Troopships

turingback from leave I was one of the first n.c.os to board the VIENNA,and the r.s.m.kindly informed  me haha,i was on deck duties that night on d deck,after I found d deck it was full of w/os and sgts,at 11 pm the r.s.m.came down and told them there was fire drill at 12 and told me to make sure every one had a life jacket on befor they got on deck,12 clock came and hooters/bells sirens went off,i was the last one on deck and had to stand near the life boat,then the r.s.m/and the officers of the r.eng came around for the inspection,and instructed the deckhand to lower the life boat,he pressed the button ,nowt happened then he told him to use the wheel,it was as rusty as old nick,nowt happened,so I got my own back on the r.s.m as he got a bollicking ,the best part of it was we were still in dock.happy days

Much later than this thread I remember sailing from The Hook to Harwich on Sir Tristram.  we were on our way to as motor bike trials in bordon, so i rode a BSA 350 from Bielefeld to the Hook, and from harwich to Bordon.

I was sick as a dog all the way accross the channel

KIeler sprotten wrote:

Neumunster was at the end of the line for the Boar train, Hamburg to the Hook of Holand. We were
  always given guard duty, escorting army prisoners back to the UK or Post duty picking up or dropping of mail bags at every  BAOR  station on route. always sailing on the Vienna.

I once had to escort a prisoner from Hanover airport to MCTC. The day before I was due to go on leave the CSM told me I would be travelling in number two's because I was prisoner escort [Thrilled to bits] I didn't know what to expect but on arrival at Hanover airport I didn't go through check in or anything like that. I was shown to some place 'airside' and I signed for 'my' prisoner from an RMP. We were then shown onto an aircraft while the cleaners were still on board. For some reason we were seated right at the back of the aircraft. My prisoner was a young fusilleer from 3 RRF who had obviously been a very naughty boy. Knowing what he had coming I bought him a couple of drinks on the flight. I got a right bollocking at MCTC, some 6ft 4in dickhead with a very big mouth asked me (At about 90 decibels) if I wanted to join him [The prisoner] because I helped him with his bags.

Oh and My stepdad was in Neumunster with 1 KDG, 1956, 57 somewhere round there.

brum wrote:

I
(What IS the collective name for a gathering of MPs I wonder ?)
 (I think the appointment title was WATCHDOG).

A group of arse holes, I believe.

steve jones wrote:

Much later than this thread I remember sailing from The Hook to Harwich on Sir Tristram.  we were on our way to as motor bike trials in bordon, so i rode a BSA 350 from Bielefeld to the Hook, and from harwich to Bordon.

I was sick as a dog all the way accross the channel

I always thought the route between the Hook to Harwich was across the North Sea,and not the Channel,
has been all my life as i remember,as i live only 26 miles from Harwich!..
Mick..

Collective name for MP's is I would think - a Barrel ... hee, hee

Len (Ciphers)

suffolk lad wrote:

steve jones wrote:

Much later than this thread I remember sailing from The Hook to Harwich on Sir Tristram.  we were on our way to as motor bike trials in bordon, so i rode a BSA 350 from Bielefeld to the Hook, and from harwich to Bordon.

I was sick as a dog all the way accross the channel

I always thought the route between the Hook to Harwich was across the North Sea,and not the Channel,
has been all my life as i remember,as i live only 26 miles from Harwich!..
                                                                          Mick..

Ah give the bloke a break.
Given the circumstances I bet the poor bugger felt like it was the Atlantic !  

Crossed a couple of times via Calais to Dover. It was okay and I enjoyed the tax free booze.

Ah the old Vienna, remember it well. There were about three ships on that route in 1952. The Empire Parkeston and one other. Having travelled on the red train from Herford I found the RAF Police (snowdrops) the worse out of all officialdom. They would book you for the slightest detail. Was wearing a woven tie 7 officers shirt with my battledress one time. Got picked up by this thick RAF Police Cpl. I thought what the hell does he KNOW about ARMY DRESS REGULATIONS. Sweet FA. and that was the findings by my SSM back in Herford.

I've sailed on many troopers possibly putting more nautical miles under my belt than a lot of matelos I know, (concrete battleship crews). But without a doubt the crossing from the Hook to Harwich was possibly the worst, did 8 crossings in all, all on the Vienna. The worst crossing of the lot was the last in January 1954, I though the bloody ship was going to turn turtle. The troop deck was awash with all things liquid .. sand some solids .. Ugh!.

Len (Ciphers)

Just looked up the name of the 3rd troopship on the Hook to Harwich run. It was the Empire Wansbeck.

Ciphers

You were lucky you never sailed on the Empire Wansbeck, unanimously elected the worst of the lot and reputed to be an overgown deep sea tug boat. The best was undoubtedly the Empire Parkeston, originally designed for use on the sea ferry routes of British Columbia Canada

JPW wrote:

Ciphers

You were lucky you never sailed on the Empire Wansbeck, unanimously elected the worst of the lot and reputed to be an overgown deep sea tug boat. The best was undoubtedly the Empire Parkeston, originally designed for use on the sea ferry routes of British Columbia Canada

Which goes to show you that we spoiled you again.

   

Len,
What's the history around the old E-Sang & Wo-Sang Ferries from Kure to Pusan ?. Bloody awful ships. Stank of fish and rolled like barrels. That's my memory of one or the other that I sailed on in 1954.
Jimsigs

Jim, from my notes on Korea

Len (Ciphers)

My arrival in Korea was a bit of an anti climax, after a 6 week journey from the UK aboard the Troopship Devonshire we finally reached Kure in Japan where we transferred to a requisitioned fish boat named the E Sang, needless to say it took us about a week to get the smell of dead fish out of our kit. Sometimes I can still smell it.

Arriving in Pusan, Korea we were taken by truck to Seaforth Transit Camp and within a couple of days we were heading North by train to Seoul. The train journey was an unforgettable experience, the carriages were still showing signs of being ‘shot up’, no windows, holes in the roof where snow drifted in and covered us in a blanket of white. After a stop and go journey of roughly 18 hours through what one of my pal’s (Taffy Reese) called a ‘bloody barrack store for mountains’, we finally arrived in Seoul. Our camp was located in the old Seoul Catholic Girls High School, and was named British Forward Maintenance Area (North).

I must have been lucky....... With leaves & courses in UK I got ten crossings Hook /Harwich & Harwich /Hook in during my two years in BAOR, all on Empire Parkeston. I never suffered, never felt queasy until coming across the sight & stink of others with weaker stomachs. Worst trip was in the March gales. I heaved my kit off the slimy deck & dumped on to the bottom bunk I'd been allocated then climbed as far up the ship as we were allowed. With two RAF lads I spent a wakeful night in the saloon sharing out the booze each of us had brought with us. Big mistake ! Whilst the rest perked up once they'd left the ship, we suffered the effects of almighty hangovers.

Could have been worse. I often wondered who landed the job of cleaning up the ship to make it ready for the return trip.


/

Hi Len,

Similar experience although only 4 weeks on the Empire Fowey. (You must have travelled around the Cape for a six week journey), on arrival at Kure we were put into barracks at JRBD and place on a five day fire piquet. Then across the sea by either E or Wo sang to Pusan. The train as you said had no windows and the food was provided by the Yanks. All runny and slops which we hurled out of the window. On arrival at Seoul, we boarded RL Bedfords driven by mad Kiwi (maori) drivers to our eventual destination being 29 Brigade, which was at the foot of Kamaksan. What a journey

The Devonshire had just undergone a complete refit and we were on its first voyage. We sailed from Liverpool, via Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Aden, Columbo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kure. JRBD and crossed to Pusan on the E Sang.

Len (Ciphers)

Here you are Len, the old E-Sang

A yes, troopships. My family (myself, my brother and sister) all kids at the time came back to the UK in 1948, on board a troopship, or at least a regular passenger liner that had been partially converted for troops coming back from India and the Far East in the years imediately after the end of hostlities with Japan.

I only have vague memories of this, I was around 2 years old. All I know from what my parents told me was that the families were segregated from the troops, and us kids were closely chaperoned as to where we went and did. I cannot remember what the ships name was, I think it sailed out from Calcutta back to the UK via the Suez Canal, and thence o either Tilbury or Southampton.

As for my own service, it was all Air Trooping to hot, sweaty, fly blown sandy places such as Cyprus or Bahrein in the 1960s.

I don't remember Cyprus being a hot sweaty, fly blown place. Perhaps Egypt was as far as fly blown etc but was a very dry heat. If you want a sweaty place, try the jungles of Malaya.
Jimsigs

Just found the log of my one and only voyage on a troopship.
HMT Somersetshire, Karachi to Southampton, 22nd Nov 1933 to 14th Dec 1933.
I was 3 months old. Aaaaahhhh.
Dad was RAF.

Chemist wrote:

Just found the log of my one and only voyage on a troopship.
HMT Somersetshire, Karachi to Southampton, 22nd Nov 1933 to 14th Dec 1933.
I was 3 months old. Aaaaahhhh.
Dad was RAF.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminds of the old song.......... some content toned down for those of a sensitive disposition.......... Apologies Shelldrake !

We're leaving Khartoum, by the light of the moon,
Sailing by night & by day.
We've passed Kasfereet and there's damn all to eat
And ma's in the family way

So shine, shine Somersetshire shine,
The captain regards her with pride.
He'd have a blue fit if he saw any dirt
On the side of the Somersetshire.......

Chorus ;-
This is my story, this is my song,
I've been in the Navy too blinking long,
So roll on the Rodney, Repulse & Renown,
You can't sink the Hood, it's already gone down.

Not the same ship perhaps. This one was notorious throughout the Andrew for having a captain who was over-keen on polishing the brasswork. And maybe it was " HMS Somerset" not " HMT Somersetshire". The song is not of RAF origin & the "Chocks Away" bits the Junior Service added, together with what they'd do to any SPs who'd come down their way, are intrusive.

Here you are Chemist,
Your old ship HMT Somersetshire




Before and during the 1939-45 War the movement of troops between England and overseas garrisons was by sea. In 1962 it was decided that overseas trooping would be carried out by air, and the day of the troopship came to an end. Before the War the best known troopships in regular service were the British India Steam Navigations Company’s Dilwara, Dunera, Neuralia and Nevasa and the Bibby Line’s Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Lancashire and Somersetshire. They were all ships of rather more than 9,000 tons gross with a service speed of 15 knots, designed to carry a complete battalion and a number of drafts and individuals. In the main the military staff on board were RAF.

Jimsigs1

Jimsigs thanks for the picture.
I know this is not BAOR news, but I cant resist this quote from my brothers diary for 1941. He was RAF 1936-1961.Going to war in Egypt.
"On the quayside at Liverpool marching past a HULK towards a run down freighter twice the size of the HULK. The freighter looked just about fit to sail round Mersey Bay once. About turn came the order and like a horrible dream we were up the gangplank[,and it was a plank aboard the HULK. It turned out to be the Belgian cargo ship Congo Thyoville"
"Four days into the Atlantic mutiny- and revolvers were drawn-The cruise (to South Africa) took nearly three months and was said to be the longest convoy to sail during the war"

So stop moaning about cross Channel cruises, this was the real wawah!