COMPILED BY CAPTAIN CHARLES KINGON #2692 – 1980

Introduction

The idea for this collection of stories and anecdotes came to me shortly after I took over the Scribe’s duties full time a few years ago.

Firstly Mike Gordon sent me his story on his first voyage to sea after leaving the ship in 1942. It was too long to include in our newsletters with the space restraint. Then Norman Young sent in his account of his first Russian Winter convoy trip on HMS Cumberland. This was such a graphic account of the hardships that had to be endured on the Murmansk run in Winter that I felt it had to be recorded somewhere a little more permanently than simply in a newsletter. Hence the idea of a book of stories from Old Boys was formed in my mind.

I put out my appeal in the subsequent newsletters and this book is the result. Thank you all who have sent in contributions, I have not used absolutely everything that was submitted as I have tried to keep the purchase price reasonably within reach. Sadly there were no contributions from any of the Granger Bay Old Boys, I felt that this was not right and so I turned my hand to writing myself.

A special thanks to my two proof readers, Morris Hulley (1973 #2442) and my wife, Jenny. Word processors have wonderful spell check facilities but they do battle to place the word in context. Jenny has also had to put up with my disappearing into my study night after night and every weekend. But she had to agree that it was preferable to my being at sea.

I hope you all enjoy reading this collection as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. The stories follow a loose chronological order but you can dip into them at random as they all stand alone.

Charles Kingon

March 1997

INDEX