IN THE NAVY

Evening Star, Issue 24293, 7 September 1942, Page 4

IN THE NAVY

BLOW-UPS AND BLOW-OUTS DUNEDIN MAN'S EXPERIENCES When a certain Dunedin youth, son of a well-known citizen, joined up with the Navy as a seaman earlier in the war, he expected to experience some adventures, maybe some thrilling ones. And, judging by the tales ho told when he came homo recently on leave, his expectations were fully realised. This youth—let us call him Tom—has gained a commission since he joined up, by the way.

LAUGHED TOO SOON. Once when Tom's ship was lying at a certain British port the men on deck saw a large parachute descending gently, bearing what was at first taken to be a man; ..possibly a Nazi. As it descended, however, the burden was seen to be a largosize landmine, and the thing was making directly for the bridge of the ship, in which were stowed 77 depth charges. Anticipating a nice old blow-up immediately the delicately-adjusted detonator touched the deck, all hands lay flat. But the deadly thing just missed the ship by a few yards, and the company, jumping up, shook each other by the hand and made jokes about the near-miss. But they laughed too soon, those jokers, for the mine, instead of floating on the water where it landed and where it could have been destroyed, went right on down, and, when it touched bottom, exploded. The shock severely shook the ship, blew Tom clean over the turret, and the first lieutenant from one side of the deck to the other, the latter breaking an ankle. LUCKY ESCAPE. On another occasion Tom was on leave in London, and with several companions visited a dance hall, where they danced until 10.30, when the party adjourned to another part of the building to partake of supper. While there a German raider plane scored a near-miss nearby, and the dance hall which Tom and his party of eight had not long left was shattered to bits, everybody in it; including the members of the orchestra, being killed. The supper room* also collapsed and it was not until 1 o’clock the next day that the Dunedin man and his friends were dug out from the debris. BEDROOM EXPOSED.

Another adventure, also on shore, overtook Tom when a front wall of a hostel at which ho was staying was ripped clean away by a bomb. Fortunately his bed, in which he was sleeping, was situated against the back wall, so that, except for the bits and pieces flying around and the suddenlyacquired el fresco nature of the apartment, ho suffered no great inconvenience. But his room mate, being near the blasted wall, was landed, more or less neatly and still in his bed, two floors lower down. Although his only injury was the loss of a knuckle of his hand, this chap’s description of Hitler and of Nazis generally was worthy of his 'tween-decks reputation. TAIL OF A HEINKEL. While Tom’s ship was convoying a vessel carrying ammunition near the English coast they were attacked by two Heinkels. Every anti-aircraft gun came into play, and the enemy, after dropping, a few bombs, turned to make off. But one of the crew in charge of a bigger gun, apparently feeling peeved at being out of the ” scrap,” let fly at the last of the retreating Heinkels. Immediately, through the megaphone came the order for him to come to the bridge, obviously for a reprimand or worse, but before he could reach there it was seen, to everyone’s amazement and delight, that the shell which he had sped on its wav into the blue had shot the tail off the enemy bomber. The impending reprimand was changed to a formal compliment. “CHEAP AT THE PRICE.” Again, Tom’s ship was moored to a jetty somewhere on the English coast one dark night, and the usual sentries kept guard on the wharf. There appeared to be nothing doing, so some three or four minutes before one of these sentries was due to be relieved, he slipped on board to see if the relief was all ready. He had scarcely boarded the ship when over came an enemy bomber and dropped its “ eggs ” on the jetty and thereabout, and one of the spots receiving a direct hit was the post which the sentry had, in disobedience to orders, left a few minutes before he should have done. When the facts were disclosed, the sentry was fined a day’s pay and deprived of a day’s leave “It was cheap at the price,” commented the lucky chap. A CHAMPION COCKTAIL. But life in the Navy in wartime is not all icy spray and narrow escapes and being blown up. There is a social side, and when Tom’s ship called at a way port while on the voyago out to New Zealand a cocktail party was organised for the entertainment of the naval authorities there. It was originally intended to last for an' hour, was this parly, but circumstances arose which lengthened it to many hours longer. And the circumstances were these.

The commander had been given « new recipe for rum cocktail, and he gave the chief steward strict instructions as to the component parts, which included sis parts of water, four parts of rum, syrup of sugar, and so on. A huge quantity of this was made, and the guests voted it the finest cocktail they had ever tasted. Ship’s rum, they said, was, after all, ship’s rum. The effects achieved by the new drink were remarkable. Nobody thought of leaving the party when the scheduled time for closing arrived; this new rum cocktail was too good to be true, and they might wake up and find it only a dream. So on went the show, and on and on, the atmosphere becoming so hilarious that it dawned upon the commander that something had gone wrong somewhere. So he sent for the chief steward" and asked if ho was sure he had got the ingredients of the cocktail right—so much rum? “Yes, sir,” said the chief. So much sugar? “Yes, sir.” So much water? The chief bit his lip, banged his foot, and said: “By gosh, sir, I’m darned if I didn’t forget the water.” Aqua pura was added to what rum there was left, and the party continued until early morn. Next day there was an abnormal demand in town for aspirins.