Queen Mary as troop ship (Part 3)

Part 3

Fri 1st Jan 1943. Wake up hearing activity in the corridor put on the light and my watch indicates its 8.15am but quickly find the hour hand has slipped and its only 7.15am. As blackout finished at 6.46am we can have the ports open already. By the time I’ve had my bath & shave & straightened up there’s no time for a stroll on deck in I’m to get an early breakfast. In this I succeed & then went up to Boat Deck. I take with me the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam loaned to me by Cyril, I find the philosophy of it very interesting & decide it must be read a few times to appreciate it fully. I chat with some “Gunners”, they are thoroughly browned off with the way they are being treated. Although we’re in the tropics they still have to clean their greatcoat buttons & these are inspected daily. They scrub their webbing & parade to check that their changes of clothing are clean. As its New Years day there is not Boat Drill so the gunners are having two lots of P.T. instead of one so that they are not idle. Cyril and Bob come along & we spend most of the morning chatting in company with Lionel Galinsky (an ex-trainee from Compton who recognised me whilst at Blackpool P.D.C.) Dinner stew — not enough potatoes — I had none at all — then tapioca. After dinner back again on Boat Deck the only piece of Open Deck now left to us, the last remaining piece of open deck otherwise left to us was handed over to the officers this morning. Galinsky was with us again & we had quite an enjoyable afternoon, chatting, chaffing & generally fooling. Although we’re about 8° South of the Equator the breeze is cooling. After tea back again on Boat Deck with Lionel, later joined by Bob. It’s a real treat to be able to be outside in the darkness, it makes me think of Renee constantly & how much she would enjoy such moments. As we look over the side the ships foam is phosphorescent & little lights like stars are constantly flashing in the water caused I think by some fungi. Lionel Galinsky seems a decent enough bloke, we may see quite a lot of him, I think. He’s an auto/wop. We were issued with an orange each at teatime. I think these oranges came aboard at Freetown. I saved mine until I was on my first spell on duty & very nice it was too. Posted tonight at head of staircase, Picadilly Circus, not a bad spot, there is always plenty of activity at this spot so time passes quickly. As we have been travelling East we put our clocks on an hour tonight at midnight so instead of being having four hours between first two spells of duty, we have only three.
2/1/43 Saturday Duty again 4.0am — 6.0am then rest for a couple of hours before wash, shave & then breakfast. After which duty again 10.0am to noon. I feel very tired & am relieved 35 mins late. Dinner very frugal fare today, salt beef — horrible, and a conglomeration of vegetables which seem tasteless & are very probably vitaminless. The dried apricots & pears as dessert fill up though. I go back to bed intending to bath later but drop right off to sleep & don’t wake up until 3.30pm, no time for bath as we report at 3.45pm. Guard again 4.0pm to 6.0pm at No 2 staircase Prom Deck. It’s a very busy spot. The boat is not only rolling but pitching & tossing this afternoon, although the sea can by no means be termed rough. I’m feeling a trifle giddy, as well as tired & think I stand a good chance of being seasick again, perish the thought. I go outside twice, the pitching is not so noticeable nearer the side of the ship, but as I’m not supposed to leave my post at all I cannot stay away for long. I long for 6.0pm to arrive but remain there until 6.25pm, when I push off to tea. American Frankfurter sausages are on the menu, but I avoid these & have three slices of bread & jam instead. I haven’t had a chance of going on deck all day so I go aloft as quickly as possible after tea as I feel sure the strong wind will ease my troubles. On the way up Lionel & Bob join me, & we spend a pleasant evening promenading the decks until lights out when we find a sheltered spot to sit down & continue chatting. Its lovely up here again tonight. On going below I decide to sleep on my bunk, although its still quite warm the perspiration is not so free as it has been of late.
Sun 3/1/43 Awoke today 7.40am very much refreshed & got straight into lukewarm bath, shave next, tidy up, & down to breakfast, very good this morning. I have porridge, two rashers of bacon & one boiled egg as well as bread, butter, marmalade & coffee. Then up on deck, its glorious today. Decide to go to morning service 10.15am, search out the others, Cyril decides to join me, although he is an R.C. Galinsky is a Jew & goes to his own service. He showed me the photograph last night of his girl friend & she does look lovely, but he has not the “official” sanction of his parents as she is not a Jew. I think that sort of thing is all wrong myself. A quite enjoyable service which turned out to be completely C. of E. although advertised as United Services. I enjoyed the sermon by a young RAF padre who was so obviously sincere. Following the service Lionel joined Cyril & I and we went aft on prom deck, this has today been restored to us. I decide to write my letter to Renee, wonder what to say, start writing & have no difficulty in filling the two pages allowed. The letter finished I read Omar Khayyam again & swot this until dinner time. Medical inspection immediately after dinner & then returned to main deck aft where I sunbathe for 15 mins, the first time on the trip. The sun is just about overhead today, & I should imagine we are at what would be the hottest point. There is however a strong wind blowing & it feels about 60mph, the wind is mainly warm though but there seem chilly gusts now & again. Tea, rotten American sausage which I leave alone & have three slices of bread & jam instead. After tea the four of us adjourn to boat deck aft. Its quite chilly & though we’re in tropical kit we wear our khaki drill tunics. These have not otherwise been necessary until after sunset. I suggest we play the worst building game & it takes on very well & we play on deck until 8.50pm. Blackout tonight is not until 9.20pm but its too chilly to remain on deck any longer. On going below Lionel retires for the night & we continue the game until 10.20pm when I decide its time to retire too.
Mon 4/1/43 Up at 7.15am, straight into bath. The sea seems very rough this morning, the ship is pitching & tossing something awful. I don’t mind the rolling from side to side but the pitching & tossing doesn’t suit my stomach. At this early stage of the day I fear I might be seasick again. There’s a very strong wind too. After breakfast I join the others & we go aloft. We’re wearing our tunics again as the wind is cold, we’ll be back in blue soon if this weather continues. About 11.10am feeling cold & not too happy about my tummy I go below & get into my bunk where I sleep until dinner time. For dinner appropriately enough we have a messy stew & fruit salad (diced fruit) as a dessert. Back again on Boat deck but only stay about 30 mins as it is very windy & furthermore I am still feeling a bit groggy. I think we must be approaching the Cape as of course the Cape is noted for its normally foul weather & rough seas, it is possible that we may be docking tomorrow but we know that unless we disembark here we will not be going ashore. I get back to my bunk, climb in, read for a few minutes & then drop right off to sleep. I awake once or twice but stay bedded down until teatime. Cheese for tea & I have a good meal, then up to Boat Deck for the first of a series of lectures for the R.A.F. It’s aircraft recognition & I hear hardly anything of what is said, this lasts until 8.pm. The wind is still strong & chilly but the sea not quite so rough there is not so much tossing. I sit with the other three and we chat until about 8.5pm (blackout is again at 9.20pm until 6.10am) then I retire below to prepare to report for duty at 9.30pm. As it is so cold I decide to wear my boots and my blue tunic with tie, spend a little time cleaning boots & decide to clean buttons as well. Some of them are so green they want a lot of cleaning. Tonight I get posted back to my old post at end of corridor on Main Deck “to safeguard the persons of all A.T.S.
Tues 5/1/43 4.0am — 6.0am on duty, nothing doing of course. At about 4.50am as I was reading choice passages from Omar Khayyam to Martin, Jolly & Cpl Pallett a second lieut came out into the corridor & said “stop that b-f row,” obviously he had an unappreciative ear. So I continued my studies by myself. 6.0am I as back on the floor in A59 but got so many kicks & knocks it was impossible to stay in my bed being vacant at 7.0am I crept into sleep until 8.30am when I got up for breakfast. All this time the boat had been tossing something awful but fortunately did not upset us. Blondie tried opening a porthole at 6.45am & was himself nearly blown over, the noise of the wind was as though an express train was coming through the porthole. Everybody woke up & Blondie struggling hard managed to close the porthole again. At 8.40am he tried again, the wind had subsided somewhat & we were all surprised when Blondie said he could see Table Mountain rising out of the mist directly ahead. I had a look & then went to breakfast. On return I found the sea perfectly calm, the wind gone & we were steaming steadily into the harbour of Capetown. I went up to the boat deck to see an entirely different scene to that which confronted us at Freetown. This time there were higher mountains, the impressive sight of Table Mountain itself & a conspicuous absence of vegetation. Later I saw more trees than at first glance but nothing like what I had expected. On the other hand we saw a modern looking town nestling at the foot of the mountains, with buildings of six or eight storeys looking no bigger than dolls houses against the background. Factory chimneys look like toys too. There is nowhere near the activity we saw at Freetown, its more peaceful & holiday looking. We have docked at 9.30am, 13 days after leaving the Clyde, & after only 12 days actual travelling time. Guard again 10am to 11.30am then another look at the harbour. We are all disappointed nobody is allowed ashore, not that I could buy anything as my resources at the moment amount to one farthing. Immediately after dinner I ran into Peter Flux we talked over old times & I showed him my photographs. He tells me his brother also a WOP/AG. who won the DFM whilst Peter was in training at Blackpool was killed in the Augsburg raid, that was after three years of operational flying. A short spell on deck next [?] as its so hot, now the wind has subsided. Duty again 4.0pm to 6.0pm then tea and up to Boat deck. This afternoon I sent an EMF cable to my Darling Renee, how glad I will be when I too can receive letters & messages from her to reassure me that she is getting on alright. Blackout at 9.20pm until 6.15am. In the evening it becomes quite chilly.
Wed 6/1/43. The sun’s a scorcher today & there’s very little wind. I’ve spent most of today reading a book lent me by Lionel. There’s been plenty of activity alongside, loading all day — a few lifeboats were lowered this morning for practice & some of the lads had a trip two or three times around the ship, nobody ashore though. We had expected to be in Capetown harbour for a few days, but the speed of loading seems to indicate that we’re staying no longer than necessary. After tea besides coming over very chilly indeed a ground mist set in. Some chaps wore greatcoats over tropical kit & I observed that the climatic conditions this evening might be paralled [sic] by those in England at this time in January. There’s no doubt about it that in this district different weight clothes are necessary for daytime & after sunset, as we go to bed tonight the cabin starts creaking & we realise that once again we are on our way with the expectation of putting our feet on dry land once again in 10-12 days time. We are expecting rough weather tomorrow as we round the southern side of Africa before turning north.
Thurs 7/1/43 Awake this morning 5.30am, jump into lukewarm bath & then back into bed again. The ship is tossing a little but not so much as I had expected. Up on boat deck after breakfast & during boat drill it was very chilly indeed but the suns rays are warm. Soon after11.0am I go below & play Blondie “Battleships.” I haven’t come across the game before although I am assured its quite an old game. I must teach Renee, it’s the sort of game we’ll be able to play with Malcolm later on. Dinner & back on top where I spend the afternoon playing the same game with Lionel. The wind is very strong & the sea quite choppy but much to my surprise I am not disturbed, at any rate up to the moment of writing 5.45pm. After tea, with Lionel again on boat deck where we play two more games & then have a read. As it gets more & more cold I retire to my cabin 8.30pm where I prepare for duty at 9.30pm. Same post tonight ATS quarters.

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