MN Books

[Brenda Shackleton]

hello
I think that this link should work.......... http://www,russianarcticconvoymuseum...joseph-hartley. I'm sure that I have copied it correctly but can't make the blue line go underneath ! Perhaps someone else can get it to work. Sorry.
Back on my Rescue Ship ' hobby horse' !
Rescued seamen suffered trauma. hypothermia, broken limbs, oil burns and scalds,'lifeboat feet', crushed ribs, The Rescue Ships saved seamen and brought the sick, disabled and injured to safety. Their crews saw more of life and death at sea in Wartime than any other group of men. The Rescue Ships were never short of volunteers to man them. That is really marvellous.

I've probably said this before, but the media only seem to be interested in the tragedies. "The disaster that was PQ17" is a favourite. 153 men lost their lives on that Convoy (June 1942) and that is truly awful but it is never mentioned that the 3 Rescue Ships , RATHLIN, ZAAFARAN ( later sunk) and ZAMALEK saved the lives of 504 on that same Convoy .

To Keith. If this link is useful to you, then please use it. It is my own copyright !
Regards
Brenda

[Captain Kong]

Just a bit of interest on crews rescued from the sea.
I was looking for a ship, the ALPERA, one of John Bruce`s of Glasgow for a mate of mine who sailed on her in 1952,
She was a Norwegian ship in WW2, She rescued a couple of hundred seamen from sunken ships in the North Atlantic and Arctic.
Usually when they dragged a man on board out of the oil covered seas the first thing they did was to offer them a fag.
An American Doctor who was on board noticed that the ones who had a ciggy usually died. Then they discovered that the ciggy smoke containing the usual chemicals combined with any oil residue in a mans lungs and then killed him. The men who did not have a ciggy survived.
Cheers
Brian

[Keith at Tregenna]

LINK ?: http://www.russianarcticconvoymuseum...oseph-hartley/

[Brenda Shackleton]

Thanks, Keith. I felt sure you'd be able to sort it !
Brenda

[eric fisher]

Brenda,
My best friend from school and M.N., Alan Griffiths sailed in the Zamalek if I remember correctly. We were in close contact years ago and our ships were often in the same convoys. Don't know if he's still alive. If any info I have about him would be of interest, please let me know. Regards, Eric Fisher

[Brenda Shackleton]

Yes please, Eric. Any info' about Rescue Ships and I'm more than happy to hear about it. Thanks.

One of my daughters has called to say that there is a programme on BBC2 tomorrow night (Sunday 20th) at 8pm concerning the role of Londonderry at the end of the War. By that, I assume it will be about the surrender of 115 U-boats at Lishally . 116 were scuttled.

My Dad was asked by Sir Max Horton to represent the Rescue Ships. The fleet was sailing from Loch Ewe to Northern Ireland at a speed of ( I believe) 15knots. His crew were very disappointed because they knew they would never keep up and would miss the proceedings. So................... the night before he slipped anchor and took "Goodwin" south, very slowly, through the Kyle of Lochalsh and then KYLERHEA( !!) - taking depth soundings as he went and managed to get to Londonderry in time. If you have ever been to that area - Glenelg and Skye- you would just wonder how on earth he did it !It is very narrow with quite a tide race. He always had a great sense of justice and fair play and didn't want to let the crew down. It's such a long time ago but I would love to meet someone who was there with him.

Regards
Brenda