The Voyage Overseas
Heroes Remember
The Voyage Overseas
Very high morale, very confident, enthusiastic, but still I think
to a man, still feeling a bit green and not really knowing what
lay ahead of us. But prepared. And I think this, of course,
would be primarily due to our instruction, our training,
regimenting, if you will. I think that we were prepared in so
far as it was possible to be prepared, not having experienced
the real thing. But we were ready to do that.
I went overseas on the Aquitania, which I think at that time was
probably the third largest ship on the water. We were 21 days,
travelled alone; no convoy. The Queen Mary, the Mauritania, and
the Aquitania, there were three really large troop ships, and
they were considered quite fast so they could out run a wolf
pack, if there was a wolf pack of submarines around. Fortunately
we did. And I must admit that the voyage itself was quite a
thing for me because when we left from Halifax, when we got out
probably a hundred miles east of Newfoundland,
we turned south and we spent a week or ten days in the tropics,
which was glorious. But then of course when we reached the other
side, we decided to go north again to go up past the coast of
France, well-off, of course. Finally, through the Irish Sea
and into Liverpool. But I remember some of the chaps were
quite sea sick. In fact, we had about 15 or 16 thousand troops on
it and I think 17 thousand of those were sea sick. I remember
saying to one guy one time "Is the first mate up?" And he
said "If I ate him, he is." And there was another guy, a wit
from, now I won't name the community, but it was a community
in eastern Newfoundland where everybody is witty, he
said "Boys, the best trip I ever had in my life. Eat six meals a
day: three down, three up." But when we landed in Liverpool, I
must admit we were greeted... And I hadn't been sea sick. I was
very, very fortunate. But most of us must have looked a very
sorry lot because I remember hearing an old dockie, a long-shore
man on dockside say "If this is what they have to offer, thank
god for the navy." So we were not all together impressed as
apparently they were not impressed.
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