H. M. S. ACHILLES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 117, 31 January 1940, Page 3

H. M. S. ACHILLES

LETTER FROM RATING GIVES FIRST MOVEMENTS IN WAR Detailed movements of H.M.S. Achilles in the first lew Avecks of the war, are revealed in a letter received last Aveek by the Taihape parents of a rating on board. Writing on November <*>, the rating says: "At; last Ave are permitted to say Avhcre Ave haA'e been in recent Aveeks. We left Auckland for an unknown destination, and Avhen avc had been at sea for a lew hours the captain told us that avc Averc on our Avay to Bermuda, to join up Avith the North American Squadron. "When Avar Avas declared a feAV days later/' he continued, "avc chang cd course for Valparaiso, Avhcre we arrived after 11 days at sea. Here Ave oiled and took on provisions and sailed north, for about 200 miles, calling at various ports on the Avay. Then aa'c turned and folloAved the coastline until Ave struck Callao, Peru." Alter a day there, the Achilles oiled at Tatara, up the coast. This is a small British oiling base, and here the men had their first leave. The next leaA*e to come tfheir way Avas at St. Helclna Bay, Ecuador. Sailing from there the Achilles, escorted a British liner from near the Panama Canal to Valpariso. Every day for three days in Valparaiso the creAA r Avere alloAved shore leave. "Of course, there were numerous ports avc called in on the Avay, besides those I mentioned," the rating adds, "but I Avould be here for a Aveek if I described them all. The coastline of South America is barren Avith huge cliffs, all the Avay to Columbia. Avhere the scenery looks something like that in NeAV Zealand. We left South America some Aveeks ago, but I am not able to tell you where Ave are hoaa'," he concluded.