HMS Manxman's demise (Part 3 of 3)
Heroes Remember
HMS Manxman's demise (Part 3 of 3)
And of course when we got to Gibraltar, two-thirds of the crew
went back to England. It was, and just one-third was left on of
which I was fortunate to remain to be, to await the tow back to,
back to the United Kingdom. We were towed, eventually towed back
after about seven months, we were towed back to England. The
damage was such that they never did attempt to repair it before
the war ended although there was an alteration to the ship
following, after the war. They did make, not, not, it wasn't the
same ship, it wasn't required for the same operations. I left
that ship after decommissioning her; I left the Manxman on the
17th of July 1943 and as I said, it was November 1942 when we
were torpedoed. You become attached to the vessel that you're
on no matter which vessel it is, it's your home, it's your place
of work. You, you live in a tight community, of friends, you
make, you have friends, you have the ship-born acquaintances, and
when the numbers only 250 people, you become very close.
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