The Voyages of
Wilfred A. Nicholas

This is a tribute to my father, Wilfred Anthony Nicholas, otherwise known as 'The Forgotten Man', who sailed with Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel and Glen Line as an Engineer for 8 years.



Dad was born in 1929, the first of three children, to a British father and American mother. At the outbreak of WW2, the family was living in Malaya, where his father was working as a health officer. After the Japanese invasion of Malaya in December 1941, the family travelled down the Malayan peninsula to Singapore. There, on 3rd January 1942, Dad, with the two other children and their mother, were evacuated on board the Dutch passenger / cargo vessel "Poelau Tello". At Emmahaven (Padang) in Sumatra on 27th January, while loading, the "Poelau Tello", along with other shipping, was attacked by Japanese dive bombers. After the second attack, the ship was evacuated and the passengers fled to the hills. There Dad sat and, as he recounted to me many times, watched as the "Poelau Tello" was bombed. After the fourth attack, although the ship had not been hit, the near misses had ruptured the hull in way of the oil fuel bunker tanks causing oil to leak into the sea. Added to this, the quay and godowns were by now ablaze, so the ships mooring lines were eased to keep the ship away from the fires. After the fifth attack, the Captain ordered the remaining crew to clear the ship, and on the sixth attack the ship took direct hits and was set on fire throughout and burnt out.


"Poelau Tello", of N.V. Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland


"Poelau Tello" bombed and burning

The family were taken in by a convent, made their way to Surabaya, Java, and found passage on board another Dutch vessel, the passenger ship “Tjinegara”. Eventually, the family arrived in the USA where they stayed for the duration of the war with his mothers relatives. His father was captured when the Japanese invaded Singapore and as a result of being a Captain with the volunteer defence force spent the war years in Changi Prison and Sime Road internment camp.

After the end of the war, the family returned to Singapore to continue where they left off in 1942. Dad returned to Singapore in 1947 after completing his schooling in the USA to stay with his father, his mother following on later. In Singapore, Dad started an engineering apprenticeship with the Singapore Harbour Board. In 1952, after completing his apprenticeship, he joined his first ship, the “Memnon” of Blue Funnel, as ‘Assistant Engineer’. Dad sailed with the “Memnon” continuously for 19 months, leaving her as 4th Engineer.



Dad pictured (centre, looking up) while taking a stowaway ashore from, I believe, the "Mentor". The stowaway is marked with red circle.

The Voyages



"Memnon" - three trips, 1952 - 1953, 1953, 1953 - 1954.
Single Screw, 2 Double Reduction Geared Turbines by Westinghouse, Pittsburgh, 15 Knots.

 

Dad joined ship 4/10/52 in Penang as Assistant Engineer on £33 pm

Port

Arrive

Sail

Port

Arrive

Sail

1952 

Port Said / Suez

5 Mar

7 Mar

Penang

3 Oct

6 Oct

Jeddah

9 Mar

10 Mar

Port Swettenham

7 Oct

8 Oct

Aden

12 Mar

12 Mar

Singapore Roads

9 Oct

11 Oct

Belawan

22 Mar

23 Mar

Djarkarta

13 Oct

17 Oct

Penang

24 Mar

24 Mar

Samarang

17 Oct

18 Oct

Singapore

26 Mar

28 Mar

Surabaya

19 Oct

20 Oct

Djarkarta

30 Mar

2 Apr

Macassar

22 Oct

23 Oct

Samarang

3 Apr

3 Apr

Balikpapan

24 Oct

26 Oct

Surabaya

4 Apr

6 Apr

Macasar

28 Oct

4 Nov

Palembang

8 Apr

12 Apr

Surabaya

5 Nov

9 Nov

Tjilatjap

14 Apr

16 Apr

Samarang

10 Nov

11 Nov

Balikpapan

19 Apr

20 Apr

Djarkarta

12 Nov

15 Nov

Macassar

21 Apr

29 Apr

Singapore

17 Nov

21 Nov

Surabaya

30 Apr

7 May

Port Swettenham

22 Nov

22 Nov

Banjuwangi

8 May

8 May

Penang

23 Nov

24 Nov

Probolinggo

8 May

9 May

Belawan

26 Nov

3 Dec

Panarukan

10 May

11 May

Port Swettenham

4 Dec

4 Dec

Djarkarta

13 May

15 May

Colombo

8 Dec

9 Dec

Singapore Roads

17 May

 

Cochin

10 Dec

11 Dec

Singapore

18 May

22 May

Aden

16 Dec

16 Dec

Belawan

23 May

26 May

Djibouti

17 Dec

17 Dec

Aden

5 Jun

5 Jun

Suez / Port Said

21 Dec

22 Dec

Suez / Port Said

9 June

10 June

1953 

Amsterdam

20 Jun

25 Jun

Halifax

7 Jan

7 Jan

London

26 Jun

 

Portland (Me)

8 Jan

11 Jan

Dad signed off 26 Jun, signed on 27 Jun

Boston

12 Jan

13 Jan

Voyage 15, Capt Puirichard (suspended 22/7/53), Capt HS Clarke put in command.

New York

14 Jan

18 Jan

Baltimore

20 Jan

23 Jan

London

 

30 Jun

Houston

29 Jan

31 Jan

Antwerp

30 Jun

3 Jul

New Orleans

1 Feb

4 Feb

Hamburg

3 Jul

 

Philadelphia

8 Feb

11 Feb

Dad signed off 6 Jul, signed on 25 Jul

New York

12 Feb

19 Feb

Amsterdam

 

26 Jul

Port

Arrive

Sail

Port

Arrive

Sail

Port Said / Suez

5 Aug

6 Aug

1954

Aden

10 Aug

19 Aug

Savannah

6 Jan

7 Jan

Penang

19 Aug

21 Aug

Charleston

7 Jan

8 Jan

Belawan

22 Aug

25 Aug

Hampton Roads

9 Jan

10 Jan

Port Swettenham

26 Aug

26 Aug

New York

11 Jan

16 Jan

Singapore

27 Aug

29 Aug

Halifax

17 Jan

19 Jan

Djarkarta

31 Aug

10 Sep

Alexandria

2 Feb

3 Feb

Tanjung Pandan

11 Sep

12 Sep

Port Said / Suez

4 Feb

5 Feb

Tjirebon

13 Sep

13 Sep

Jeddah

7 Feb

9 Feb

Samarang

14 Sep

15 Sep

Djibouti

11 Feb

12 Feb

Surabaya

16 Sep

19 Sep

Aden

12 Feb

13 Feb

Balikpapan

21 Sep

21 Sep

Belawan

22 Feb

24 Feb

Macassar

22 Sep

26 Sep

Port Swettenham

25 Feb

26 Feb

Surabaya

28 Sep

2 Oct

Singapore

27 Feb

1 Mar

Djarkarta

5 Oct

8 Oct

Djarkarta

3 Mar

8 Mar

Singapore

10 Oct

14 Oct

Tjirebon

9 Mar

9 Mar

Port Swettenham

15 Oct

16 Oct

Samarang

10 Mar

13 Mar

Penang

16 Oct

17 Oct

Tjilatjap

15 Mar

17 Mar

Belawan

18 Oct

22 Oct

Surabaya

19 Mar

20 Mar

Colombo

26 Oct

27 Oct

Probolinggo

21 Mar

22 Mar

All