HMS Manxman's demise (Part 2 of 3)
Heroes Remember
HMS Manxman's demise (Part 2 of 3)
Current position:00:00:00
Total time:--:--:--
Well, we put down a boat to go and rescue him and when the boat
was en route to pick that man up, the stoker, one of the stokers
was found in the water and he had his lifebelt on which was half
inflated and it was keeping him alive. Unfortunately he was
brought in onto the ship, both legs were shattered, both arms
were broken and of course water had entered his lungs.
Unfortunately, the doctor - they had used the petty officers' mes
on the foredeck as an operating theatre or at least a treatment
theatre - and unfortunately that stoker died in the early hours
of the following morning. It was miraculous that we did not sink
because, because of our open deck work and the large volume of
the engine rooms that we had. It was always said that we could
not be struck and not sink. We could not have enough air-tight
compartments in the ship to keep us afloat. We managed to be
towed into Iran which was only 60 miles away and there they, they
put a steel plate on the ship over the hole just to strengthen
the ship and some weeks later we were towed into dry dock at
Gibraltar where the ship was drained and, of, and then they
covered the hole, there was nothing they could do to repair,
it had just blown the engine room to pieces. There was nothing
there except fragments.
Related Videos
Attack on Hellville (Part 1 of 2)
Mr. Rusling describes the attack on Hellville with 20mm guns and mortars. It was the first time that he saw a grenade being thrown. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Attack on Hellville (Part 2 of 2)
After the initial attack they had to search all the buildings one by one.
Nature's beauty
Mr. Rusling talks about the boat trip that they had made up the river and how beautiful the scenery was. He remembers the beauty of the jungle when he was sitting up on the mountain waiting and that he will never forget that beauty as long as he lives.
- Date modified: