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2nd August 2019, 09:07 PM
#1
An anniversary
In the early hours of tomorrow morning, 3rd August at 3.05am it is the 77th anniversary of the sinking of the MV Lochkatrine the ship my then 17 year old father was sailing on. He always rates getting into the lifeboat in the freezing cold in the dark and being picked up by the HMCS Agassiz before being taken to Nova Scotia as the single most terrifying moment in a life filled with lots of dodgy moments and adventure.
He reminisced that Michael George Ryder had a little propellor which when it was pressed on went round. He also remembers John Cooke who afterwards signed on the RMS Andes as Junior Fifth (I'm not sure what rank that signifies) as he did after the sinking but who he thought was completely traumatised by the experience and who went on, not long after, to shoot himself in the chart room of the Andes, if Daddy's memory was correct. He was good at remembering when he was telling me because lots of verifiable little details checked out. The next time he was on shore leave in England he went to visit John Cooke's parents. I'm sad that I didn't ask him more when I could have. He doesn't remember much now in the fog of Alzheimer's but at the time in 2016 it seemed to have sharpened his memory of long ago.
It's strange to think how many people wouldn't be here now if he'd been one of those unfortunates who lost their lives that night.
https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?15502
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1996.html
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship1996.html
Last edited by Bernard Baldwin; 2nd August 2019 at 09:14 PM.
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