Diary Entries
Today has been a funny day. Actually it is not Saturday but Sunday, here's why. When I finished yesterday at 5 o clock, I undressed completely then thought to myself, well I will lay down for five minutes and have a rest. I was going out to the club. When I woke up it was three in the morning and for the life of me I could not realise what had happened. Whether I had been ashore, where, if so had I been, how I came to be undressed like this and not in bed proper. I could not see my clothes for I had left them in the galley where I undressed prepared to wash.
read moreWell Mai, another day gone. One of the firemen brought a puppy on board last night and we fed it in the galley this morning. A nice thing but a bitch. It was a stray at the club. I saw it there but took no notice thinking it belonged to someone there.
read moreAt last I am able to write again. Ever since last week we have been in trouble TROUBLE, tons of it. Now it is after eleven at night, I am tired, so I'm not writing much. Just enough to say that we have at last left here for Beaumont, for loading, after several attempts at it. But I will say more about it tomorrow. Perhaps I will not be so tired then. I must say though that I think we are going somewhere other than home because we have four extra guns and the engine room is all nearly covered with shrapnel protection.
read moreThis is another attempt. I am so confused, mixed up backward with my diary that I must just put everything down as I can remember it. I have just finished a load of washing and have made myself two crab sandwiches and an orange and cup of tea. Now this and I hope to finish it before I go to bed.
read moreWell we left Beaumont at 7 a.m. today. Back down the river. A fine start too. We have a million pounds cash of oil on board. High octane 1 spark and Bobs your uncle. Coming down the river we nearly upset our tug and going round a bend the ship would not answer. Instead of going starboard she went to port and scraped the side of the river and the bottom. Yes we nearly got stuck there. We got to the coast, eventually, was ordered to drop anchor pending further orders which came just as the anchor was going down. Up it had to come, proceed to sea, we did.
read moreI've got five minutes. That start last night was the start. We are now in the blue sea. There are only three of us. One English, one Yanky and one Norwegian. We have four escorts, so we should be safe enough for a while. We will probably pick up a bigger convoy later on our way to New York or Halifax. Then home.
My God, what a relief to be able to go places with no pain. Except just a little after effects, that doctor certainly did me good. I wish he could have had time to give me complete treatment. I am so pleased about myself.
read moreWell it was real enough, once more we are on our way home but so very slowly. There is one ship with us that can only do a few knots. So we other two have to drop back. We have seen several aircraft today and once more we saw the coast. New Orleans, where we have picked up five more ships. Ships and boats everywhere. But only five joined us. One is a great big 17,000 ton whaler by the same company as ours. They reckon that at this speed we shall not get to New York till Sunday week. That is terribly slow travel.
read moreClocks on one hour tonight, so we lose that much sleep. I am absolutely browned off today. I can do nothing but think, no wonder I'll never get fat. The Cook and I very nearly had a row dinner time. It was only avoided because I remembered it takes two to quarrel. I shut up even though I was right.
We have only seen one plane today , otherwise nothing except the blue sea, sky and the galley. But it is early yet, just turned six o clock.
read moreSomething just reminded me I'm British. It is two o clock, I am lying on my bunk. Right out here someone has just played on the wireless our Anthem. Very strange to hear that out here. I am writing to Mai.
We had a report that there was a sub. at Key West this morning. We should be due there any time now but we are going very slow, six knots. There are seven ships now, still with four Yanky escorts. Seven is a lucky number.
Here we are again, it is 10 o clock now. We are due at Key West at 8 a.m. tomorrow where we shall await another convoy.
read moreAnother night well spent. I did not get up till eight this morning. It was my turn to lay in. We had boat drill today as usual at four p.m. but it's only a farce. Shortly after we joined a convoy, only a small one. We total about fourteen ships now. A great big armed Cruiser pointed his nose at us and steamed for us on the starboard side. I thought she was going to ram us, she came so close. But it was only for orders. This is a very mysterious trip so far. No one knows where or why we are going and why we are going so slowly. The engines are hardly turning. All the ships are the same.
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