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A Passage to Hong Kong |
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Our journey took us by the CNR route through Jasper National Park, evenually ending in Vancouver where we boarded the waiting "Awatea". |
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The "Awatea" was a New Zealand liner, converted, to some extent, to a troop ship. |
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Home |
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Mutton was the staple diet. Before long the complaints from the troops could be heard in every quarter. No pun intended. Ken Cambon, who after returning to Canada wrote the book, "Guest of Hirohito"*, composed a poem about the trip in which the mention of mutton appears promininently. "Our cheeks were just juttin' with nutin' but mutton", which nicely said it all, about the food. |
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Disclaimer |
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I Join the Army |
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Page 4 |
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Heavy guns had been mounted on the upper decks causing a certain top-heaviness and thus contributing to a great deal of pitching and rolling. Some of the men became seasick and never got their sea legs all the way across the Pacific. I was lucky and didn't get sea sick at all. |
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Page 6 |
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Page 8 |
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Page 9 |
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Page 10 |
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The Awatea. Photo courstesy of Jim Fairie |
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Page 12 |
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On the ship there was some arms training and boat drill, but in general, not much took place to break the routine. I remember in particular a movie that was shown. I don't remember anything about the plot, but there was a song that has haunted my memory till this day. I have heard it only once since then, and before I could identify it, it was gone. Some of the words were, "You couldn't be much nicer, You couldn't be much sweeter ...... than you are.", or something like that. I have asked in several places but it still remains a mystery to me. I seem to recall that in the movie it was sung to a little girl. |
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Page 15 |
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Page 16 |
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Page 17 |
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Page 18 |
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We were warned not to throw anything overboard. The reason given that was any garbage would give enemy ships a clue as to where we were.
We docked in Pearl Harbor under the famous clock. Hula dancers came to the dock and put on a show for us. Some of the lads went ga-ga over them and showered them with money. An old adage that my Mother used to repeat, "A willful waste makes a woeful want", came to my unsophisticated mind. It would be only months before the money tossed onto the dock that day would have been very useful indeed, and possibly lifesaving. |
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In My Memory |
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Photo Gallery |
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Click Here To Go To Part One
Home |
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Thanks For The Memory |
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Perhaps the following story will be classified as "bragging", but ... I'm going to tell it anyhow.
When we loaded our office supplies aboard ship all my Company records went into a box labelled, "D" Coy, and the number 1042, which was, I believe the number of the Royal Rifles of Canada. One day, during the voyage, Major Parker summoned me and asked if I had a nominal roll of the Company. I shamefacedly had to admit that I had no such document having packed everything away in Valcartier in preparation for the trip. |
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Click Here
To Go To
Part Two
Home |
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Links |
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What to do? After tossing it around in my mind for awhile I went to each of the Platoon Sergeants, and got a list of the men in their charge. I put all these lists together, arranged the names in alphabetical order, and put the name, rank and serial number beside each name. |
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Except for Lance Ross, whose number was E/1144, and Randolphe Steele, whose number was E/1145, all the men in "D" Company had numbers starting with a letter followed by a five diget number. Doubt me if you will, but this is the truth ... I managed to arrange 125 names and serial numbers in alphabetical order ... and get them all right. I had typed the nominal roll a hundred times and had a system of remembering the numbers based on the time and place of enlistment of each of the men in the Company. I found a typewriter and typed out the names again and presented the list to the Major. I don't know if he ever knew what had taken place.
We stopped in Manilla in the sweltering heat, but again, didn't leave the ship. We moved on again after dark and before long it became blissfully cool. We were headed north, to Hong kong. |
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* Guest of Hirohito, published by PW Press, Vancouver, B.C., Canada |
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Please View My Guestbook |
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Please mail me |
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Please sign my Guestbook |
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