We left Ponta Delgada on the 17th and during the next stage of the journey,
when we should have met the Duke of York, the weather became so bad that
we could not find the battleship. We even had to heave to for a couple of
days and ride the storm out.
"It was so rough that we were on the same wave for a fortnight, and
had to go astern to get off".
The boilers began to play up and fuel was running low. The ship was damaged
by the force of the sea, with the for'ard breakwater stove in and the ship's
boats washed away. We finally made for Bermuda which was the nearest friendly
port. I remember the buzz going around the ship that we had been swept 1000
miles off course. We never caught a glimpse of the Duke of York.
Lightning arrived in Hamilton Bermuda on Monday 22nd December and stayed
for a week. What a wonderful time we had, playing football and sunbathing
on the beaches. The ship's football team beat the shore base team by one
goal to nil. Here again 'Spegal' Spicer was in trouble. He was in the bosun's
chair painting the mast and crow's nest. Someone below (by accident) let
go the halyard and down he came making quite a dent in the flag locker.
He was covered in crab fat and had cuts to hands and other more sensitive
parts - he was again laid low for a day or so. This break in the war was
a marvellous rest for the lads, following the rough weather and the mental
strain that we had all suffered in the Mediterranean
Here is the ship's football team. Top row second from the left is Fergusson.
Bottom row left to right is Goldberg, myself, Quinton, ?, Ginger Perry.
Sharing the anchorage were the aircraft carrier USS Ranger and several
American Cruisers. Rivalry with the American sailors was traditionally high,
and on one occasion I was having a quiet drink in a bar when a yank walked
over and hit me for no reason. Of course I hit him back. Inevitably, the
shore patrol was called and I was blamed by the fat bar owner. I was marched
back to the Naval barracks where the Officer of the Watch agreed that, after
hearing my story, it wasn't my fault and said that he would release me if
I did not go inside the bar that day. So I waited outside the bar, with
a few of my shipmates, until the yanks came out. I leave it up to the reader
to fill in what happened next, but needless to say that the Jolly Jacks
had the last word and I returned to the ship wearing a yank cap.
Reluctantly, on 29th December 1941, we set sail for the large naval dockyard
at Norfolk News, Norfolk Virginia, arriving on New Year's Eve. This time
we were to confront the yanks on their own territory!
We saw the New Year in at Norfolk, again with many fights - this may have
been partly due to the fact that it was only a few weeks after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbour and Jolly Jack used to go ashore singing "Goodbye
Hawaii". I remember PO Arthur (Sonny) Ferguson having a lovely black
eye from one run ashore. Things finally got so bad that we were only allowed
to go ashore in groups of six or more - for our own protection. Even so,
the lads still used to make knuckle dusters out of canvas and metal washers
- just in case. We must have seemed a rough and ready bunch in those days
but we were very young and I think that the closeness of death and the hard
life aboard moulded us into a very tight knit and self reliant group. We
really believed that we were the best ship in the fleet and could take on
all-comers.
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