Premonition of an Attack

Heroes Remember

Premonition of an Attack

Transcript

The second mate came into me, I was on watch and I should explain that the radio officer at sea always had the position of the ship within a half-hour of the ship's position. I'm speaking a half-hour within that. And the navy, more or less, had a pact with you if you were on your own, that as long as you were within a hundred miles, plus or minus a hundred miles, of your position, they'd more or less come and have a look for you. In other words, that was a good reason to follow the course that they'd set to wherever you were going. Well, this night the second mate came in, and I've never seen anyone with a look on his face like that before or since. And he said, "Sparks, between you and I, I'm gonna change our course." He said, "I have a feeling that if I was a Japanese submarine, this is where I would sit looking for ships." And we did change. Of course, we couldn't tell the master that. It was between the second mate and myself. He said it would only be for a period. Anyway, he gave me the new positions. That night, within a few, I would say, half an hour at that time, three ships got torpedoed that were all on our course. And they, like, obviously, you don't know whether they were sunk or not ‘cause you're not there, but they were just very, very close to us. We couldn't see them, of course, but they were obviously on the same course and three ships got torpedoed, and there was talk in the chartroom then, of course. The master was up as soon as there was a ship, you know, hit. They had to know about it, and I'd taken the messages. And some of the mates wanted to go and, you know, see if we could rescue some of them, but the captain then explained with our cargo, and we had a lot of about 500 pound bombs aboard, that if we went there and the subs were still around, or sub, whichever it happened to be, we could kill more people in the water than, than the sub did. So, we had to keep going, and that's one thing that bothered us in convoys, too, you had to keep going. That was the rule, that was the law, and it was a correct one, but it was one that hurt a lot because there'd be men in the water and you had to go by. You tried to get them out, you know you'd throw anything you could over to help them but, but that was it. But that was just a couple examples, like, that happened. Interviewer: Was it hard to know or to see another ship go down? It, it's an awful thing to say, but I, I think it would apply to any serviceman. You're always glad it isn't you, but you do feel sorry, yeah. But I think the worst part is when you know they're in the water and, and you have to keep going. But, obviously, to stop would just be no good at all, like, you know. You just become a sitting target, then.

Description

Mr. White recalls a night in the South Pacific when the second mate changed the ships course, thinking a sub might be waiting for them. He then explains why ships couldn't stop to pick up mariners in the water.

Alexander M. White

Mr. Alexander White was born in Craik, Saskatchewan, on November 15, 1923. His father, a Veteran of the First World War, survived being gassed in Ypres and returned to Canada in 1915. It was his fathers stories of the ships he had been on that began Mr. White's interest in sailing. As he neared the end of grade school Mr. White decided to join the Merchant Navy, and entered training as a radio operator when he had finished grade 12. After training Mr. White was sent to Vancouver to join the crew of a ship still in construction. In June 1943 they left port on the SS Green Gables Park. Mr. White stayed at sea for three years and suffered from seasickness for the first half of those three years. During his service Mr. White guided the ship as it ferried cargo across the North Atlantic and South Pacific either alone or as part of massive convoys. Although there were many close calls, including instances of ships beside them in convoys being torpedoed, the SS Green Gables Park luckily never came under direct attack during the war. Staying with the service for a year after the war ended in order to gain experience, Mr. White received his discharge in 1946.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:45
Person Interviewed:: Alexander M. White
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: South Pacific
Branch:: Merchant Navy
Units/Ship:: SS Green Gables Park
Rank:: 2nd Class Seaman
Occupation:: Radio Operator

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Premonition of an Attack

Heroes Remember