HMS Uganda
Heroes Remember
HMS Uganda
We were in the South Pacific, and they wouldn’t give us ‘splice
the main brace.’ Now ‘splice the main brace’ is, you get an
extra tot on occasions such as that. But because we were at
sea, and in action, they wouldn’t give us our ‘splice the main
brace’. So, we had it about a month later. But I’m not sure
whether you’re aware that the Uganda was brought back because of
political reasons. The British Navy and the U.S. Navy were
depending on the Uganda as a picket ship. We were the one that
had the best radar in the British fleet. So when we left, we
left a hole in the fleet, and I’m sure that the U.S. Navy and
the British Navy didn’t think much of what was happening. And I
volunteered. We were in the Pacific, and I was in the Pacific,
so I said, “Well, let’s finish the war here.” What’s this crazy
idea of asking me if I want to serve in the Pacific now, when
I’m there. And I can see a lot of the crew who hadn’t served on
a cruiser before, they hadn’t got used to the routines. And
there are more routines on a cruiser than there is on a
corvette. You had certain uniforms you had to wear each day,
and it was more regulated. I’m sure that would affect fellas
that had been on corvettes. But some of them had been on
corvettes for four years, and suddenly they’re on a cruiser out
in the Pacific. And when they had a chance to say, “Hey, I
could get home,” they took that action. So, in lots of ways, I
can’t blame them. It was a little bit of a downer, being
brought home, although, as it turned out, we were only a few
days home when the Japanese War ended. So, what they did was,
they had all the warrants and everything else all ready for
those who had volunteered to go on leave, with the idea that you
get 28 days leave and then they’d return. They’d have
identified a balance of the crew that they needed,
and we’d be taking off for the Pacific again.
Well, when the war ended like that, I just went in and applied
for another 28 which they gave me, but after that I went into the
chartered accountancy firm and said, "Do I have a job back?" and
she said, "Sure". So I took this into the HCMCS Chipewa and they
said, "Sure, we'll give you a discharge." So I never did go back
to ship so most of my kit remained on the Uganda because I...
when I had left it I was expecting to go back.
So I got home a little bit sooner.
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