Description
Mr. Maro recalls seeing a U-boat surface near his ship as they entered the Suez Canal at Port Said.
Harold Maro
Mr. Maro was born in Norway in 1917, and had begun going to sea with his father at age 15. During the Second World War, Mr. Maro sailed with two Norwegian Merchant Navy ships; the <em>Atesbull</em> and <em>Prominence</em>, both of which were sunk. Mr. Maro and other crew members washed up on the beaches of Indonesia five days after the <em>Prominence</em> was sunk and were placed under Japanese supervision; however, they were not taken prisoner until Norway declared war the following year. Transferred from camp to camp over the course of 3 ½ years, Mr. Maro was interned in Chang, Singapore when he was liberated in 1945. As the war came to an end, Mr. Maro eventually returned to Norway, but was soon lured to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for work , moving with his wife. They both soon became Canadian citizens. Mr. Maro continued to sail until his retirement in 1976.
Transcript
Well we sailed between Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. We used to train the troops in (inaudible). And we went occasionally through, through the canal and into, up to Palestina, Palestine. And going through the Suez Canal once, we just came out, I was on the boat, I was on the bridge. And I looked down and there was this submarine just coming up.
Interviewer: A U-boat?
A U-boat. And, well I think he was just as surprised as I was. So I called the captain and by the time they came up the submarine was pretty well gone, you know. And I put the Vilardo to, to starboard and get away from it. So it was pretty close call, but I don't think he actually intended to torpedo us, because he was so close to us, it was only about 20 feet I think you know, you can almost touch him, if my arm was long enough. And he dived and took off and we continued to Palestina.