BUT ANDY GOT THE MEDALS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 74, 22 November 1940, Page 13

BUT ANDY GOT THE MEDALS

I was third gunner aboard H.20, a large 22,000-ton troopship carrying troops from Marseilles to Alexandria. In Marseilles, Andy had adopted a full grown cat which he named "Ma-foo" and in time he became very much attached to it, feeding it. luxuriously with scraps from: the saloon. But one wintry morning in 1917 while carrying approximately 2,000 troops, H.20 was suddenly tin-fished off the coast of Savona, Italy."Soon after the first fish hit her — she received two in twenty minutes-there was a rush for the boats. One of the first to be "at the ready" was Andy, clasping tightly in his arms the black and white Ma-Foo. Also running here and there, bellowing orders at the top of his voice, came the Chief Officer in charge of lowering operations, In the confusion he happened to see the steward fondling his beloved cat. "Drop that cat," he roared, "there’s men to be saved, not cats." And before his command could be complied with, the officer lunged forward, dragged pussy from Andy’s embrace, and pitched her overboard. Andy’s love for that feline was more intense than I had suspected. Without even waiting to discard his blue jacket he took a header after it. BUT ANDY COULDN’T SWIM! And although by this time, our escort, a Japanese destroyer, had come alongside, enabling hundreds of troops to jump to her decks in comparative safety, this did not help Andy. Down he went like a stone, but came up again, while pussy kept paddling : NDY, my friend, was a steward and

around in circles. When he disappeared a second time, however, a certain party aboard the destroyer, only taking time to remove his boots, went overboard too, landing almost on top of the steward, whom he held well up, head above the water, for fully a minute. Providentially a boat was near, just launched, and into this rescuer and rescued, including the cat, were drawn to safety. When we landed at Savona, some seven hours later, we were met by the whole populace, it seemed, who did us great and embarrassing honour, the crowd including the British Consul and his wife, both of whom sat in an open carriage. Andy, by this time fully recovered from his immersion, was standing conspicuously in front, holding in his arms Ma-foo. The Consul’s wife took notice, and beckoned Andy towards her. What was said between them I was never to find out, although I had a fairly good idea, but the cat changed hands, the steward backed away all smiles, while Ma-foo seemed to enjoy the caresses of its new owner, Yes, the joke was certainly on me-I was the goat, or the mug, whichever one likes to call it, for before we left Savona Andy received a medal in a beautiful blue plush case from the Italian R.S.P.C.A. And when he reached Blighty he was accorded a public reception in his little home town, being presented with a second medal from the same organisation in England and an _ illuminated address. Am I to be blamed for severing our friendship?