TRAVEL IN WARTIME

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 84, 5 October 1940, Page 18

TRAVEL IN WARTIME

CONDITIONS of travel in time of war are described in a letter by Pilot Officer H. N.

Blundell, of Wellington. He joined the Air Force in the early part of the war and after undergoing training in New Zealand left recently for England, where he is now serving with the Royal Air Force.

Describing the arrival of his ship at Panama, the writer says: "Off Bal-

boa lay the usual collection of merchant shipping, mostly American. The only ship of foreign nationality was a Dutchman, painted grey. Shortly after nine we pulled into the wharf to take on oil fuel. Non-combatant passengers were allowed ashore, but we all had to stay on board. We left Balboa just after two for the passage through the Canal. Armed U.S. soldiers came aboard and took up positions on the deck. There was even a U.S. guard at the engine controls to see that the ship is not put astern when she is meant to go ahead. There seems to be a great fear of sabotage In the Canal, and the Americans seem to anticipate either the blowing up of a ship in one of the locks or else the sinking of a ship in the Culebra Cut. In either instance the Canal would be put out of action. . . . The only incident of the passage through the Canal was the passing of a Japanese trader. She was almost covered with U.S. soldiers—far more than we had. As she 'passed there was almost absolute silence on both ships. . . . After pass* ing the Japanese ship an English freighter hove in sight. As she passed spirited cheering contrasted vividly with the. silence which accompanied the passing of the Jap.

ITALIAN LINER IN TROUBLE.

"When we arrived at Colon, on the Atlantic side, after dark we tried to pick up an Italian liner, the Biancamario, 23,000 tons, which was anchored there. The Biancamario arrived at Panama before Italy declared war against the Allies. The liner, which ordinarily runs between Genoa and New York on the .trans-Atlantic service, arrived at the Canal on the second half of a specially scheduled run to the west coast of South America. When the liner arrived at Colon a writ was filed against her by oil companies claiming just on 100,000 dollars for oil fuel supplied at Port Said to other ships of the same line as the Biancamano. A second writ for nearly 90,000 dollars was filed by the Royal Netherlands. Steamship. Company. The Italian company was ap-,

parently unable to deposit a bond sufficient to cover the alleged claims of the oil and steamship companies and the Biancamano was held by the U.S. authorities. Even if the bond money is found, the chances of the Biancamano getting back to her home port, Genoa, seem remote. BLACK-OUT IN EARNEST. "On leaving Colon the black-out was enforced in earnest. All ports were kept closed night and day. By day they were kept closed to keep out

water in the event of the ship being struck by a mine or torpedo. You can imagine the heat generated in the cabins in the seas. Numbers took to sleeping' on deck, notwithstanding the fact that they were without mattresses. Anything was preferable to the heat of the cabins. Lookouts, black-out watches, bridge messengers, and gun crews were called out for regular duty. The look-outs are stationed at various points on the bridge, at the bow, and at the stern. Their job is to watch for submarines or anything suspicious. They have to watch for two hours and then they

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Wellington Airman's Journey

have six hours off. Looking at a glaring mass of water for two solid hours is no easy job. The black-out watchers work for four- or five-hour periods at night patrolling the ship. A man caught smoking on deck at night is liable to arrest. The fate of anyone having a porthole open is horrible to imagine. The bridge messengers, of whom I am one, keep watches of four hours on and eight hours off. Their job is to carry messages from the bridge to various parts of the ship. So far there is very little to do in the way of delivering messages, and the four-hour stretch of standing up and doing nothing is pretty strenuous. Then there are the gun cews. Their job is to man the 4.5-inch guns and the antiaircraft guns at the stern.

A CONVOY IS FORMED. "At our next port of call the ship anchored about 1 a.m. At daybreak we could see the ships of the convoy we were to join anchored off the harbour. Our hopes of being able to land were dashed when we were told that the convoy was leaving in two hours. Our ships did not enter. Sharp at 10 the convoy started to move. Ship followed ship down the narrow entrance. We were the only large passenger ship. The others were cargo ships and a few tankers. Each ship took a position four cables abreast, and five cables between stern and bow. Once under way in formation, the convoy commenced the endless zig-zag which was to take us across the Atlantic at a speed of somewhere about seven knots. Our job on the bridge became a little more interesting as we were required to help hoist

towards us and before we realised it it had fallen in with us and joined our formation. The manoeuvre, a difficult one, was carried out without a hitch, the ships of our convoy not even reducing speed.

the signals.and to take bearings of accompanying ships so that we could maintain proper formation. Against this, however, our watch was converted to a 24-hour watch; that is to say, we had four hours on and eight hours off. Seldom has time dragged so slowly as it did during the four-hour watch at night. All we could see through the darkness was the dim outline of a ship on either side of us. When a few days out, our convoy was joined by another, making a complete convoy of 39 ships, The two convoys met at dawn at a prearranged spot and the meeting was perfectly timed. None of the ships had been in wireless communication for obvious reasons. As the ships of the new convoy approached we counted 24 pi them. Most of them were tankers and cargo ships up to 6000 tons. Accompanying them was another armed cruiser. Without fuss or bother the new convoy steamed

A HEAVY FOG. "But all was not to be plain sailing. One afternoon the weather thickened and soon the ships were enveloped in a heavy fog. The thirtynine ships bunched together were lost in a grey blanket. At times it was impossible to see more than 100 yards, Sirens shrieked, whistled, or grunted at us from all directions. Our only guide, now that the ships were lost in fog, was the fog buoy towed by the vessel ahead. The fog buoy is a wooden float which throws up a miniature geyser as it is dragged through the water. Theoretically all that has to be done is to keep the \uoy within visibility and follow it. Trouble and anxiety start when the buoy disappears in the fog. "So far the trip has not been altogether without incident. One ship rammed another and was holed below the waterline. The forward part was flooded, but she continued with the

convoy, the water being held in check1 by the watertight bulkhead." A TANKER TORPEDOED. I The writer then goes on to describe the. torpedoing of a tanker. Shortly after breakfast one morning there was a dull roar, and, on going on deck, he found that a quarter of a mile away a tanker laden with crude oil was belching flame and smoke. The submarine, had got her amidships and about the bridge and the officers' quarters she was a roaring inferno. In a few seconds she was totally enveloped in smoke. Suddenly through the blackness the blazing tanker showed for a minute. "One boat, we could see, had managed to get clear," the writer says. "Possibly there were twelve men in it. The tanker's crew must have numbered 40, and for the rest there was no- hope. They could not be alive in that . inferno. The tanker, still under the power of her engines aft, careered crazily across the convoy. Destroyers swept towards her to pick up survivors and hunt for the sub. The convoy executed emergency zig-zag manoeuvres, but continued on its way. In 20 minutes all we had to remind us of the disaster were two huge columns of smoke filling the horizon to the stern. Later we heard the dull thuds of depth charges —nothing else. The fate of the crew and of the submarine were mere matters of conjecture. But the sub. was not to be the end of our excitement before finishing our trip. RAIDERS APPEAR. "The following afternoon when I was on watch on the bridge an aircraft appeared low on the horizon. She circled, and everyone was on deck to try and pick her. Slowly she gained height and flew over us. But we were not to remain in doubt as to her identity. A roar and a tower of water astern told the story. Anti-aircraft guns went into action immediately and the raider swerved away to be engaged by a British plane. A dogfight ensued on the horizon but we could not see the result. "From what we did see, however, the fight seemed indecisive, so in the event of the German returning to its base we expected another raid later in the day. Sure enough, it came— ! about 8.30 p.m. It was still broad daylight. Four Nazi bombers dived over us and let go a salvo astern. Bombs fell all round other ships of the convoy, but none was hit. The Nazis circled again and dropped a few more bombs with the same result. They then made off. The old Hun certainly seemed to know how to time things, for within four minutes a squadron of Spitfires was overhead. Had the Huns still been in the vicinity their fate would not have been a matter of i doubt."