London Rubble and Pubs

Heroes Remember

London Rubble and Pubs

Transcript

When we got to London, we were in the East India dock. Going ashore we were, well I think I was alone at the time. I had a buddy with me, we were just walking around and there was just heaps of rubble all over the place where it was collected up from the bombing raids and it was parked in certain areas to be picked up by lorries or whatever and that particular area that I was in I can recall walking around St. Paul’s Cathedral. And it was just amazing, looking up at it, still standing and all this rubble all around it. So that was a memorable event, you know, pretty hard to forget that. And the watch that I was on, there were two very good people that were, you know, we all worked well together. One of them was a boxer from San Juan or down in the South American area. He was an amateur boxer, John de Souza was his name. I’ll never forget it and the other fellow was a fellow by the name of Baushma, a French chap from Ottawa. So we all worked well together and we even signed back on for several trips so, and of course, we went ashore together. We always went to pubs and you met lots of people there and being my first experience going to a pub, like I think it could have been a Sunday, and the minister was in the pub with all the local residents and this was, you know, something new to me. Certainly didn’t experience this where I lived at home.

Description

Mr. Colcomb describes shore leave in London and seeing St. Paul's Cathedral standing unscathed and surrounded by rubble. He also describes visiting a pub nearby and being surprised to see a clergyman sharing a pint with the locals.

Ross Colcomb

Ross Colcomb was born in Montreal, Quebec on July 2, 1926. After being an Air Cadet in his early teens, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at age seventeen, and took air crew training. The demand for air crew was low near the end of the war, so Mr. Colcomb was discharged after nine months. He immediately joined the Merchant Navy. After a short period of engineering and gunnery training, Mr. Colcomb went to sea as a fireman aboard the SS Elk Island Park, which ferried war materials to England for the duration of the Second World War.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 1:47
Person Interviewed:: Ross Colcomb
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Branch:: Merchant Navy
Units/Ship:: Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers
Occupation:: Fireman

Related Videos

Enlistment and Training Profile

Mr. Colcomb describes receiving gunnery instruction and boiler theory, but no practical instruction, before qualifying for engine room duty.

First Voyage

Mr. Colcomb describes joining the SS Oak Island Park in Halifax harbour as part of a convoy. He describes seeing a freighter converted to a miniature aircraft carrier, a late edition to the Allies effort to thwart German U-boats.

Foul Weather and Risks

Mr. Colcomb describes forming up a convoy in the fog-shrouded St. Lawrence River and being nervous because his ship was loaded with munitions. He also describes an incident during that crossing in which a tank lashed to the deck breaks loose and is re-secured without any damage occurring.

Firing the Boilers

Mr. Colcomb describes in detail the make up of an engine room watch, and goes on to describe synchronism required among the crew to keep the boilers properly fired.

Reliving the Past

Mr. Colcomb recalls visiting Halifax and showing his wife and friends exactly where his ship had positioned itself for a convoy leaving the Bedford Basin. He also recalls that the weather conditions were remarkably similar.

Date modified:: 2019-04-03