PAST FANTASIES

[Arthur John Harvey]

R235941 Arthur J.Harvey.Read a letter appearing in the readers section of today’s DAILY MAIL; it is under the title of ‘PAST FANTASIES’, written by Brian Reynolds of Herne Bay;I could not let it go without comment which I have emailed to the Mail hoping they will publish same. For those have not seen the letter then below is the paragraph which I find revolting.
QUOTE. One old boy who had been a sailor said 3000 merchant ships were sunk in the North Atlantic and practically every one had sixteen year old boys on board. As if the government would had allowed boys hardly out of school trousers to join the Merchant Navy. Talk about cloud-cuckoo land. UNQUOTE.
I am too disgusted to comment any further as I was one of those young boys being just 15 years of age in 1941 when I joined my first ship.

[John Albert Evans]

Arthur,

I've just read the article and had to laugh ,as did my wife when she read it, at the observations of Mr Brian V. Reynolds of Herne Bay.
Its make you wonder if he wrote the article 'Tounge in Cheek' or he is just plain thick and knowns nothing of the life and the times in UK in the 1940s and onwards. It would be interesting to know how old he is and what type of education he was privy to when he was growing up and what he is employed at. Gosh try telling him that 15 and 16 year old children where going on ships and sailing ALL the way around the world because it wasn't flat and were getting paid for it as well.

John Albert Evans

[EIFION]

Gentle men , be kind . It is the daily Mail after all. The right wing Bible must be right , ask Cameron

[Ivan Cloherty]

Only trouble is John, that if he is writing with tongue in cheek, there will be a lot of people out there believing it. A response has been sent but no doubt the Mail will be inanudated with responses. As for his education could have been good, could have been indifferent and a product of an indifferent society.
However we know one thing for sure, he was not a seaman, because we wouldn't be having fantasies about gas masks and shopping trollies, but then again have woken up alongside a few where a gas mask would have been an improvement even when still i its cardboard box

[Mike Hall]

I was 15 when i joined my first ship.
And i was 16 when i got home on leave.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Searched on line, failed. Do you have to log in to find it or can someone please add a link ?

Thanks K.

[Lou Barron]

Why these guys cannot get their facts right is beyond belief he should have read some of these posts on this site
Iam sure Deep Seas would have put him right

[john tippett]

i was 15yrs when i joined PERSIC ,first ship from seaschool p.w.s.t.s,they did question it,but had done home trade trip in her,union dues up to date,so had my 16th birthday in melbourne-good old oz,they went to sea a lot younger in nelsons day ,with goverment blessing,and goverments haven,t change much since,just a deeper fuller trough.

[happy daze john in oz]

There is a major problem here. Firstly the paper has published without looking at the facts, but then again why let the truth get in the way of a good story?
Secondly he denigrates the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so Richard Craniums such as he could write such purile rubbish.
Thirdly, sadly there are some who will believe him, which does nothing to endear the good name of the British Merchant Navy.
I only hope some one will be able to get the truth into the paper.

[robpage]

As it was a readers letter , I wonder if editors put drivel and garbage in just to provoke discussion and sell papers