Monday, August 13, 2007

Keeping a war story on track

Who did the cat belong to?

The ship. But the cook mainly looked after it.


It went to sea with you?


Oh yes. And if the ship went down, the cat did too.


When
was this taken?


I’d just commissioned her in
Belfast. 358. But she was shot from under us within a month, and then I got 454 and most of the crew were transferred too.


You chose who got to go?


Yes.


And 454 was shot up too?


In a big way. Middle of the night, shell hit us in the magazine. We disengaged action, hove to, I went below, and there were half a dozen fires burning – the cordite had caught fire, so I grabbed the extinguisher, put most of them out, then the hatch above was pulled open, and the blokes on deck were peering down, so I grabbed the shells, they could have gone up any moment, and told them to heave them over the side.


Scary
.


Didn’t have time to think about it. One or two of the ABs hesitated, so I let them have it, and tossed the shells up, and they threw them in the water.


How many shells?


Three
. In fact, one of them exploded as it hit the water. We were pretty lucky.


But you made it back to port?


Just
. But the boat needed a total refit and so that ended the war for me.


And for this you were given the DSC?


As I said, I didn’t have time to think. It had to be done. If we were to avoid being blown to kingdom come.
...

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2 Comments:

At August 14, 2007 at 9:42 PM , Blogger Zen said...

Wow! I have to ask Gramps about this one. He told me a bit about the training before becoming an officer but I've never heard such detail of the action 358 & 454 saw. Let alone the 'ship's cat'- which I suspect is artistic license...? :o)

 
At August 16, 2007 at 5:38 PM , Blogger Barry Natusch said...

Correction. First boat was 355, not 358. And defendant claims reference to 'ship's cat' is veracity itself, and adds that the cat was necessary for periodically swinging by the tail to ensure the size of the galley wasn't shrinking.

 

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