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Living on relief
Mr. Evans describes his family life before enlistment, the hard work and the poverty.
Torpedo Starboard side! Torpedo Starboard side!
Mr. Evans describes being torpedoed at night and abandoning ship in lifeboats. He overheard officers debating whether or not to try to rescue their radio operator who had stayed aboard to send the SOS.
Nine days in a lifeboat
Mr. Evans describes survival in a lifeboat, Icelandic fishermen sharing their food, and finally being towed to safety to the Westman Islands of Iceland by Icelandic in-shore fishermen.
And there were nobody allowed ashore
Mr. Evans describes how he went ashore to Iceland despite orders because of the presence of German spies in Iceland. When he returned, he was severely reprimanded by his superiors.
They called that the coffin side.
Mr. Evans tells of his ship running out of ammunition on a voyage to Russia in a convoy, and how some men refused to go down into the hold because they feared they’d be trapped if the ship was bombed by German planes.
It was the 8th of May when we got the word that the war was over.
Mr. Evans describes how, at the end of the war, he left the ship in Halifax with his brother before he was discharged. He hid when police and immigration were looking for him as they considered him a deserter.
Thank God for us who were the lucky ones.
Mr. Evans reflects on the loss of everyone involved in the Second World War, gives thanks for his own survival, and describes a pilgrimage to Russia.
You didn’t know whether you’d live or die.
Mr. Evans describes his feelings while being under attack on the way to Murmansk, the destruction of the docks at Murmansk by the Luftwaffe, and returning safely to England while the other half of his convoy strays into an Allied minefield and loses six ships.
He fought tooth and nail for the Merchant Navy.
Mr. Evans describes how Canada’s fledgling Merchant Navy was manned, and describes the trials that the Merchant Navy had in getting recognition for its war service, with particular thanks to the late Senator Jack Marshall who championed their cause.
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