Cunard Yanks Tall Tales 4

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THE STOWAWAY
A true story by Gerry Rooney

New York, 1957

It was on this a beautiful sunny day that we docked at pier 92, on the Cunard liner R.M.S. Scythia.
I was working as a winger with my friend Derek Tobias. We both had good shows coming over,
also we were running the gambling.So with a fistful of dollars,it was down the gangway
,and off to the sally army to see what we could pick up to bring home and make a few bob.
Anyway we bought a brand new washing machine or so we thought,it turned out to be a dishwasher.
Who had ever heard of a dishwasher in1957? We couldn�t sell it, so we gave it to a Liverpool docker,
told him it was the latest Yankee washing machine. I often wondered if his wife washed his clothes in it.
While in New York who should come aboard but my oldest friend and indeed my best man, Vinnie McArdle
He had been working on the Queen of Bermuda, but got fed up and jumped ship, then decided to pay a visit
to his sister Lily and her family in Carolina. Then he came back to New York

Here the story begins. Vinnie wanted to come home with us 4th class OK no problem, but his brother Sonny
was also on board as a librarian. If he got caught I could deny that I knew him, but Sonny couldn�t,
so we decided to transfer his passage home on the Lizzie, which was sailing that day. So I went aboard, and
got it sorted with some trusted friends. Bunk, food and drink, no problem or so I thought.

I took Vinnie and suitcase aboard, bid him Bon Voyage, and I would see him in Liverpool. Several hours
later after leaving New York unfortunately for Vinnie a catering officer knew him from a previous ship
and the game was up.He was taken to the Chief Master at Arms who was instructed by the skipper that
he was to be taken off with the Pilot at the Ambrose Lightship, and handed over to the emigration, they
would no doubt put him on Ellis Island for deportation,never to return to the U.S.A..
No more Market Diner for Vinnie.

However the Pilot, a nice guy, listened to his story, Vinnie told him he had friends on the Scythia who
would look after him. The Pilot told him that when they got alongside he was to disappear. He was off
that gangplank faster than Linford Christie. Straight back to the Scythia to give us the bad news, and the good news
Plan B was put into operation.

Vinnie would come back with us 4th class.We had a night pantryman Tony Carroll, a good guy,
who agreed to let Vinnie keep his bunk warm while he was on duty.So far so good or so we thought.
The best laid plans of mice and seamen

Sailing out of New York on a lovely summers day, a fair wind, calm sea, homeward bound. All the bloods
sitting down having dinner.Vinnie making himself at home in the forward pig, having a few pints with some of
the off duty A.B.s.When the ships hooter goes. Man overboardFinish with engines, then every in the restaurant
Passengers and waiters looking out of the starboard portholes. and we all see this guySwimming now like Johhny
Weiissmueller on hitting the water, He must have had second thoughts about what he was missing on board.
Next we see the lifeboat passing the porthole and who should be sitting in the middle, rowing like hell but our lad
Vinnie. going to the rescue with the volunteer off duty A.B.s

Nothing Vinnie would do in the future would surprise me. Sonny who had witnessed all this said �I need a drink badly�
and went to the pig.We were left wondering what to do next,anyway, the lifeboat got to him and hauled our
Johnny Weissmuller aboard.The officer in charge of the rescue wanted to know who Vinnie was.It was explained to him that he was a
. seaman travelling home passenger, having a drink with some old shipmates.when the call went out for volunteers to man the
lifeboat. The officer thanked him for his help in saving a passengers lifebut theres more to come

Freddie Jones who was working in New York, an ex seaman, had been coming down to the ship for a pint with the lads
must have got a bit homesick and decided to book a passage home wth us at the last minute, only this time Freddie was
a farepaying passenger.Thank God. But in his hurry packing he left his good shoes at home.so he came down to the cabin
to borrow a pair to go to the ships dance.Anyway, Vinnie had a nice pair which he liked,so off he went to trip the light fantastic
in the stoways shoes.
Now who ever heard of a stowaway rescuing a passenger, and a passenger borrowing shoes off a stowaway?. The rest of thetrip
went fine.Although I half expected Vinnie to be invited to the Captains table to thank him, and Vinnie would have gone.
Vinnie got a V.N.C. off the Queen of Bermuda he should have got a V.C. off the Scythia... those were the days my friends...those were the days

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remember By tommy reynolds

May 1955,first trip,bus to the Pier Head,onto the Flying Breeze,lovely morning couple of guitars going, up the river to the Ascania,this is the life,Ashcan comes along side the Landing Stage 11.00 sailing at 3.00, 12.30 on strike,bloody hell,VNC first discharge,six weeks on strike,remember meeting on the holler Paradise Street,a guy gets up to the mike just got my army papers he told us,that broke the strike,oh well back on the shore gang.

July,join the Britannic,bell boy,first class pursers office,sailing at last,every afternoon down to the galley get the tea and abig plate of tab nabs,stop in the pantry on m deck eat the best cakes,purserets always moaning cakes were better last trip.New York first time in the summer something you never forget the skyline the streets,great,got signed off after three trips,medical.

Back on the shore gang,went on the Pavia cunard meddy boat,3.000 ton,signed on pantry boy,sailing 20 December,the lads to me to 7 steps pub the night before we sailed,got me legless,sailed around to Swansea,sea sick the one and only time i was,Christmas day in the Bay of Biscay, terrible weather,galley out of action,had Christmas dinner days later anchored off Casablanca.

Back to the Britannic,now got my rating,big bucks,on and off ships,Franconia,Carinthia, Reina Del Mar,Empress of Britain,Media,Sylvania,must be plenty of guys out their,were some off these ships with me,get in touch,Remember channel night,getting into Liverpool into the Pig settle the bar bill,a few pints Wrexham lager,shilling a pint,a game of crap, could loose all your dropsies,sweating on afew bloods to pay up at breakfast ,so you could pay the glory hole steward,platehouse still room and pressman,getting the store boxs of to Dalys waggons,maybe your case to if you were going straight into town.

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What do you think of the "Stowaway" a hell of a story.... I had heard it before many years ago...when it first happened... But Gerry telling of it is superb..."O" "Henry" would have been proud of that tale... as I once told An eminent writer... well he is a Liverpool writer... and thinks he is Shakespeare...We have stories that when told...would get classified as fiction... but as Gerry says there are a awful lot of similar tales out there... waiting to be told...tall tales...but true...R.B.

Loved the tales from Tommy Roberts... now that one is only too familiar to many of us...He got a bus to town...I got a train to Preston...yes Preston...it was a seaport in the forties and fifties... Honest. Anyway as Tommy says... there has got to be a great number of guys who sailed with him on the liners... and he would like to get in touch.... it fun reminiscing ... especially when you can still get around...but you have to remember when you meet... you may have changed a little...not a lot... A little less hair.... a little more weight...but why worry grey is very distinguishing...so my wife tells me ... and were all in the same boat...sorry...liner...aren't we...anyway... Tommy would love to hear from any of his old shipmates...R.B.

Having a drink with a group of the lads...tea of course...well it was only the afternoon...and the conversation got around to the Roseland Ballroom...Kenny Cockram who had sent me a copy of the ballrooms menu ... I have put it in the gallery... was saying how popular it was with the lads off the Queens... and the Britannic...all the ships that docked in New York...That he often went there...and the menu he had sent me ...was signed by Vaughn Monroe... one of the many bands that played at the Roseland...as you know he said...all the top bands played there...Harry James...Lionel Hampton...Artie Shaw...Benny Goodman...Count Basie...Duke Ellington... the list is endless...John Gilmour who was with us... agreed...But of course he remembered Abbe Laine the singer with Xavier Cugat 's band...I have to agree... you would always remember that lady... she always seemed to be wearing a red dress... and she looked terrific... Cuggie as he was nick named... often led the band holding a little dog...it was a Chihuahua... I think that's how you spell it... it was great showmanship anyway...Thinking back to those nights...the ballroom was huge wasn't it much bigger than the Grafton... but the girls all seem to live a hell of a long way... from the dance... are well happy days...I bet there's a lot of us with memories of those times...R.B.

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Just found your web site... it�s great...so many memories...looking through the picture galleries ... seeing the lads... it�s amazing how many I know... and sailed with .I was sailing out of Southampton in the early fifties... on the Mauritania... Media... Queen Mary and Elizabeth... and later on the Castle Line... Joe McCaffery... is my name... from Belfast originally... but now living in London... I guess one or two may remember me...
Reading the piece put in by Kenny Cockram... on Roseland... seeing the the menu...and reading his story...I think I was on the Lizzie with him...52...53... Took me back to those days...
New York... was a fairyland to us young kids...London like Liverpool had its share of devastation... and sailing to America... I started in 1950...was the stuff of dreams...even though we lived in one of the greatest cities in the world...and still do...but America was dreamsville... what we watched in our local cinemas...Roy Rogers ...and Errol Flynn...The Dead End Kids...Sinatra and Doris Day came later...

I am reminded of some of the great nights I spent at the Roseland... it was on 7th Ave... Between 51st and 52nd streets... and as Kenny says...Almost all the top bands of the day played there... I remember most of them...as every time we docked... I would make my way up there...Harry James... Lionel Hampton ...Count Basie...Vaughn Monroe...Xavier Cugat...I saw all of them...After all the food and the drinks were as cheap as the Diners... and the company much prettier... On some nights there would be a battle of the bands...two great bands trying to outplay each other...I never got to see that but I did see quite a number of the others...this was in the early fifties...I was only a kid...seventeen ...eighteen... but I had a sister who taught me to dance while I was still at school...and the dances being the best place to meet girls... well I kept it up... and though I say it myself...I wasn�t bad...I polished up my chat lines in the old Hammersmith Palais..
But back to the Roseland... I remember going one night with this scotch guy... he was in the galley...we got there about eight, the place was packed... this scotch lad...I don�t remember his name... he probably would�nt remember mine...stood there for a while...right he said ...that little dark one...she can dance...so off he strolled to her ...he asked her to dance... she must have agreed... for as the music struck up they moved right across the floor...boy this guy could dance... for a full minute no one got on the floor...they were like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers...when the dance finished...the group of girls his partner was with would�nt let him leave... he called me over...We danced every dance that night, even though I was basking in his glory... I didn�t do to bad...
He got a date that night... I didn�t... well you can�t win them all... Anyway the next day when I saw him I congratulated him on his dancing ... your very good I said... he laughed... I was a member of the Scottish Ballroom Dancing team ... I have had a lot of practise...One of us must have left the ship...it was the Mary...but fifty odd years on I don�t know which of us it was...I had many, many more nights there later... but none as good as that one

Again great web site... and great memories... looking forward to hearing some of the lads stories
Joe McCaffrey

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On Radio Merseyside the other day they were asking if any body had seen
Or met up close anyone famous, a guy phoned in and said he remembered seeing
Johnny Mathis and Anthony Perkins in the Market Diner in the late fifties.
They were talking to two lads off the Carinthia ,they were a couple galley staff,
This was in the Wardroom , or Charley�s Bar as it was sometimes called,
The bar in the Market Diner
He remembered how they were both dressed in White trousers, and
White roll neck Sweaters, White buckskin shoes. The two lads were Joey Blundell,
Myself , and Billy Harrison. Billy and I were sitting at the bar that night, killing time before going uptown
to meet some friends. As we sat there Billy said, don�t turn around just yet.
But there�s a guy just come in and you�re his biggest fan. When I did look, it was Johnny Mathis
and Anthony Perkins. It was true, I was a great fan of Mathis, I thought he as a ballad singer he
was the greatest, and at parties I would get up and try to sing like him ,not with to much success.
But I never stopped trying. Anyway, after I got over my initial surprise, I was made up to be invited to
join their company and chat with them , they were great company. We were talking to them for almost an hour, the bar wasn�t
very busy at the time and nobody seem to recognise them. After a while they left to go up town.
We were invited to go along, but declined, told them that we had a prior appointment. But it was great talking to them.
A lot of the boys didn�t believe us when we told them, but the lads behind the bar told them
It was true. On the ships or off them, you would meet many famous people, ask any of the boys,
Particularly the lads in the first class dining room . Joe Blundell

Loved Tommy Reynolds story, getting the tram in to the Peirhead, to get the tender, or the
Overhead Railway to your ships berth, I remember it well. In the late forties, early fifties, as
you came down on the tram you passed the rubble on the bombed out ruins
along Church street, and Lord Street , South John Street, and if you looked about you
on down South Castle Street past the Victoria Monument it seemed as if the war had only just finished.
My first ship was a little coaster, a crew of eight or nine, going up the coast of Scotland.
I had to get a train to Preston, yes Preston, it was a port those days to join her. No big
Cunard Liner for me at the start, I had to wait until 1952 before I hit the big time as Tommy
so rightly called it. But it was worth the wait, I probably crossed your path a few times
through the years Tommy, but as you know, on the big ones you could be on a ship for
weeks and not meet guys you had sailed with earlier. This was particularly true on any of
The Queens, wasn�t it. People tend to forget that there were over a thousand crew on both
The Mary and the Lizzie
You could be on those two ships for weeks, months and not meet some
Of the boys, strange wasn�t it. Don�t get back
to the Pool very often these days so it�s great to read
about the old days and the good times we had. Gerry. Armstrong.

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In the early fifties... I think that this was around 1955, one of the popular watering holes for the lads...was The Adelphi Hotel... some of the boys... just a few of them... would meet there in the Lounge some afternoons... have a drink... or sometimes...believe it or not...afternoon tea...honest.. but this time they were in the Cocktail Bar....At that time...The Adelphi...was the premier hotel in the city...frequented by the top business and professional people in town... it was also the main hotel for the many business men from abroad...so the lads... with their mid atlantic accents...and American style of dress...well... fitted in with the crowd quite easily ...Because of the many international travellers at the hotel...there was a service at the hotel for it's guests...informing them of the times of trains...planes ...and other travel arrangements...A guest would inform the desk of his imminent departure... tell him he would be in the lounge...or the Cocktail Bar... and would be called by a bell boy at the appropriate time... The bell boy would come around with a little gong...striking it... and calling the guests name... Chris Cristall who was with us that afternoon called the bellboy... and said Bell's... in his best American accent... I have an appointment at four thirty... there's a half crown for you if you will call me at four fifteen...Yes sir said the boy...what is your name please...Mason. C. Newbury. was the reply... four fifteen on the dot... the bell's came through the lounge... Mr Mason. P. Newbury. Mr Mason. C. Newbury... everyone in the lounge looked around to see who this guy was... our Chris got too his feet... here bells... he said...slipped him the half crown... and strode off... well strutted would be a better description... to the foyer...thus did Mason. C. Newbury...begin quite a long career... his name could be heard in many places...from Liverpool to New York...Boston to Southampton... Montreal... Montego Bay...he is remembered... for many different reasons... but never the less...he is remembered. Billy Harrison

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It seems strange that most of the stories you have received up to now, are about our times in New York. I had the privilege of having a drink with the great Jack Dempsey at his bar on Broadway. This was in the early fifties. Jake La Motta was there that night, the place it seemed was full of sporting celebrities, most of who I didn't know, baseball players, footballers, American football, not soccer, and show people from the many theatres on Broadway then there were the tourists like me. Leaving there, and just walking up and down Broadway, it was fantastic. I'm a Geordie so I found it a little different from Newcastle .Sailed mainly from Southampton in the fifties .I was on the both Queens for a while, the Ascania, Saxonia and Media running to Halifax, St Johns, and New York in the winter.I can remember sailing with Billy the Beard on the Media I think it was mainly because of the big tape recorder he use to lug around. And his Louis Armstrong impersonations. Looking at the pictures in the Galleries I seem to recognise so many faces but so few names to put them, am I alone in this. I have looked for some pictures myself but having moved house half a dozen times in the last fifty years I seem to have lost them. Pity, I would of liked to have seen myself on the site. If anyone can remember me Davy Gibbons or just Geordie, stick the It on would be nice to see how I was as a young un. Thanks for the memories shared. Davy Gibbons

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I know a lot of lads...those that are still around that is... will remember Nicky Ward...On the Caronia World cruise in 56 I think it was ...Nick was going up to the top deck...as you know...the lifts were self service... and whats more... the crew were not allowed in them...but if you knew Nick...you would know that the rules... were for every one but him...Anyway...Nick gets in the lift at one of the lower decks...inside were two elderly American ladies... the blue rinse type...we were all familiar with... At the next deck... the lift stopped to allow a Japanese couple to enter...where are you going to said Nick...meaning which deck...The couple misunderstood...we go to Pearl Harbour they said...Straight faced...Nick replied... do they know you are coming this time...again the Japanese couple didn't get it ...but our American ladies did...and were horrified...Nick was reported to the Purser... and was sacked from the saloon on the spot... and the ship when it returned home...As Nick said later...Those American ladies...NO SENSE OF HUMOUR... Johnny Redhead

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Hello, just found your great site. My father went away to sea from 1951 until1963. He then went to work in Fords at Halewood. He said he could have crewed half a dozen liners from the ex-seamen working there. He was there until he retired , unfortunately he died in 2005, he would have loved this web site. I have been looking for a picture of him in the Gallery's but have had no luck. We don't seem to have any of him at sea. His name was Ronnie O' Neil, he sailed with Cunard, Canadian Pacific and many other shipping lines. Reading the story of the two lads off the Carinthia who meet Johnny Mathis and Anthony Perkins in the Market Diner reminded me of a story he often told. In fact every time we heard Peggy Lee on the radio he would remind us of the time he saw her. In the fifties New York was the centre of the television industry most of the shows you would see were produced in the studios off Broadway and at that time it seemed that as you walked along Broadway, you would be stopped and offered tickets for the various shows that were looking for a live audience. Dad told me he and many of his shipmates went to a lot of them. But his favourite memory was of The Perry Como Show, this was in 1958. Like the lads in the Market Diner my dad had his favourites , one of dads was Peggy Lee. and on the show the night he went, she was one of the the guest stars. Dad said it was a variety show mainly, with stars coming on to sing the latest songs they had recorded. Peggy sang "Fever" and "Mr Wonderful", then a duet " Alright Okay You Win "with Como. He told me that he and his mates saw many of the top Broadway stars for free in this way. It was a great life in the fifties and sixties for Liverpool lads going to sea... My dad said it ended too soon for most of them. Anne O'Brian nee O'Neil

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At last... I'm getting some great photographs...my thanks to Colin Campbell...Johnny Redhead...Vinnie McCardle...Georgie Phillips... John Gilmour... and Joan Kelly...I should have realized how few of us had cameras in the forties and fifties... I know I have only six pictures from all my years at sea...and owe them to other guys with a camera...but at last they are coming in... and a lot of people...the sons and daughters of the guys in the photographs are seeing a picture of the old man they have never seen before...and are delighted at their discovery...Some pictures are coming in ones and twos... others in groups of ten...fifteen...twenty or more...when one guy sends me in a great group of photos... I will put them all together...then his mates will know were to find him... and probably themselves... Now I'm also getting some great stories...one or two from the sons and daughters of lads who have died...but I would like a lot more...come on...this is our history...okay... it's personal...but it's a part of the social history of this city... of seamen...most of the boys who are still around... fifty five to sixty years on from the time we joined the Merchant Navy we still have the mates we made when we were at sea... and that can't be bad...can it..

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Did you see the Q.E.2....she looked great for an old lady...didn't she... forty years on... and she is put out to pasture...next to the super liners of today... her big sister the Q.M.2.... and so many others...she is a little old lady... Weeks before she came...to celebrate the opening of the new terminal... and we hope a new beginning for the Port of Liverpool ...(though several years behind schedule...thank you city fathers)...several of us ...phoned...wrote ...personally spoke too... Billy Harrison even aired it on Radio Merseyside a couple of days before it came in...asking many of the powers that be...those in charge of this celebration... was it possible for the seamen of this city...be represented by a few of the older seamen...those who had sailed in the Atlantic and Russian convoys during the war...we informed them that there were still several of the lads alive...and if they would get in touch with Alf Bodessa...the Chairman of the Retired Seamen's Assc. He would have been delighted to arrange it...Warren Bradley never even returned one of the many calls...the City of Culture team..ha. ha....again no reply...Cunard...we have given all tickets to the people organising it... plenty of room for Mickey Mouse celebs we were told... ex pat scouscers...T.V. bit actors...oh and the Town Councillors who were representing the maritime and seagoing history of this once great seaport...nothing changes ...does it...

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Received a great email from Joe Deery in Belfast... It seems he got onto the site via New Zealand...well we always got around didn't we...( I wonder if they can come back...)He enjoyed watching the "Cunard Yanks" DVD... so he checked us out...hoping to hear more from him soon.. .On Sunday 9th December the "Cunard Yanks" is being shown at the Novotel Hotel...1 West Quay Road... starts at 7pm...but if you want to see some of the old crowd...and have a good chat... and a good laugh...go along early... Don't forget...though you will see a bunch of Scouser's on the screen...this is about all of us...I guarantee that each and every one you watching will say...been there...done that... got the T.shirt ...A couple of the lads in the film will be there...to talk about it...and the things we didn't have time to put on... With the "Queen Victoria" docking around the same time...should be a lot of good times remembered... I'm still waiting for some more input from the boys...boys...okay... in Southampton...Come on...you have to have great memories...great pictures from those days...lets share them...lets have your stories... the ones I can print anyway...I am certain that your kids...and grandchildren would be made up to see and read about you...honest...R.B.

Hi Richard,

It was a great pleasure to view your DVD "Cunard-Yanks". I was sent a copy from New Zealand and after watching it, I was compelled to search the net to find out more.........hence my contact with your web-site. I am a little big younger, D.O.B. Jan/1940, but I remember well the "Market Diner" in New York. I was on the "Queen Mary" 1958-59. Later in 1962, I was on the Queen of Bermuda. After 4 months on her I missed the ship (intentionally) and was left ashore for 3months. So the Market Diner was my second home...many fond memories!!

I live in Belfast Northern Ireland and have many friends, ex-seamen who are strangely still alive. It is great to meet with them and relive our old journeys. I am going to give them the web address so they can get in touch ( the ones who are computer literate- or get their grand children to do it for them)

I will hunt out some old photos and post them on your web.

Regards. Joe Deery

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Hi Richard, just found your site, it's great, I can recognise a hell of a lot of fella's in the picture gallery. Vinnie McCardle a fantastic singer sounded more like Billy Eckstine than Mr B himself, Billy the Beard but he was much bigger when he was on the Mary. Johnny Cooke and Johnny Redhead and one or two more from Southhampton, but I can't put a name to all the faces. Can't remember sailing with you, but after all these years I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast a couple of hours ago. Funny thing , I can still remember bringing those Pagoda umbrella's in all the different colours, must have brought dozens of them home. And nylons in the early fifties they were like gold the ones with the fancy patterns on them, and others with small diamante stones decorating them, the girls loved them didn't they. Perfumes and watch's from the shops on lower 42nd street. Well it was one way of making sure you got a good welcome when you docked wasn't it. Coming back at night from a show or the movies or even just a walk along Broadway, stopping off at the Market Diner on the way back to the ship for a bowl of the best Clam Chowder in the world. Was it that long ago, funny until a few weeks ago I thought I was the only one who remembered those times the good and the not so good. But it's nice to know you not alone, best wish's to all old shipmates, oh and a Merry Xmas too. Billy Jameison

As most of you will know...the Queen Victoria is being launched in Southampton on November 10th...and as part of the permanent on board exhibitions...clips from the documentary film... "The Cunard Yanks" will be shown...as I have said earlier the film is being shown at the Novotel Hotel... on the 9th November..."Gone With The Wind" it isn't...but as I have said before...you will see yourselves up there with that bunch of poser's...enjoy...

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Saw the piece about the "Georgic".You know I sailed on her in 55 I think it was her last trip but one to Aussie. I remember you Ritchie. and big Ronnie Orchard. There was Micky Keating, Jackie Britton, Joshie Peters, Ken Smith, and a guy called Les Campell, his nick name I think was the Dancing Pig. Am I right about that. There were of course a lot more, but I had just got out of the Army. A woolly back from Bolton. Well that's what they use to call me. So I didn't know anyone. Boy that was a hell of a first trip. I remember stopping at Ceylon, and one of the lads diving off the stern, swimming round to the gangway.
When we got to Sydney going to Bondi Beach. Some of the lads stayed there day and night. We were carrying the �10 immigrants, you know something, I didn't know who to be more sorry for, the poor devils going out there, or the Aussie's. .
Coming home we went to Korea and picked some French soldiers. I think they were a detachment from the Foreign Legion, seriously, they were nothing like the lads in our battalion.They looked more like extras from an Errol Flynn Movie. .
I can see how you have difficulty getting pictures from those days, I can't recall anyone with a camera on the Georgic or on many of the other ships I sailed on. Went down to Southhampton after the "Georgic" and was sailing out of there for almost 12 years. Got no photographs from those days.I had a few somewhere, but how long is it, I left the sea in 67 forty years ago three different houses, the kids all gone taking what few snaps I had, and they can't find them either. But it's great to see some of the old faces. They really do bring back some good memories. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more.Keep up the good work. Kenny Ashcroft, Bolton, Southampton, now Bristol.

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Well its almost the end of the year...its getting cold and damp and I am off to sunnier climes for five weeks....So there will not be anything new on the site until about mid January...But don't let this stop you from sending in any pictures that you may have ...your stories...and your comments...
The knee's may ache....the hips creak...and sometimes you can't remember whose round it is... though that doesn't happen to often... you still look at pretty girls...but can't remember why...
And if you are like me...names don't come to mind to readily...so what...we get out of bed...slowly I know...and think...if we knew we where going to live this long we definitely would have looked after ourselves a little better...Well to one and all... who have come aboard...a Merry Xmas... and a happy and healthy New Year...but don't forget...KEEP TAKING THE TABLETS...R.B.

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Here is a great story from Johnny Gilmour... a experience that has probably been repeated a thousand times, over the years... by seamen everywhere...it's funny how when it all ends...it never seems to bad.

Butlins it wasn't

It was Havana 57...every one it seems was celebrating, including yours truly. Time pass's quickly when you are enjoying yourself, doesn't it. It was rather late in the morning when I left the scene of my revelry. As I walked out on the street I realized my ship, The Dominion Monarch had sailed. Ah well, I wondered, what shall I do next. That question was answered rather quickly by two rather heavily arm soldiers... Who are you they said, I think, my knowledge of Spanish limited to "dos bacardi's por favour".Come with me, they said, again it was more in mime than speech. A push from a gun butt is very persuasive.

Before my head was cleared, I was, it seems a guest of Senor Batista, at one of his establishments... Butlin's it was not, believe me. I was not too worried at the time, some one will miss me and start looking for me I thought. Not so, it seemed, if I was missed it was not too much. No one at the shipping company notified my family of my extended vacation, or where I was spending it.

As the days passed and I had no word from the British Consul, I realized I had to make the best of it. I was very fussy about my clothes, and what I ate. That soon changed, the only food you were given was a Black Bean soup, and rice, I turned my nose up at it the first few days, mind you, it could have been the Ants crawling over it that put me off. But a couple of days later, I couldn't get enough, I was like Oliver Twist, I wanted more. I got to love it, I can't get here now. Your clothes, you couldn't take them off, or they would disappear.

Anyway... because of the way things were in Havana, and the ways of communication with the Cuban government it took over three months before the British Consul got me a ship home. I think that was the reason . Although they really didn't seem to care too much. The Reina del Mar... a passage home...I was taken to the ship, there where a lot of my old mates on board. So cleaned up, with a few bucks in my pocket, courtesy of the boys I went back ashore to celebrate. Later that afternoon, fortified with several bacardi's, I heard the ship blowing, I didn't care, I been locked up for over three months and it looked as if I might miss this ship to. It's amazing what a few rum and cokes will do.

Fortunately, the lads got me back aboard.
You know, Havana has never seemed the same since then, though I still like Black Bean soup...

John Gilmour

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I have just received a great bunch of photographs from Pete Jelley in Southampton...when he was on the "Lizzie" and the "Caronia...there will be quite a few of the boys recognising old mates in this lot....Pete is looking for an old shipmate... Paul Marks... and would be grateful for information about him and his whereabouts...you know...where he is now...
By the way... any of the boys who sailed on the "Caronia" and hasn't checked out their website... should do so as soon as possible...It's a tremendous site...with some fantastic pictures of every aspect of the old Green Goddess...the crew...the voyages...passengers...concerts that were held... boxing teams...football teams...right through her illustrious career...it's brilliant.

So okay...with a bit of luck we should have some more pictures from the Southampton lads ... but what about all the guys from the Smoke...come on...you lot were as big a bunch of posers as any of us...so... lets have the Peacocks and Posers from the "Mary"..."Lizzie"..."Mauritania"... and every other Cunard ship you sailed on...you can show the kid's and grandchildren how good you looked in all those yesterdays...and remember...this site will be here when we are well gone... but if you are here...they can always say...look...that's the one to blame.

Well we always did get the blame... didn't we...R.B.

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Hi Ritchie...looking at the pictures of the football teams. It takes me back. Playing on the dustbowl, was it 52 or 53 street, I can't remember .It was a long time ago. We would play against other ships in port. The ships that docked in New York all competed for the trophies that Joe Zellin from the Market Diner donated to the football teams. There was quite a lot of competition from the German . French and Italian ships . But the Cunard lads more than held their own. The "Britannic" had a terrific team in the 50s. If we couldn't get a game the lads would have a kick-a-round most afternoons. Kicking being the operative word, I can't blame my dodgy knees on the scrub outs alone. After all. .at least we had our kneelers. Remember them, pieces of old carpet tied with string. I should have kept them in Bermuda when we rode those bikes with the little motors, Got a few scraped knees and elbows there. I have just been hauled into the 21st century by my grandkids. They showed me the website .It's great, fabulous memories, I only remember the good times, because they were so good. New York, Montreal, Caribbean and Meddy cruises, the dance halls in Liverpool, Southampton, London. The good looking girls, great pubs, fine ales. and not too many hangovers. Happy days. thanks for reminding me, Billy Scott...

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Southampton... on Tuesday the 22 April had a surfeit of riches. With the naming of the P and O liner Ventura, and Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, the biggest liner in the world... being named on the 26th... but they were upstaged in many people eyes by "The Three Supremes" Cunards Three Grand Dames...The Queen Mary 2....The Queen Victoria...and the old lady of course The Queen Elizabeth 2. This was quite an occasion...the second time in Cunards long history...three "Queen" liners together... in their home port in Southhampton. and in January of this year they had also meet in New York... Thousands of people lined the shore and the waterfront to watch them pass...It brought back a great many memories to the few lads still around of our days at sea in the 40s... 50s... and into the sixties...I was fortunate to be invited to sail on the Independence of the Seas for a couple of days before she goes on to her summer schedule ...she is a beautiful ship...but I have been on the Queen Mary 2... no competition... the old Cunard standards are still being up held today... it is nice to know...if any of the old crowd get a chance to sail on her...grab it... you won't be disappointed...R.B.