Shortly after rejoining the Adamant we were taken aboard a liner, I can’t remember the name. It was converted into a troop ship to leave for the UK. We journeyed home via the short route, now relatively safe through the Red sea, Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, Gibraltar and home. I landed in Northern England, joined the train and stopped at Crewe for tea and sandwiches and carried on to HMS Drake, Devonport; my depot.
From there I worked on another ship being converted called the Allaunia. This was being converted at the dockyard at Devonport as a supply ship. I worked with skilled mechanical people who could see that I was very knowledgeable when it came to marine engineering. They helped me and I worked with the tiffies, the electricians and the engineers. It was lovely really; we put in some of the machines, big lathes, the refrigeration installation and things like that. I was living ashore in St.Budeaux, Devonport, in a private house and travelling to and fro to work at the dockyards each day to work on the Allaunia, hitch-hiking home most weekends to Bradfield (near Willand).
I joined the lease-lend carrier the Patroller not as a watch keeper but looking after the fresh water supplies on board the ship from the officers’ mess to everywhere else on board. It was a good job, a day job unless there was a call in the middle of the night when an officer couldn’t get his shower to work or if there was a pressure loss. It wasn’t usually a mechanical problem. That was a snip job and I did the same job all the time I was on the Patroller.
We went to Freemantle and Sydney on three trips. We were ferrying out new troops to replace wartime troops that had been in the Far East and Australia throughout the war and bringing others home to the UK. It was a marvellous ship, American, it had a Goffer bar where you could buy ice creams and lemonade any time of the day and that was the last ship I served aboard. From there I got drafted back to HMS Drake again for about a week before I was demobbed.
The funny part was, when I joined HMS Drake for the last time ready for de-mob
(the Japanese war was over by then) the PTI’s said, “Ah”,
“Right”, “When are you boys leaving the ship for demob?”
“Tomorrow?” “ Right, swimming pool, swimming tests”.
I had to do two bloody lengths of the pool and I was going home tomorrow. I
told them who I was and what I had experienced but I don’t think they
believed me, they thought I was trying to get out of it. Then they said, “You’re
doing well lad”.
We washed, dried up, cleaned up, had some food, and then handed in some of our
kit, like my mattress and things I didn’t want. I kept my hammock and
kit bag, a couple of suits, my Burberry coat and overcoat. I had a few presents
I bought whilst on the Patroller, some silk stockings and a little Koala bear
for Gwendolyn Holley, she still has it and treasures it now.
I went to the clothing store; the bloke looked out over the counter and summed
me up. He went, “Huh!” – “ Five foot nine inches, fifteen
and a half collar, six and seven eights hat, (trilby of course), size 9 shoes;
We don’t have a size 9 here’s a 10”; A bloody purple suit;
A purple suit mind you! I got seventy-five pounds gratuity money! – seventy-five
quid and a free warrant for all I had been through to come home. It was worth
it though I can tell you, to come home!!