PEOPLE : MAGAZINE SECTION => 5 Cents Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, Jan. 23, 1943 x 2 Last November the peoples of the United Nations were inspired by the news that British and American troops had landed in French North Africa. The story of the greatest convoy in history — 960 ships — that carried them there is told in pages from the diary of a young British merchant seaman. jo the open sea. } In the early morning light I j atched the seemingly endless ge Of Merchant ships and naval scorts heading in a line astern jor the open sea. We shall take itp convoy formation. 31, 32, 33, ¢, sdS—iI counted them. We keep on. Sometimes I can 2@ over 40 ships, excluding naval ay 2ssels. All the merchant ships ne with the weight of men and fiiaterials they carry. We are ‘in convoy formation ow. Many of the ships I can see te well-known passenger liners. ot they are now stripped for ttion. I saw them in peace time. heir decks then were made for ng, lazy days for people well- enough to afford cruising holi- sys. All that has gone. ‘ e } »Y the end of the week the i boys have taken on a new _ Ase of life. The seas are calmer 1@ ow. There is considerable ex- tement when it becomes known tat the American general aboard 3 is going to address officers id men to make his “revela- ons.” £ couldn’t get away to be in te lounge where the general said is piece. But I’m told it was ; straight-forward statement. me objectives of the fighting 4 £8 would be three places, which he called “CG”? “A” and “O.” It the last-named which concerns ‘jie men on this ship. — he pum-chewing Yanks are very. eppy. They've been promised ac- on. 4 Destroyers are in front of us, ad flankine us. Just like sheep- fs watching a flock. A cruiser | also pretty near us. 3'Then suddenly two of the de- froyers streak away to _ star- joard. A few minutes later come | uifled explosions and columns water rising high Depth Qarges. We saw nothing. . But ie destroyers apparently had jeard something. We got keyed pa bit. What a prize we would Ne for the U-boats. But the old datchdogs are around. E Ge JNATURDAY, Nov. 7.— This is }¥ the Big Day! Daylight sees 5 in the Mediterranean with the dast of Spain on our port side. he boys are in high spirits. They on’t Know what they're going 39 meet. But they hope to meet Smething! I asked a guy from California ce leaded down to the Plimsoll. what his job was. “Waal,” he says, “I’m a machine-gunner, and when I git ashore, I’m told that we're gonna cover a certain road. Any automobile, truck, tank, -or whatnot that comes our way and ain’t got the right answers— we give the driver the works.” Thiss morning we caught up with the supply ships. An even bigger convoy than ours. Some array of ships, this, including additional aircraft carriers, an- other cruiser, numerous destroy- ers and motor-torpedo boats that buzz aocund like a swarm of mos- quitoes. As the day wears on we leave the Spanish coast behind us. Fly- ing boats and scout planes are above us. Last-minute prepara- tions and check-ups are made. Royal Navy men are busy on the landing craft, running the en- gines and checking the gears. Treops are testing their equip- ment. Qutwardly, at any rate, they're quite nonchalantly wait- ing for zero hour. In less than two hours, the first batch of men will head quietly for that distant shore. They're practically all chewing gum. e@ UNDAY, Nov. 8—it was very black about one in the morn- ing. But I was able to see the landing craft at the ship’s side. They started their first trip just before midnight. Conditions were perfect for the landing job. Pitch darkness, no moon, no stars, a light wind and a calm sea. All very quiet except for the slap of the water. Wow and then, I could hear brief orders being given to the crews of each barge before it took off. Then came the throb of their engines and their propellers churned the water into a bright phosphorescent glow as they dis- appeared into the darkness. 6a.m.—There was gunfire when TIT awoke. I wondered who was responsible. Qn. deck/I found out. Isolated shore batteries had opened “up. Shells were falling dangerously close to one liner which was lying close in shore. The firing, however, was erratic. 7a.m.— Under cover of the smoke the landing goes on. Through my binoculars I see plainly the columns of men mov- ing to their objectives, already supported by jeeps and motor- eycles: One of our fighter planes has landed on the beach. Maybe Roosevelt's appeal and that of de Gaulle which followed have had some effect. There seems to be little opposition here. Hope the same is true at “A” and “C.” 8a.m.—SsStill hear distant gun- fire. Presumably it’s from Oran itself. We are concentrating on Arzeu, 20 miles to the east. Shore batteries have been sil- enced. The landings now are be- ing made without incident. Noon.—This is Dunkirk avenged all right. The beaches are black with men. But they’re not wait- ing to be evacuated. They're go- ing on to settle some accounts. Qur landing craft are assisting in the unloading of other vessels. Their crews are not stopping for food, but it is being lowered to them piping hot, to be eaten en route. 4p.m.—Seems the news is out now. Vichy and Berlin broadcasts come out with a lot of hooey about aggression. Anyway, so far as this sector is concerned, it was a peaceful, bloodless land- ing. Arzeu is under our control. Oran, it seems, will accept the inevitable. t) ONDAY, Nov. 9.—Calm this morning. Gunfire in dis- tance. On the beach several barges thrown there by last night’s high wind and heayy surf. Crews have been up all night as ) Convoy To Africa : | Boos are all on board now. Their great job at the mo- ment is to solve mysteries of a correctly slung hammock, _jud find their way about the ship. We're waiting for the “off.” s it comes at 10:30 p.m. The anchor is weighed. The din of it ubsides. Most of us are ordered to turn in now. We lie in our junks and feel the movement of the ship groping its way "jareugh the blackness of the autumnal night down the river a result; but still a lot to be done before they are refloated. Landing of materials still going on. As the landing craft come alongside, the swell lifts them eight or ten feet—up and down, up and down.But by skilful han- dling they carry on with the job. We hear by radio of the Algiers armistice. Good news! Where we are—east of Oran—everything seems to be going rather too well. We keep wondering what is hap- pening between here and Oran. The Yanks are on their way there. -Gunfire can be heard. But we don’t think there'll be a real hitch. A news bulletin tells us of a naval battle off Casablanca. It seems the situation there will soon be under control. Same broadcast announces fighting in and around Oran. This means that the Yanks land- ed from this and our neighboring Ships are in action. It’s curious. We feel that the people at home must know more than we do about what is hap- pening, even in Oran, 20 miles away. At this moment, Britain and America knows more about things than we do. But they don’t know that a gale has sprung up. Anyway, here’s to the Navy lads. @ UESDAY, Noy. 10—At dawn there was still distant gun- fire. The wind has dropped. Sea is calm. As morning wears on the gunfire from Oran becomes heavier. Rumored on board- that we are shelling Oran. Anyway, whoever did bombard Oran ach— lieved the purpose quickly. Oran has capitulated. @ EDNESDAY, Noy. 11—Caim and sunny day. No sign of the storm except the landing eraft and their crews. The former are rather battered, and the latter are just out on their feet. But they've both got what it takes. The last runs are now being Made with minor items of equip- ment. Looking round I see that several of our ships have left during the night. Understand that we will follow them soon. Even so, I see another con- voy approaching of about two dozen ships, presumably supply ships coming to keep up the good work of the landing. I plainly see now that the decks of these ships are loaded with tanks, armored cars, lorries and trucks, Have just heard that Casablan- ca surrendered. Understand that in naval battle the French lost several destroyers and that bat— tleship Jean Bart is a blazing hulk. That means-in effect that the present stage is over. The Allies have won. Bigger things to come seem evident from MHitler’s occupation of the whole of France and his activities in Tunis. ) S iI write now the time is 11:40 p.m., and we are under way. We weighed anchor, and are now heading for Gibraltar. Gun erews have been formed to man the machine-guns night and day. “What price the field?” What-ho. Dropped anchor in Gibraltar- Harbor erowded. During after- noon there were guns firing on the jRock, but apart from this everything went on peacefully. Whatever we called at the Rock for, the business was soon done. We weighed anchor, all Set for what may be a sticky trip. In formation are at least a dozen merchant ships and several de— stroyers. We cleared the Straits during the night, and are now heading into the Atlantic. High wind and heavy swell. So far so good. Reported that U-boats are waiting to form a reception com- mittee that we don't particularly want to meet at this stage. Above the noise of heavy seas and the creakings and groanings of the ship came the shattering Tow of the alarm bells. Like lightning we all dived for emerg— ency stations. I saw two of the destroyers racing back. Then, with the rise and fall of the ship, I could see what happened. One of the ships in the convoy had been torpedoed. The torpedoing showed the reckless daring of the U-boat commander. A warship went to the assist- ance of the sinking ship. As we moved away from the scene, every man’s face was elo- quent. They were hoping so very fervently—as I was—that the lads could be got off the sinking ship. It was a hazardous undertaking by the warship to try rescue worls with the mountainous seas that were running. We are warned to be ready for any emergency—that didn’t need saying. The odds are a bit against us. WNight—starless, moonless, and welcome. e EATHER still bad. We are pitching so violently that our propellors are clearing the water at each plunge, We learnt this morning that the ship torpedoed yesterday sank, and we got the figures of survivors and casualties. Most of the men had been Saved. It’s still true that the Bat-— tle of the Atlantic is the biggest and toughest. Coastline came into view today. Almost out of the wood now. “Docking fever” spreading among the crew. This does not mean a rise in temperature, but it does Mean a giddy rise in spirits. All of us have visions of leave, of going home—and what that one word does mean!