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Originally posted by Simon Bolivar
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Diner was the big social event of the day as it was the only time we all got together, as we had turned the other recreation spaces into bedded wards. There were two sittings, Jrn & Snr ratings, then the Officers. We ate in the first class restaurant & The Indian waiters treated us as first class pax. I hope they were too disappointed the end of the trip when our tips no were doubt less than they were used too. At first we had to consume what was left in the freezers as they hadn?t been unloaded in Gib. Salmon, Guinea Fowl & even Foie Gras was served.
After dinner the smokers congregated in the smoking area & I would retire to my cabin to write to the GF. I had barely written the inside page of a Bluey (an airmail letter, sent free to & from servicemen at the time) when Sindy walked in. ?Can we talk?? Not wishing to be inhospitable I cracked her one of my 3 a day beer ration & as I sat at the bed head & she on the other end we began what turned onto our regular evening discussion on the likelihood of us sailing south of Ascension: the war, of how we would cope with the expected rough weather, the horrendous casualties that they were training us to deal with & our folks at home.
She knew I had a RG & saw her pic on my bulkhead. She didn?t have a relationship at the time so mostly talked of her time in Plymouth were she had been serving until recently & North York?s where her family were.
As we didn?t have communal rec spaces, it was accepted the sexes could mix in cabins as long as the door was open. We had been told although they couldn?t actually stop sex between consenting adults, it was forbidden in the cabins: the rec spaces, the lifeboats ect. ect. So it was like being at home with her Mother continually popping in to make sure you weren?t snogging in front of the TV ect.
25th April, we arrived at Freetown & unloaded our patient. [ATTACH=CONFIG]16664[/ATTACH]The Capitan had been operated on & was deemed fit to travel. We were initially expecting to get ashore (remember this is yrs before the civil war) but as government elections were about to take place the locals refused to allow us ashore. In fact they sent troops down to make sure we didn?t step foot on Serria Leonne soil. I was slightly amused they thought guns& grenade launchers were necessary to enforce that order.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16665[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]16666[/ATTACH]
As we could get ashore to buy souvenirs, the locals came to us, selling skins, coconuts & carvings from dugout canoes. As we didn?t have currency, they just swapped these items for plastic containers. As we didn?t have many empty containers, there was a sudden rush on the stores cupboards & bottles of bleach were emptied & passed over board. I hope they rinsed them out well before using for drinking water.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16667[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]16668[/ATTACH]
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></O>The morning after we sailed evidence was found on the upper decks that drugs had been brought on board. The fact we had users onboard alerted the powers that be that the morphine stocks could be broken into so we were put into a rota & guarded the locker every night thereafter. As we headed for Ascension, we wondered if the following port would be or Southampton.
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></O>Here?s an example of a couple of the more appropriate swimwear worn by our nurses.
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> [ATTACH=CONFIG]16669[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]16670[/ATTACH]</O>