Sailing to Africa

Fifty ships, completely lock, stock and barrel, with tanks and everything completed, be in a convoy of 50 ships escorted by the warships and cruisers left Bombay for North Africa in August, 1940. When we left Bombay, the condition of the sea was, ocean was very rough, very rough and there was hardly a person on our ship who did not throw up. You could not eat anything. And there used to be a stand-to in the morning and the evening, you know for us all to be ready with your rifles and the drill and all that and in case there’s a stand-to, means be prepared to fight. They had issued us the life belts that you used to put on during a stand-to and the orders were that in case your ship is bombed and you had to take action, we will try and give you boats or rafts if you could get something, go get on there, get on there. Otherwise, if boats or rafts are not available, jump into the ocean. This thing would keep you alive for 24 hours, somebody will come and pick you up. So, that is what used to happen. We ate nothing during that period. We were there at sea for four days when the Germans came to bomb the convoy, when the German bombers appeared. I tell you, the first time I saw a German bomb fall into the ocean it created a mountain of water up, who would think. I thought, my God, look at this! This is what a bomb is like. And then it soon became a, sort of normal routine, everyday sort of normal routine affair, but proper thing is, be prepared to move into the water.