The Aquitania
April 15th, we boarded H.M.S. Aquitania, and slipped quietly out of Halifax Harbour under cover of darkness. We did our best to get settled into the two foot wide, seven foot long canvas slings that served as our bunks. Each of these hammocks had metal grommets around the edges. The grommets permitted the beds to be laced (with a thin rope) to the metal pipes that framed them. Our beds were mounted six inches apart, and stacked four high in most areas. In the swimming pool area, the slings were stacked six high! The poor guys in the top bunks had a real challenge getting into their beds, especially in the semi-darkness of the sleeping area.
We each had a large, heavy wool blanket. It functioned like a sleeping bag, with half the blanket under the body, and the other half wrapped over top to keep us warm. We were told we would be sleeping in our clothes. Therefore, should we have to abandon ship during the night, just our boots were to be removed. We had very little lighting in our quarters. No smoking was permitted indoors at night due to the fire hazard. Smoking was not allowed on the decks due to the risk of being spotted by enemy submarines.
Each and every day of our cruise, we bathed, shaved, brushed our teeth, cleaned our mess tins, washed our eating utensils, and flushed the toilets with cold seawater. We were served two meals a day. As we lined up and filed past the steam table, our food was ladled out by one of the privates who was stuck with kitchen duty. Most of our meals were wieners and beans. Sometimes, for a change, we would get baloney and beans. We were also given two slices of bread that the server threw on top of the pile. We weren’t sure whether the bread was intended to decorate or conceal our tasty meal.
The wieners were served in their cellophane coverings, which were impossible to eat. We had to fight our way through the casings with our teeth. Many of the passengers took their wieners out on the deck, and hand-fed them to the seagulls as they glided on the winds. Some gulls flew away with one wiener swallowed, and the other still attached, while other gulls fought to take it away. I often wondered whether their stomach acids could dissolve the cellophane, or whether it would have to be regurgitated.
At the end of the serving line, we received a large mug of tea or coffee that was poured into our smaller mess tin. We picked up our food in a continuous line that led from the steam table to our dining place (which resembled a park picnic table). Eight men sat on each side of these large tables. They were specially made for ship-board dining, with a one-inch high trim piece, like a small fence surrounding the top. This adaptation prevented the dishes from sliding off when the sea was rough, and the ship rolled from side to side. After the meal, we filed past a large tub where a pipe delivered clean seawater. Under the flow from the pipe, we cleaned our mess tins and utensils.
In our free time, we wandered around the deck watching the waves. For myself and many others, the endless vista of choppy blue water was fascinating. I loved watching the wake made by the prow of the ship. It fanned beautifully outward, away from the boat on both sides. One day, while enjoying this view, I caught sight of an extremely large turtle. He was trying to paddle himself away from the side of the ship, while being rolled over by the turbulent water. I ran along the railing, keeping my eye on him. As I reached the stern, the turtle disappeared from view. The current created by the screws that propel the ship, had sucked him under the water. I never knew the outcome, but hoped he wasn’t hurt.
One day, I sat down on the deck with my back against a wall, and lit up a cigarette. While watching my smoke drifting up and away, I began to feel a little woozy. I realized my cigarette, the smells of the ocean, and the movement of the ship were making me seasick. I got rid of the cigarette, and pulled a paperback book from my pocket. After an hour of reading, I lit up another cigarette. Immediately, the wooziness returned. I determined the cigarettes were causing my problem, and decided they had to be eliminated. I could not stop the smells of the ocean, or the actions of the ship, but I could quit smoking while at sea. It worked! I managed to read three paper-back books in the next two sunny days. Reading was what many of the men were doing to pass the time. Therefore, as soon as you finished a book, you could trade with someone, and get a fresh novel to read. Crossing the Atlantic, there isn’t much to see except water. Reading gave our minds more to do than staring at the horizon in all directions.
One evening, we were notified by the ship’s bullhorn, that rumours were circulating about the food. Apparently, some passengers were getting tired of having wieners or baloney and beans. Therefore, they announced, the chefs in the ships galley planned to change the menu for tomorrow. The men cheered. The announcer then informed us that our new menu would be beans and baloney or wieners. This got a big laugh from the guys, and made us smile as we continued to eat the same stuff.
The next day, we awoke to see a few ships ahead of us. As we overtook them, more ships came into view. We had caught up to a convoy of several hundred merchant ships. Along with freighters and oil tankers, were several frigates and a few small Corvettes. My older brother Don had enlisted in the Canadian Navy, and was aboard a Corvette, protecting convoys against enemy U-boats. Amazing! I might have caught up to my brother Don, here in the middle of the Atlantic. We realized our ship was travelling much faster than the merchant flotilla. To stay together, convoys had to sail at the speed of the slowest boats. Because this was such an enormous flotilla, it still took a full day for our speedy Aquitania to pass through.
As we continued our journey, I became reacquainted with an airman I had first met at the manning depot in Edmonton. Jamie Jampolski was from St. Paul Alberta. He knew two of my uncles, Dan and Nick, who also lived in St. Paul. Jamie had heard my name during roll-call, and came over to introduce himself. Unlike those of us reading books, Jamie's hobby on board ship was gambling, and he was cleaning up! He was carrying his winnings (more than $2,000.00), and didn’t want to lose any of it. For safe keeping until we got off the boat, Jamie gave me a huge wad of Canadian money, and a roll of pound notes that would choke a cow. He then resumed gambling, hoping to win more. That evening when we were in the lineup for dinner, Jamie gave me another $500.00 Canadian, and a handful of pound notes. Considering we were earning $3.45 a day, this was a LOT of money!
At this time, a British pound was worth $2.49 Canadian. When the men were gambling, they didn’t do this conversion, and treated the pound notes like dollar bills. All of our group were sergeants. We had received a full month’s pay in advance before boarding the ship. There was nothing to spend our money on during this cruise, so everyone had extra cash to play with. Jamie was making big money, rolling the dice on a blanket spread out on the floor between the bunks.
On the fifth day at sea, we sighted an RAF patrol aircraft that came out to meet us. Perhaps the pilot knew how much money I was carrying for Jamie! More likely, he was watching for U-boats that might try to pick us off before we reached the protection of the Clyde river, with its anti-submarine nets. By noon, we could see land! A Corvette of the Royal Navy escorted us the rest of the way. We passed through the submarine nets that were opened for us, and sailed up the Clyde to Greenock Harbour. On our way, we saw several castles perched on the rocky mountains, and some steam locomotives as they traveled on the right bank, also going our way. After a week at sea, we had arrived in Scotland!
To be continued...
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