The Med
When I awoke in my ?flop? morning had broken and there was a queue of matelots and merchant Navy men waiting for a brew up. I looked at my watch ,it was breakfast time aboard ship and I hastened out to see if the boatmen were working. Luckily for us they were. After eating the bosun put us to work painting the ships side. The wind had slackened and the sun was out and the harbour was so busy that Eddy and I sat and took a good look around us to see what Malta was like in the daytime. In a word ?busy. The Navy dockyards were full of all manner of warships and there were launches and tugs pootling about ,cargo liners filled the mooring spaces and it was a delight to the eye. The navy had some old paddle wheel tugs and one of them was bustling across the Harbour from the dockyard to Valetta when ,unbelievably ,her whistle started shrieking and she seemed to ?waddle? and then she sank. It took about two minutes for this to happen and we two sat and stared, were we still drunk? As she went down there was a flurry of launches come around her and they were picking men out of the water and then, as her funnel disappeared there was a great gush of steam come aboiling from her innards. We never did get the full story of what happened because shortly after lunch we squared up and steamed out to sea.
Cyprus was our next destination and we would be calling at Limassol , Famagusta and Morphou. . Beautiful looking places but we had hardly any time in them to explore. There was still a fair bit of anti British feeling and the regular lads advised us not to stray too far from the docks. This was before Independence and there were lots of British Army lads to be seen on the streets. I was to go back years later and saw more of the places that I went to that time. Back home there was a shortage of potatoes and we picked up a special cargo of them in Cyprus and the captain said that we could each have a sack to take home. They were really appreciated by our families when we got home , but we are not there yet.
It was now April and the Spring weather made for a good run home; we were calling at Newport in South Wales to unload some copper pyrates, and some spuds and we would only be there for a day. It was Good Friday and so after getting the derricks ready the bosun said we could have a few hours ashore. Eddy and I took off double quick to have a few beers and a bite to eat. I?d never been to Newport before and I learned that some of the dockers used to like drinking ?scrumpy? ,a rough but strong apple cider. The scrumpy drinkers were noticeable by their voices, they were very husky, apparently the acid in the drink eroded the larynxes. Whether that was true or not I don?t know ,but I do know that there were an awful lot of hoarse voiced men down there.
We called at a pub a bit away from the dock road ,it seemed quiet so we went in and were just about to order a few drinks when we saw B in the backroom. We were standing in the front bar and could see through a big arch at the back of the bar. B was stripped to the waist and was smashing a guy in the face with his bare fists. His chest and arms were smeared with blood and he was roaring mad. We slunk out of the bar hoping he had?nt seen us. I was shaken to the core, he looked as though he was enjoying it!
We stopped at a bar on the dock road and had a short to settle our nerves and then made our way back on board. The sight that greeted us was even worse than that we saw in the bar. B was back on board ,fully dressed and roaring drunk. The crew were squaring away at N0 4 hatch and there were derrick guys and preventer wires to be put away, everyone was looking very industrious, everyone one except B and the bosun. B was standing facing the bosun, his knife dimpling the flesh about the bosuns Adams apple. He was mouthing the greatest obscenities at the bosun ,the knife held delicately against his throat. Nobody was taking any notice, Eddy and I got up on top of the hatch and were tidying up and we noticed B turn his attention to the Carpenter. Would?nt anyone do anything? We were cowards all ,just hoping that we would get by unscathed. And then ,of a sudden , B was standing below me, his arm held upward,brandishing that blade at my throat.
?Ya think I ?ave forgotten oo you are, doncha?? My stomach turned to liquid.
?Yer that feckin kid oo was at the Vindi ? There was a terrible scream rent the air. Mine , all the rage that I had felt toward this guy propelled me forward and I dropped my knees to his shoulders and slammed him into the deck. There ,astride him, I grabbed his ears and drummed his head onto the steel deck. Hands grabbed me from behind and dragged me away, the bosun grabbed him by the throat and delivered the most crushing blows to his face, other men kicked and thumped him and his body sagged and went limp.
He recovered sufficiently to join in the after gang as we let go . The bow of the ship astern was overlooking our poop ,a group of B?s mates called down to him and said they would see him in Liverpool. B then turned to me and said ? I?ll get you for this? pointing at his battered face. I flipped and shouted ?D?ya want yer mates to see yer get more?? He went white and fled amidships.. When we were clear and heading to the Irish Sea ,B said to me from across the hatchway ? Yer?ve got to sleep Daley.. I ?ll feckin do you then? Luckily the lads heard him and they kept watch on my door while I got some sleep.
We got into the Liverpool in the early hours of the morning, we would be signing off in the morning so it was?nt worth going home yet. B did though, at 2.30 in the morning he slipped away. Next day there was no sign of him at the pay off , I fully expected to get some kind of back lash. But I never saw him for quite a few years. I did learn that when he was walking along the Dock road that night ,he was challenged by a young constable about his appearance and an altercation then took place ,which ended with said constable adding a few more lumps to B?s physog with his truncheon.
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When I got home I found that M had delivered a beautiful little baby girl, she also had a very attentive young man who was a friend of the family.
I realised that if I was to make a go of things then perhaps a job ashore would be more fitting. The times were changing.
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