 24 hours the ensign turned up on the bridge and was handed back to the Japanese. Most of the ship's company were annoyed that the ensign was handed back, but appreciated why it had been necessary.

The Japanese had been instructed to leave all the installations ashore in good working order. When we eventually went ashore to take over, on the face of it everything seemed to be in reasonable order, but as time went on it became apparent that things were not as they should be. On the island there was a fleet of about 20 to 30 lorries which were taken over and appeared to be in a reasonable condition. However after about 7 days they all began to give trouble-we eventually found out the Japanese had diluted the battery acid with ordinary water, with the result that gradually all the batteries failed.

About a couple of days after the Japanese had left I was sent ashore together with an ERA, an Electrical Artificer, and a Stoker, to start up a generator which supplied electricity to the air field on Sabang. We reported to the harbour master's building which had been set up as our headquarters on the island, where a Marine was detached to take us to the generator. We walked for about 3/4 of a mile along a minor road through what can best be described as jungle, passing a few native houses (wooden shacks) on the way. Eventually we came to a large dugout on the edge of the road and on entering we saw the generating set which consisted of an 8 cylinder Dorman diesel engine coupled up to the generator. There were also a number of electrical switches on one wall, a small air compressor coupled to a single cylinder engine, and a compressed air bottle. The purpose of the air compressor was to provide compressed air for starting the main diesel engine. We later learned that the Dorman diesel engine had been brought over from Singapore by the Japanese. We checked over the equipment-the lube oil levels were O.K. in the two engines, and there was fuel in the tanks of both engines- everything looked O.K. The first thing to do was to pump up the air bottle to get starting air for the diesel. We tried to start up the engine of the air compressor-but couldn't get the semblance of a cough out of the engine after numerous swings of the starting handle. We had been a bit puzzled from the start, because the fuel in the tank smelled more like paraffin than petrol, which we would have expected. Unfortunately all the notices on the equipment were in Japanese which was not of much help. Eventually we decided to drain the fuel and replace it by petrol-fortunately we had brought a can of it with us. The engine started almost immediately with the new fuel and we pumped up the air bottle to the red mark on the pressure gauge attached to it, without any trouble. The next stage of the operation was to start up the Dorman diesel engine-which involved opening the decompression levers on the diesel, opening the valve on the air line between the compressed air bottle and the diesel, to run the diesel engine up to speed, and when the revs were sufficient, closing the decompression valves on the diesel cylinders. The diesel engine should then start to run. That's what should have happened-what did happen was that when we opened the air valve to the diesel, there was a loud hissing noise and all the air escaped from the flanged joints in the air line. On checking we found all the nuts on the flanged joints had been loosened. It was apparent the Japanese had deliberately introduced these faults. We tightened up the joints on the air line and pumped up the air bottle once more, and then carried out the starting procedure again to start the engine. The diesel started first time and we started to congratulate ourselves when we noticed that the lubrication oil pressure was very low. We stopped the diesel, opened up the sump and examined the oil. It was apparent that some kind of foreign matter- probably soil- had been tipped into the sump. As we had no lube oil with us, and as there was oil circulating, we decided to run the engine and hope it would last out until we could get some fresh oil and change it. So far we had managed to get the diesel generator going- the final stage was to operate the electrical switches which would direct the power to the airfield, about one mile away. The Electrical Artificer had checked the switchgear as far as he was able, but because of the deliberate faults, albeit minor ones, which we had discovered, we decided it would be prudent for the rest of us to clear out of the dugout whilst the switches were operated. Fortunately there was no problem and power started passing to the air field. Our job was now completed, and so we set off back to the headquarters to report that the lube oil of the diesel engine needed to be changed as soon as possible. We left the Stoker to tend the machines-he was relieved several hours later. The electricity supply to the airfield failed after about 24 hours. The fault was eventually traced to a failure of the main supply cable, caused by a bullet which had half severed it. Eventually the cable overheated at this point and parted-another example of sabotage!

Before the war, Sabang had been part of the Dutch East Indies, and I was surprised to learn that the local population, which seemed to consist of Javanese and Chinese, had no love for the Dutch-in fact, to them there wasn't much difference between the Dutch and the Japanese, and they certainly didn't want the Dutch back again. We had very little contact with them, as the only people who went ashore were working parties and those people who were required to get things going again. The ship's Doctor attended a difficult confinement and delivered a baby who had the name 'London' added to its names by the parents, as a gesture of thanks.

During the 3 or 4 weeks that we were there, the people of Sabang were very short of food, and also we in the London started to get a bit short. Towards the end of our stay we ran out of potatoes and used rice as a substitute. There were a number of Marines ashore manning various outposts, and they had been given strict instructions that on no account must they give any of their food to the local population. One day a Marine walking back to the headquarters was asked for food by one of the Chinese as he passed his shack at the side of the road. Feeling sorry for them, the Marine handed over a tin of sausages from his rations. Sometime later the Marine became conscious that he was being followed by a young Chinese girl in her teens, who wouldn't stop following him when he tried shooing her away. Eventually the girl followed him into the headquarters after dodging past the Marine sentry at the entrance gate. When the commotion had died down, it transpired that the girl had been told by her father that she was now the property of the Marine in exchange for the tin of sausages. I believe the Marine was given about 10 days jankers with loss of pay.

Before leaving Sabang, the Marine Captain went ashore to look at the Japanese defences guarding the approaches to the town of Sabang. If the landings in Malaya planned for that Autumn had gone ahead, the Marines from the London would have been part of a force landing on a headland about 6 miles from the town of Sabang. From this headland ran a road to the town, skirting the coast. The whole length of this road was overlooked by foxholes in the jungle in which machine guns would have been mounted, and there were also a large number of catapult arrangements (using bent over trees) for hurling explosive canisters on to the road. It was generally agreed there would have been heavy casualties if the landing had taken place.

Singapore

After our stay of 3 to 4 weeks at Sabang we set off for Singapore via the Malacca Straits arriving there about 5 days later about the end of September 1945. I had been there towards the end of 1940 whilst in the Merchant Navy, when we disembarked about 1000 troops. I remember on that occasion visiting the famous Raffles Hotel and having a drink on the verandah, and I was hoping it would be possible to pay another visit. Unfortunately this wasn't possible because there was no shore leave and we remained tied up to a berth which seemed to be miles away from anywhere for about 5 days.

The only Japanese I saw was a working party of about 30 soldiers who had been put to work to help provision the ship. A Japanese officer was in charge of the working party and an incident occurred which gave us an inkling of discipline in the Japanese army. A Petty Officer of ours supervising this work noticed one of the soldiers obviously skiving, and pointed this out to the officer. The officer went up to the soldier, knocked him down by hitting him violently in the face, and then proceeded to kick him whilst he lay on the ground.

After 5 days we sailed for home, after embarking as passengers 2 Wren Officers. They shared a cabin in the stern of the ship, next to the Captain's cabin.

The Journey Home

We came home via the Suez Canal, stopping at Aden to take on water and fuel, which allowed a run ashore for those who wanted to. Aden was an unattractive place-not a blade of grass to be seen-sun baked rocky terrain, brownish/yellow in colour, with dingy streets and shops. A speciality of the place was Arabian carpets and rugs, and a fair number of these were bought by members of the ship's company.

After arriving at Port Said the Commander(E) informed me that I had been awarded my watchkeepers certificate, which meant that I was now able to take a watch on my own i.e. be the Engineer Officer in charge of the engineering personnel on watch in the engine rooms, boiler rooms, and machinery spaces whilst at sea. I was also told that I was now Temporary Sub-Lieutenant(E) RN, which meant that I would have to change my wavy RNVR stripes to the straight RN stripes. To my great surprise the ship's 'pussers store' had the RN stripes, and Lieutenant(E) Porter offered to remove the wavy stripes from my uniforms and sew the new ones on. I wasn't too sure why I had become Temporary RN, although later on someone told me that it was because I was considered suitable for RN service after the war-when my demob, papers came through the Commander(E) did inform me that I could stay on in the regular Navy if I wanted to. From Port Said we went on to Gibraltar where we berthed for a couple of days before going on to the UK. There were a couple of incidents at Gibraltar which amused me, and which to some extent were to do with Naval discipline and justice, which appeared to me to be based on common sense. The first incident concerned a rating who was returning back to the ship from a run ashore. I had just turned in and was nodding off to sleep when I heard this rating singing at the top of his voice, outside my porthole. My cabin was on the starboard side of the ship quite close to the gangway which led on to the quarterdeck, and I looked out of the porthole to see him staggering along towards the gangway. It was fascinating to see the change in his behaviour as he reached the bottom of the gangway-he made a great effort to pull himself together, and managed to walk very stiffly without falling over, up the gangway. At the top of the gangway he just had enough strength to lift his hand to salute, and then stagger off. I later learned that this procedure took place on most occasions when this man went ashore, and that his messmates were expecting him to come back in this state, and had slung his hammock in anticipation. Periodically one of his mates would go up on deck and look for him lying in the scuppers in the shadow of a 4 inch gun deck where he would invariably end up. As far as the Navy was concerned, provided he carried out the proper procedure, saluted the quarterdeck and moved off without making a disturbance, then that was O.K. The second incident concerned another drunken rating. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the Admiral at Gibraltar was due to visit the ship and take tea with the Captain. About 10 minutes before this, to the horror of the Officer of the Watch on the gangway, this drunken seaman arrived back from his run ashore, in a belligerent mood, and started grappling with the Marine guard who was standing with rifle and fixed bayonet at the bottom of the gangway. The Officer of the Watch saw what was going on and sent two sidesmen down to bring the man aboard. A furious struggle ensued and a further two men were needed before he was dragged aboard, stood on his feet, made to salute, and hustled off. There was great relief all round when the event was over with about 4 minutes to spare.

Before leaving Gib., I managed to buy a case of Jerez sherry, a leg of beef, and a branch of bananas to take home on leave.

Leave

We arrived at Plymouth round about the end of November, and docked there before going on to Chatham, the home base. I left the ship at Plymouth to go on 2 week's leave, and caught a train to Bristol where I had to change trains for a connection north. It was a miserably wet and cold night, and having come from the tropics it was cold even in my uniform greatcoat. I eventually found myself in an unheated train compartment at Temple Mead station at about 1.30 in the morning, waiting for the train to set off. The only other occupant of the compartment was a Commander RN who offered me a drink of brandy from a flask he had. In those days the trains were not very punctual, and were usually unheated to conserve fuel. Eventually we set off in the general direction of Normanton where I intended to get off.

The further north we went, the more the train got crowded, and people eventually spilled into our 1st class compartment. I suppose about half the passengers were soldiers, sailors or airmen going on or coming from leave. At one stage a couple, obviously man and wife were sitting opposite me. They had a young daughter with them, about 4 years old, and I remembered the branch of bananas above me on the luggage rack. I pulled a bunch of bananas from the branch and gave them to the couple, suggesting the little girl might like one. To my surprise she shrank away from the banana, obviously frightened of it-and then I realised she had never seen one before-bananas were an unheard of commodity in England during the war years. I eventually arrived home in Castleford with my case of sherry, branch of bananas and leg of beef.

The big event of my leave was seeing Constance, proposing, and getting engaged. By this time Constance had finished at University and was teaching French and German at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar school in Gainsborough. It was a boy's school and Conk was the first lady teacher the school had ever had. It must have been interesting for her because the sixth formers were not much younger than she was. I remember she came home on the first weekend and we went to Leeds on the Saturday to buy the diamond and sapphire engagement ring at a jeweller's in the Briggate arcade. The ring cost £35 which was a princely sum in those days. On arriving back from Leeds and announcing our engagement to our respective parents, I remember the initial reaction from both sets of parents was rather chilly-mainly I think because they were hurt that we hadn't announced our intention beforehand. Even though the war had turned many of the old taboos upside down, the thought still lingered on in some quarters that the correct thing to do was for the suitor to obtain the father's permission, before formally proposing. However, after the initial shock, everything turned out to be O.K.

Conk was in digs in a bed-sit in a house owned by two old maiden sisters. In those days it was rather grim for a single person living on her own. Rations were very meagre, and if one was working it was difficult to get more than the official ration, because there wasn't much time to get around the shops. I remember that Constance got one egg per month, and approximately 2 ounces of meat per week, which was the ration for a single person. I can't remember much more about my leave-except that there was a school dance one Friday evening, where I met the school staff, and for which I had to borrow an evening dress shirt from the Headmaster.

At a 45 years' anniversary for the 4th form, held in 1990, we were amused to be told by one of the old boys that I wasn't liked because they thought I was going to take Constance away from them.

Voyage to Australia

After a minor refit, in early March (1946), we set off for a trip to Australia, to bring servicemen back to this country for demobilisation. The ship's wartime complement of about 850 was reduced to around two fifths, so that we could fill up with servicemen in Australia for the voyage home. I remember we were left with a gun crew for one of the main turrets. On the way out we called in at Malta before going through the Suez Canal and on to Freemantle, before reaching our final destination, Sydney.

By this time of course, I had my watchkeeper's certificate, and took my turn as the Engineer Officer of the Watch, whilst at sea. There were 5 watchkeeping Engineers, and as there were 7 watches over a 24 hour period (because of the dog watches), we had approximately 2 watches a day. During daytime working hours at sea, Watchkeeping Engineers went about their other duties, which in my case was supervising any maintenance work required on the ship's electrical generators, the ship's motor boats, and on the domestic machinery. A big problem at that time was a shortage of spare parts for most of the machinery, and a lot of work went on in the machine shop fettling up worn equipment. A pain in the neck for me was the knife edges which were a vital part of the governors of the steam turbines driving the electrical generators. We had not been able to get spare knife edges for a long time, and so it was necessary to machine and re-harden worn ones, in the ship's workshop, and re-use them instead of fitting new ones.

We entered Valetta harbour, Malta, on a bright sunny morning and I remember standing on the stern of the quarterdeck with about 4 Midshipmen - one of the Mids took a photograph of the group, which I still have- the Midshipman who took the photograph was David Williams who I subsequently met 48 years later at Dorchester Art Club. I remember the sea was very rough as we entered Valetta harbour, with the stern of the ship where we were standing, going up and down like a see-saw. We stayed the night in Valetta, and I managed to get ashore and have a look at the Gut-the Gut was well known to sailors-a long narrow street full of shops, eating places, seedy bars, and no doubt brothels.

The seas were very rough on the voyage to Port Said, and unfortunately a Seaman suffered a fractured skull when he was dashed against one of the 8 inch gun turrets by one of the seas that came over. There was also an accident to one of our engineering personnel-one of the ERAs' was using an electric drill during repair work on one of the boilers, when the drill bit broke and a piece entered his eye. The ship's doctor had no option but to remove the eye. We left both casualties behind at Port Said-they went off to a Naval hospital-and it was arranged that we would pick up the ERA on our journey back from Australia. The trip through the Suez Canal was uneventful-it being about the tenth time I had passed through, taking into account my service with the British India S.N. Co.-and we carried on to our next port of call, Freemantle.

We entered Freemantle harbour about 10 days later at about 6 o'clock in the morning. It was a beautiful morning, and as we neared the jetty which we were to tie up to, I was astonished to see a very large crowd of people who were obviously waiting to greet us, and a brass band.

I happened to see this welcoming throng because I was skulking about on deck near one of the ship's motor boats. On entering harbour no one was allowed on the upper deck except for those who were required to tie up or anchor the ship, and those who lined the deck for ceremonial purposes. One of my problems, as the Engineer responsible for the motor boats, was to try and ensure that the motor boat engine would start up first time when the boat was lowered into the water, so that the boat could immediately make its way round to the ships' gangway. The Ships' reputation would suffer if the motor boat wouldn't start, and eventually Sub-Lieutenant Dilworth would get a rocket from the Captain via the Commander(E). Consequently every time we entered harbour it was my practice to climb up into whichever motor boat was to be used, together with the motor boat ERA and the Stoker who would be part of the motor boat crew, and run up the engine so that it would be warm when it was lowered overboard, and hopefully start up right away.

We tied up to the jetty as the band was playing, and shortly after the gangway had been lowered, to my surprise, about half a dozen of our sailors ran down the gangway into the arms of girls who were obviously waiting for them. Apparently the London had called at Freemantle sometime previously and these sailors had become engaged to the girls who lived in Freemantle or in Perth which was about 15 miles away. We stayed in Freemantle to refuel and left the following morning for Sydney. The sailors with the girls were given leave and were left behind, to be picked up on our return voyage in about a month's time. Some of them got married in this time.

We arrived in Sydney about a week later where we docked and stayed for about a week. I went ashore several times on shopping trips and to look around, but I can't recall much about it-I vaguely remember going across the famous Harbour Bridge, walking through the notorious Kings Cross district, and having a look at Bondi Beach, but I cannot recall any details.

One day I went ashore with one of the Chief Stokers' to buy some 'roll-ons' and a brassiere, which my sister Mollie had specifically asked me to do. The Chief Stoker was on a similar mission for his wife. We found a very posh shop in the main shopping centre of Sydney which specialised in lingerie and with some trepidation walked in. I explained what I wanted to a rather good looking sales assistant, which was the start of quite an amusing few minutes. "What are the bust and hip measurements of your sister?". I said that I had been told what they were, but I had forgotten. "Well, is she like me?" said the assistant, who came out from behind the counter, and twirled around. I said I thought my sister was about the same height but a little bit slimmer. "I will get some of the other girls", said the assistant. There were a few women customers in the shop and when they heard what was going on they came over to have a good laugh. Eventually I picked out a girl who seemed to be about Mollie's size and so we settled on the size that way. There was a good deal of friendly banter and plenty of laughs from the small audience which had gathered- "Are you sure it's for your sister?", said one. The Chief Stoker's purchases were relatively easy as he knew his wife's measurements.

On another occasion, I was in the ladies department of a large department store buying presents to bring home. There was a large drum full of ladies dresses, and I was going through the dresses which had been tossed into the drum, when 3 or 4 women came over to see what I was doing. I explained that clothing was in short supply and rationed at home. They were very interested to see which dresses I chose, and were keen to advise me. I found the same interest when I was buying ladies shoes-they were most interested to see the style of the shoes that I bought. I remember that the popular style of shoe out there at that time had a heel which belled out at the bottom, which I thought was rather ugly. The shoes I bought had tapered heels which to me seemed more elegant. The Aussie women were most interested to see that I hadn't chosen the style most of them were wearing.

After a stay of about a week or 10 days we left Sydney to start the journey home. On the previous day we had embarked about 400 servicemen, mainly soldiers, who were returning home for demobilization. About a week later we arrived at Freemantle where we stayed for a couple of days. I remember spending a day at Perth-a beautiful city-which is about 15 miles from Freemantle. I was with Lieutenant Porter, and I remember we were shown around the place by an Aussie who gave us both a case of peaches and a gallon tin of Honey to take home. At Freemantle we picked up the half dozen sailors we had left on the outward journey to get married.

I remember an incident concerning one of our Stokers-an old lag with over 20 years service in the Navy. He was known as 'Tanky'-because one of his jobs was to keep a check on the contents of the ships water tanks, by sounding them at intervals. He went ashore to Perth on the evening before our departure due for 6.00 a.m. the following day. At 5 minutes before the deadline, when the ship's gangway was about to be hoisted inboard, Tanky appeared hobbling along the jetty. We found out later that Tanky had got himself pretty well blotto, had intercourse in a shop's doorway, and woke up at about 2.00 a.m. without any shoes or socks on. He set off to rejoin the ship in his bare feet and covered the 15 miles or so with 5 minutes to spare.

Our next landfall was Suez which we reached in about 10 days. During this time I took my turn as Engineer Officer of the Watch- which worked out as holding a Watch approximately 3 times in every 2 days.

We arrived at Suez on the 4 to 8 watch one morning, when I was Officer of the Watch. I went on watch at 4 a.m. and the Engineer I relieved reminded me that two of the boilers would have to be brought into commission and connected in to the steam mains on my watch. It was usually normal practice to have all boilers on line when at action stations or entering port. I read the log book which confirmed this, and noted the boilers had to be flashed up and connected in at 5.30 a.m. Connecting the boilers into the steam mains involved the opening of 2 valves on each boiler-superheated and saturated steam valves-and this job was always done by the Engineer Officer. I went along to the For'd Boiler Room shortly before 5.30 and after a brief word with the Chief Stoker, mounted to the top of the boiler room to get at the stop valves on the boilers. The procedure involved bringing the steam pressure of the boiler up to the pressure of the steam main into which it was to be connected, and then cracking open the boiler stop valve, and provided conditions were stable, opening the valve wide as quickly as possible. The Chief Stoker who was responsible for equalizing the steam pressures in the boiler and steam main, gave the signal to open the valves. This operation could be a bit tricky-if the boiler pressure was at too high a pressure when the stop valve was opened there was a danger of steam flashing off from the boiler's steam drum with the consequent risk of burning out some of the boiler water tubes. The temperature at the top of the boilers would be of the order of 120-130 F, and working in that heat was pretty horrific. The fact that the stop valves were in not very accessible positions and needed a great deal of force to turn them, even with a wheel spanner, didn't help either. On this particular occasion I had just cracked open the superheated steam valve on the first boiler when the ship started to manoeuvre-we had arrived off Suez earlier than anticipated. The Boiler Room telegraph clanged and changed to 'Decrease', and the Chief Stoker was faced with having to deal simultaneously with knocking off oil sprayers on the on-line boilers, operating the forced draught fan, and ensuring that the steam pressure of the boiler I was connecting in, was kept at the required pressure. It was imperative to get the new boilers connected as soon as possible, because the boiler telegraph was every now and then altering between 'Decrease', 'Stop', and 'Increase'. A Stoker was sent up to help me open the valves. We got the job done in double quick time, about 15 minutes, and were thankful to get down out of that awful heat. As we were still manoeuvring, I hurried back to the For'd Engine Room and arrived there feeling absolutely drained, with my boiler suit wet through, and was promptly sick on the footplate in front of the control panel. A Stoker brought me a cup of water, a salt tablet, and a mug of soup, and after a bit I was feeling my old self once more.

After picking up a pilot we sailed through the Suez Canal and tied up for the night in Port Said, where I went ashore with Lieutenants Gillespie and Porter for a meal and a drink. The following morning we sailed for home.

At Port Said we picked up the ERA who had lost his eye and who we had left 6 to 8 weeks previously to go to hospital. As might be expected we were all delighted to see him, and also delighted to see him looking so well. The hospital had fitted him with a glass eye and done a remarkable job, as only the most discerning would notice he had a false eye. He told us that after his hospital treatment he was sent to an Army rest camp in Palestine to recuperate. One night he was playing cards in the Sergeant's mess, and as it was early days he had not quite mastered the art of coping with the false eye. In the middle of one round of cards the eye popped out and fell on to the table in front of him-with the result that one of the Sergeants fainted.

Sometime after leaving Port Said a number of the soldiers we were carrying reported that the lockers which had been allocated to them had been broken into and some of the contents had been stolen. Most of the soldiers had bought presents to take home to their wives and girl friends, and many of the lockers had been stuffed with silk stockings, lingerie, shoes, and other items that were hard to get at home. On checking it became apparent that a large number of lockers had been rifled. There was obviously an organised gang aboard, and it was apparent they must be members of the ship's company. The question was-"Where is all the stuff being stowed?", especially as there was a considerable quantity of it. The Commander(E) called a meeting of all the Engineer Officers, in the Engineer's office, explained the position, and said it had been decided to check all the damage control lockers, ostensibly to make an inventory of the contents, but in reality the purpose was to see if any of the stolen items were stowed away in them. There were a good number of damage control lockers located in various parts of the ship. The exercise was timed to take place at 11.00 a.m. and at the appointed hour we all set off to inspect the lockers allocated to us. No contraband was found in any of the lockers, but Lieutenant Arkinstall found that most of the drawers and cupboards in the damage control headquarters were filled with 'rabbits'-mostly items of ladies clothing. This was it-this is what we were searching for! Lieutenant Arkinstall immediately left the headquarters (which as previously stated was a compartment in the bowels of the ship), locked the door of the compartment, and returned to the Engineer's Office to report what he had found to the Commander(E). Commander Shorto, the Senior Engineer, and Lieutenant Arkinstall then proceeded back to the headquarters, unlocked the door and lo and behold found the drawers and cupboards bare-the whole place had been completely cleaned out. The remarkable thing was that the time interval between the two visits to the headquarters could not have been more than ten minutes at the most. It was a remarkable feat of ingenuity-in view of the quantity of stuff which had to be shifted in such a short time it reinforced our suspicion that several people were involved.

In spite of other searches conducted on the voyage, and in spite of the careful gangway watches kept at all our ports of call, we never found any of the contraband. This incident brought home to me how resourceful the Navy matelot is.

I remember one incident whilst we were crossing the Med.-it was one Sunday evening when I had the 8 to 12 watch. The Stoker attending the Turbine Generator in the For'd Engine Room reported that lubricating oil was leaking out of the gland of the steam turbine governor. We immediately phoned through to the After Engine Room to tell them to start up the stand-by Turbine Generator as quickly as possible. In the middle of this change-over the lights flickered a bit, and shortly after this a Stoker came up to me and said the Commander(E) was on the phone and wanted to speak to me. I went to the phone which was in a kind of miniature telephone box (to cut out the Engine Room noise), and the Commander(E) said he had noticed the lights had flickered and wanted to know if everything was O.K. I told him what had happened, but that now we had switched over to the stand-by generator and everything was under control. He said "That's good", and went back to his bridge game in the Wardroom.

By now the weather was getting cooler and we had changed into 'blues'. As usual, coming into colder weather one's visits to the toilet became noticeably more frequent.

Our first landfall was one morning on the 8 to 12 watch, at Plymouth, where we disembarked our passengers. We were due to leave for Portsmouth the same day, on the 2nd dog watch (6 to 8 p.m.), and then finally make for Chatham, our home port.


Chatham

As usual, when arriving in port, the Wardroom bar was opened for drinks, and before sitting down for lunch I had a couple of gins. After lunch I was walking back to my cabin when I happened to meet the ERA who with me was responsible for the Turbine Generators. We stopped to talk about the job, and he remarked "It's all right for some, Sir". I said "What do you mean?", and he said words to the effect that it was possible to get a drink in the Wardroom. He had obviously smelled my breath. I said to him that if he would like to come to my cabin in about half an hour I would see what I could do. I said "Bring Coe, Blackshaw and Green" (they were other ERA's I was closely involved with on my extra-watchkeeping activities). I got hold of my Marine servant and asked him to get me some cans of beer and a bottle of sherry. In due course the ERA's appeared and we started to have a general chat-about the job-what we were going to do on leave etc. I was perched on my bunk with the ERA's draped around the cabin. Time passed quickly and when we had finished off the beer and sherry, Green said "I have a few tots saved up, Sir, I will go and get them". He duly returned with a bottle about a third full of Navy rum, which we proceeded to drink. At 4 o'clock, there was a bugle call over the Tannoy, and the ERA's said they would have to go as it was a pay parade. I was due to take the 8 to 12 watch that evening on the journey to Portsmouth. At a quarter to 8, as was the custom, the Engineer Officer of the Watch who I was to relieve, came to my cabin to give me a call. Apparently I was lying on my bunk and he found himself unable to wake me. He got the Surgeon Lieutenant along, who flicked my eyelids back and smelled my breath , and pronounced that apart from being dead drunk, there was nothing wrong with me. This caused a good deal of consternation, because up to that point I had been regarded as an extremely diligent young officer. The Engineer who was due to take the 12 to 4 a.m. watch took over my 8 to 12 watch, and came up to give me a shake at a quarter to 12. By this time the effects of the alcohol were beginning to wear off and I was able to go on watch. I wasn't really conscious of what was happening early on in the watch, until I happened to knock my head against a steam pipe-which brought me round. By the end of the watch I was beginning to feel almost normal. By this time the consequences of what had occurred began to dawn on me-I realised the Commander(E) must have got to know what had transpired, and I was apprehensive about what would happen when I reported to the Engineer's Office at 9 a.m., which was the normal custom at sea for Officers who were not on watch. At 9 a.m. I entered the Engineer's Office, saluted the Commander(E) who was seated at his desk and said "Good morning Sir". The other Engineers were looking on with interest. Commander Shorto looked up and said "Good morning Dilworth, are you feeling alright now?". I said "Yes, thank you, Sir". "Good", he said, and turned back to finish off what he was writing. Lieutenant Gillespie winked and gave me a wry smile. I felt very relieved.

We eventually arrived off Sheerness, in the Thames estuary, where we anchored , before moving to Chatham about a couple of days later. I remember going ashore on the evening of our arrival to telephone Conk, to tell her we were back home, and that I would be getting leave in about one week's time. I believe this must have been about the end of August 1946.

The following day the Senior Engineer informed me that the Captain would be attending a dinner in Chatham, that evening, and intended to use his motor boat to travel to Chatham, and to return later that evening. It was important that nothing untoward should take place, regarding the motor boat, and would I ensure this would be so. The Captain's motor boat, exclusively for the use of the Captain, was a beautiful boat. It had a high speed Kicardo diesel engine, and Coe (the motor boat ERA) and I, would go for a spin in her, whenever the opportunity arose, on the pretext of checking the engine. We had a slight problem-the ship's diesel oil tank had been slightly contaminated with fuel oil, when someone had opened the wrong valve on one occasion when the ship was re-fuelling. This caused the fuel filters of the motor boats to become blocked after a time-however this was no problem normally, because the ship's motor boats usually had short trips, and in any case if the engine spluttered it was possible to switch over to the stand-by filter whilst the engine was running. However, the Captain's trip to Chatham was a bit exceptional, involving a journey of about 10 miles each way. We fitted 2 new oil filters before the journey and one of the ERA's volunteered to accompany the Stoker driver on the trip. He also took with him a further 2 fuel filters, just in case. Happily everything went well, with the boat performing beautifully.

The following day we weighed anchor and moved the 10 miles or so to the dockyard at Chatham. We could all look forward to some leave.

Maintenance and spares inventories were handed over to the Dockyard maintenance authorities, and within a few days the ship was taken over by them for repair work. The ship' boilers were shut down and all the services, heating, lighting etc. were provided from shore. The almost imperceptible hum and vibration which one was hardly conscious of at sea, had gone, and was sadly missed-it was as if the ship's spirit had somehow departed.

Demobilization

HMS London was to be moth-balled, we were told, and put into reserve. The ship's company began to be dispersed, and after about a fortnight Commander Shorto told me I was to be sent on leave pending demobilization. He asked me if I would like to stay on in the Navy, as this would be possible if I wanted to. I thanked him and said I had enjoyed my time in the London and would greatly miss the Navy, but nevertheless I would prefer to decline the offer. I left with a mixture of sadness but I was also looking forward to the future. I would miss the comradeship, the ERA's, the Chief and P.O. Stokers, most of whom were regular RN, with whom I had been closely involved. I left with a great respect for the professionalism of all the RN personnel I had worked with.

After about a fortnight's leave I received my demob, papers. I was to report to a demob, centre in York-I believe it was at Fulford Barracks, but I can't be certain. I walked into a large hall where there were three tables- one for the Army, one for the RAF, and the third for the Navy. There was a long queue of Army personnel, a smaller queue for the RAF, and no queue for the Navy. After checking in, I was given a Medical, and then went to get kitted out with civvy clothes. The clothing was in another large building filled with racks and racks of suits, shoes etc. People were at hand to help with the fitting. As far as I can remember I came away with a suit, a set of underwear, a pair of shoes, 2 pairs of socks, a trilby hat, a handkerchief, and a mackintosh. The complete outfit was packed into a large cardboard box tied round with a piece of string.

I returned back home with my cardboard box-to a new life.

Engineering Considerations

In addition to the Commander(E) on the London, there was a Lieutenant Commander(E), known as the Senior Engineer, responsible for the general supervision and administration of all the engineering personnel. Their were also 4 Lieutenant's(E) and 1 Sub Lieutenant(E), who were the Watchkeeping Engineers. Each Watchkeeping Engineer was also responsible for the maintenance of certain parts of the ship's machinery-and usually acted as the Divisional Officer for a division of Stokers or ERA's.

At sea the Engineer Officer on watch was responsible for the operation of all the ship's machinery in the Boiler Rooms, Engine Rooms, and in the various compartments throughout the ship.

There were 2 Engine Rooms on the London with 2 Steam Turbine Condensing Sets in each Engine Room. Each Turbine Set consisted of a High Pressure Turbine and a Low Pressure driving a propeller shaft through a Reduction Gear. There were thus 4 propellers. In addition to the main engines, each Engine Room contained a steam turbine driven electric generator, which generated the ship's electricity, an Evaporator which converted salt water to fresh water, and numerous pumps which were required for pumping condensate, lube oil, fire hydrants, bilges etc. There were also 2 Boiler Rooms with 4 Yarrow Water Tube Boilers in each Boiler Room. Each Boiler Room operated with forced draught i.e. a large steam turbine driven fan mounted in the top of the Boiler Room forced air into the Boiler Room. To enter each Boiler Room one had to enter through 2 doors which formed an air lock.

The Forward Engine Room acted as the Control Centre and was where the Engineer Officer of the Watch spent most of his time, standing in front of a control panel which was mounted on the for'd bulkhead. On the control panel were mounted pressure and vacuum gauges which indicated the steam pressure on each of the boilers, and turbines, and in each condenser. There were also numerous other gauges and dials indicating lube oil pressures and temperatures etc.

In charge of each engine room was a Chief or senior ERA-normally there would be a Chief ERA in the For'd engine room and a senior ERA in the After engine room. In each engine room there was also an ERA on each of the engine throttle valves, and it was his job to operate the throttle valves to maintain the designated revs/minute of his propeller. When the ship was manoeuvring, entering or leaving harbour, the job could be quite onerous. Adjacent to each throttle valve was a telegraph indicator which relayed information from the Bridge, and told the ERA what was required of his engine viz. Full Ahead, Slow Ahead, Stop, Slow Astern, Full Astern or Finished with Main Engines. When operating the throttle valves, the ERA also had to relay information to the Boiler Room, by means of a telegraph of his own, to tell them whether more steam or less steam was needed. If for instance the bridge telegraph at his throttle position altered to Full Ahead from Half Ahead, the ERA would signal 'Increase' to the Boiler Room-this indicated to the Chief Stoker that more steam was needed, and that extra oil sprayers should be turned on in the boilers to maintain the steam pressure. The telegraph indicator in the Boiler Room indicated Increase, Decrease, and Stop.

In addition to the ERA's, each Engine Room required several Stokers to attend the various machines, read and log temperatures, and assist the ERA's when required.

In each Boiler Room, as well as the Chief Stoker, there was usually a Stoker Petty Officer, 4 Stokers (one on each boiler) to operate the oil sprayers, and 2 or 3 other Stokers to attend the other machinery, read and log temperatures etc. It was fascinating to watch the Chief Stoker operating when the ship was manoeuvring-basically he had to watch his telegraph, which told him whether more or less steam was required; watch the steam pressure gauge and indicate to the Stokers on each of the boilers whether to turn on or off some of the oil burners, and how many, in order to keep the steam pressure constant; increase or decrease the speed of the forced draught fan to maintain a clear smokestack-not enough air would result in making black smoke- a mirror and light arrangement in the flue told him whether or not he was making smoke. The noise level in the boiler room was such that all communications with each of the Stokers tending the boilers had to be by hand signals-two fingers pointing upwards meant "put 2 extra oil sprayers on"; conversely two fingers pointing downwards meant "reduce your sprayers by two". During hectic manoeuvring, the hand movements of the Chief Stoker could be quite fascinating and beautiful to watch-at times it looked as though he could be conducting an orchestra.

Usually during his watch, the Engineer Officer would make his rounds and visit all the machinery compartments in the ship, to check that all was well, and to make sure those Stokers who were on their own, were O.K. and reasonably happy. A good deal of his time would be spent in the For'd Engine Room on the control platform. Although the noise level in the Engine Room was such that normal conversation was not possible, it was by no means unbearable, and one soon got used to it. One's ears became so sensitised to the pitch of the background noise, that an imperceptible change of pitch would trigger to one's senses that something was wrong. A glance at the gauges and dials on the control panel would then, more often than not, confirm some change had occurred-it may have been that the vacuum of one of the turbine condensers in the After Engine Room had suddenly dropped, for example-appropriate action would then have to be taken.

I remember on one occasion, on the return voyage from Australia, we had some trouble with one of the plummer blocks in the After Engine Room. The rivets holding the plummer block down on to its bed plate had loosened, and in consequence the plummer block was moving about-we were worried it might get worse and result in us having to reduce speed. During one of my watches I happened to be making my rounds and was about to visit the After Engine Room when I met the ship's Commander. "Where is this plummer block which is giving trouble?" he asked. "It's in the After Engine Room, Sir", I said. "How do I get to see it?", he said. I said "Through that hatch, Sir", pointing to a hatch about 3 feet square in the deck. "What, down that hole!", he said, in what seemed to me to be a rather supercilious manner. I thought to myself, "I spend a good deal of my time down 'holes' like that".

In the middle of each watch there was usually an issue of Ki, which was always very welcome. In the tropics also, lime water was often available. On the midnight to 4 a.m. watch, in addition to the Ki, soup was usually made by one of the Stokers from tins purchased from the canteen, often supplemented by scraps of meat scrounged from the galley, and heated up by blowing steam through it from a handy steam drain point in the Engine Room. The soup was especially liked.

In the tropics the temperature in the Engine Room was of the order of 105 F, and consequently whenever possible personnel would stand beneath the nearest air vent to get the benefit of the cooler air from topsides. Drinking water was available from a canvas bag, equipped with a spout, hanging on the side of the control platform. The evaporation of the water which seeped slowly through the canvas wall of the bag had a considerable cooling effect on the water inside the bag. In the tropics everyone was encouraged to take salt tablets whilst on watch, to counteract the salt lost when perspiring. The Engineer Officer's dress on watch consisted of underpants, white boiler suit, socks, shoes, and cap. The boiler suit needed washing after each watch-if left to dry it would harden up, like cardboard, due to the salt content. I remember one time coming off watch at midnight, and draping my boiler suit over the wash basin cabinet, in the corner of my cabin. When I awoke in the morning, I found the boiler suit would stand up on its own.

Letter from Constance Dilworth.



In September 1995 my husband Phil and I attended a weekend-long reunion at Portsmouth for veterans of the East Indies and Pacific Fleets or "The Forgotten Fleet", so called because when the war in Europe was over (V E Day) there was tremendous rejoicing as. the men were demobbed and family life was resumed. This was most apparent at Christmas when all the Christmas lights went on for the first time in six years and families celebrated together - all except the sailors in the Forgotten Fleet who were fighting a dangerous kamikazi war against the Japanese on the other side of the world and were largely forgotten.

The 50th Reunion celebrations at Portsmouth were truly magnificent Hundreds of Veterans came, not only from the U.K. but also from Canada and the USA as well as from France (The crew of the Richelieu and other ships). There was a march past of these veterans, some in wheelchairs, past the Duke of Edinburgh, which was very moving as they were escorted by young men of the Royal Navy. A huge marquee was set up on Southsea Common with reunion points for each ship. Phil met up with some of his old shipmates whom he had not seen for 5O years Events were organised - a Naval display on Southsea Common, an open air concert on Saturday night with the Beverly Sisters, followed by a massive firework display and on the Sunday morning was a huge thanksgiving service on Southsea Common a. wonderful weekend.

After the reunion my thoughts went back to OCTOBER 1945. It was my 21st birthday and my boy friend, Phil, who was an Engineer Officer in the East Indies Fleet came home on leave and asked me to marry him. All too quickly he was gone again. Letters were on one side of tiny pieces of airmail paper which were then folded in half to make an envelope. All mail was censored so no news could be given of what was happening, where they were or when they would get leave Christmas was approaching and all the Christmas lights would be going on for the first time in six years and families would be celebrating together, except for the lonely wives of sailors in the Forgotten Fleet. It was now OCTOBER 1995 and my thoughts were of the wives of the veterans and how desolate they must have felt, 50 years ago, in the midst of these celebrations, not knowing when, and if, they would ever see their husbands again. Mv feelings were so strong that I wrote the poem but did not show it to anyone I put it away in an old wallet, planning to give it to Phil as a Valentine card.. When February came I looked for the poem but it was not to be found in the wallet or anywhere else. 1 couldn't remember what I had written so 1 forgot all about it, and did not tell Phil.

OCTOBER 2000 - a year ago today, the 12th of October, Phi! died after a long and distressing illness . The week after the funeral 1 found the poem in another old wallet which I didn't know existed. I felt that I was meant to find it and that in a way I was now able to share those feelings with Phil alfer all. I am sending it to you as it may ring a bell with many older people.



Home is the sailor, home from the sea.

Loneliness is what I've known.
It's Christmas time and I'm alone.
I dump the rubbish, wash the car
And buy my own drinks at the bar.
No warmth in bed, no loving arms
And hands and voice to sing my charms.
Loneliness is what I've known,
Bleak desolation on my own.
Now February's here and all that's past.
For now my man is home at last.
The snow lies thick for all to see.
But my man and I are soaring free.
Flowers are opening on the grass,
And roses part to let us pass.
How can I fell the joy I feel,
My heart has burst its bands of steel.
Love, life and laughter now are mine,
And I am ever thy Valentine.