Union Castle at Southampton 1963

Terry
The gold being carried away in a canvas covered truck reminds me of the times when we carried Canadian money, printed by de LA rues in London over to Montreal. The money was carried in wooden boxes and stowed in the freezer chambers in the tween deck. The printed notes were missing an important bit so they were not legal tender until their serial number was printed on them in Canada.
One trip I was talking to the de la rue rep as the usual couple of boxes were taken out of the truck, more money, I asked, no he said, it's travellers cheques. So how do you make them non legal.not possible he said,if you can get your hands on them, sign them and you can cash them.
So what about security i said, look around you he said, do you recognize any of the the stevedores, you won't as they are all special branch coppers. We were loading something like 6 million dollars worth of travellers cheques along with butter and cheese into the freezer chamber with no apparent uniform security.
On arrival in Montreal the tween deck cargo was discharged then all work on the pier was stopped whilst armed Brink's mats security guards lined the quay leading to the armoured truck that would take the boxes of cheques away. Myself (cadet) and the 2nd mate were the only two persons allowed into the hatch to open the freezer chamber and drag the boxes out in order that they could be discharged onto the quay and taken away. On getting them into the open we looked up to signal to the winch man to hoist them ashore only to find that the winch man plus all the security guards had knocked off for morning smoko and we're all gathered around the chow truck. We had to sit on those boxes all alone and unguarded until the stevedores finished there smoko and the guards took up their positions again. The boxes were discharged and taken away under armed police escort. Totally different with a very visible armed security on discharge as opposed to the invisible security on loading.
Rgds
J.A.

Similar arrangement with police at Royal docks in London at that time. Until some bright spark objected to paying the 'fee' and the whole thing stopped - at least for a while.

Not so exciting as your stories
I was on the Pretoria Castle 59/60.
They always sailed at 4 p.m. Thursdays
regular as clockwork, I was a 1/c waiter
one sitting of six. a better bet than twp
sittings of 12 down the other end.
Good fun good 'pig', then we got to
Cape Town and picked up South Africans
for the trip up the coast Port Elizabeth.
East London then Durban, never seen
people eat so much.
Coming home April 1960 Wolves were in
the cup final, my bar bill was high, but I had
a decent show to cover it..Big mistake
I had the Ship's photographer and a well
to do family of four. A cabin steward approached
me and asked if I had the photographer on
my table, yes I replied, well you wont be seeing
much more of them.
The father went to collect some photos and
found his wife had beaten him to lt and was firmly
established in his bed.
Bang went my show bar bill was paid out of my payoff
and no trip to Wembley although Wolves won.

I was on the Pretoria Castle 59/60 1/c walter
1 sitting of 6, a better bet than tourist 2x12/
We sailed at 4 on a Thursday as did all the Castle
boats.
Lovely trip out get to Cape Town invaded by S Africans
never known people eat like them, so glad to
get to Durban and unload, although many had return
tickets,
On my last trip I was making plans to go to
Wembley to see Wolves hopefully win the cup.
Big mistake, homeward bound my bar bill
was high, but I had a good show and I was paying off.
I had the ship's photographer and a well to do
family of four, a cabin steward asked me if I was looking
after the photographer, and he told me father went to collect
some photos and found his wife had beaten him to it
and was well established in the 'snapper's' bed.
That was the end never saw them again, bang went my
drop bar bill left a hole in my pay off, never made the
final, but the Wolves won.

Hello, Sean. I was with British and Cmmonwealth Shipping from 1969 to 1976 and did several trips, as an apprentice in the Good Hope Castle and as 3rd mate in the Pendennis. We carried bullion on each trip. I would be glad to help if I can.
Bob Owen
bobpopeyeowen@hotmail.com
07952773977

Great anecdotes, guys!
If possible, can anyone answer, or reasonably speculate, on the following questions:
Q. Was the trade referred to as the "Cape Mail Express" service?
Q. In my novel I have the bullion in boxes carried on wooden pallets delivered onto the dock at Southampton (not a U-C ship). Would they have lifted the pallets with hooks or with a wire net?
Q. U-C ships went to berths 35/36, yes?
Q. Would they have worked other cargo while the bullion was being discharged?
Q How many policemen would have been on the dock in Southampton (approx)?
Any thought would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Sean

here is a report - not sure which forum i got it from - possible this one - the capetown castle heist - i do have an image of the gold loaded from a train in durban - will dig it our

Sean,

In the early 70s was informed by someone who had worked on the mini mails (Southampton / Good Hope Castles) that a bosun's mate had hidden a bar of the gold in a concrete step in the ship's accommodation. It wasn't until several months later that this was discovered as another crewman who was involved spilled the beans thinking the police had come to see him over this matter. Not much to go on, good luck with your writing

Danny

I sailed with Union Castle between 1963 and 1965 and clearly remember when the gold went missing and was subsequently found. I sailed on the Athlone Castle and the Edinburgh Castle but in my job as Children’s Hostess I knew little about the gold. My husband, Maurice Pearson, who I lost several years ago sailed on many Union Castle ships and was a great historian. These were great years.

Thank you so much for these great anecdotes, fellow travelers.
Here's what I have written on this part of Chapter 12 - does it sound reasonable?Attachment 29965
(the second half is about trains, so can be ignored :D