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Off Aruba
Mount Maxwell Park
Arriving in England
on the 31 Dec. 1943 I went home to Wiltshire to spend time with my
parents and enjoy some leave. Later in the month of Jan. I went to The
Canadian Consulate in London to make arrangements about transferring to
the Canadian Merchant Navy. They were in desperate need of qualified officers
and they had been prohibited from engaging any from the British, however,
in my particular case because I had married in Canada, I was regarded as
Canadian for their purpose and they allowed me to join the Canadian Pool--which
meant I went on pay right away, and subject to their orders. I went back
to Wiltshire to enjoy my leave and await notification from them. It was
in late Jan. that I was directed to Greenock to embark on the Ile de France.
There were M.N. officers, returning ferry pilots, and a number of other
troops--I presume the latter were going to Canada for some sort of training.
We arrived in Halifax on the 13 Feb. and entrained for Montreal.
I went to stay with my wife and her family in Verdun whilst awaiting orders.
After about two weeks I was directed to Vancouver, and my wife and I took
the train together. We were billeted in the then, Silvia Court Hotel locate
at English Bay. A full crew had been sent to Vancouver for a new
vessel being built in Esquimalt. Around the 22 Mar. the officers
were sent to Victoria and awaited the ship being completed. We left Victoria
on the 2 Apr for Vancouver, there to get compass adjusting and degaussing
testing adjustment. We left Van. on the 9 Apr. for San Francisco, and then
on to Los Angeles for bunker fuel. We arrived in Balboa on 25 Apr. We made
many trips back and forth to Portland Maine for discharge where oil was
pumped to Montreal by the pipe line. We loaded at the ports of Coveñas
in Colombia and Caripito in Venezuela. At all times we sailed independently
as the Americans did not favour the convoy system. They had patrol planes,
blimps and the Coast Guard, searching the route, which they considered
more effective. For all that, this route was termed 'The Graveyard
of the Atlantic' as many ships met their fate there. Going north, after
leaving the Caribbean, we usually made for Marthas Vineyard, then through
the Cape Cod Canal, and then hugged the coast up to Portland. On one occasion,
during the middle of the night, when it was pitch black at the time, whilst
I was on watch (I kept the 12-4) we were signaled by a patrol vessel to
alter course 90° to the eastward. I never did see the vessel. Obviously,
a submarine was known to be in the area. I whistled down to the Captain
to advise him and he came up on the bridge, not that he could do
anything, as neither of us could see the bow of our own ship. He was nice
enough to splice my coffee with a generous portion of 'Nelson's blood'
(Rum), which raised him a notch or two in my esteem. We were signaled
again later in the morning to resume course, and came through untouched.
Sometimes we were rerouted to the north of Long island, going to New York
before getting out on the ocean.
I left this vessel
on 19 Jan 1945 to return to Montreal, and there to study for my Chief Officers
exam, and to incorporate a little relax.
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here to view more pictures of the Mount Maxwell Park
