Merchant navy crs10 log book questions - Edward blanch 954849

Reading the discharge papers here are another couple of photos which could be another few of Edwards ships Attachment 32557Attachment 32558Attachment 32559Attachment 32560

It's amazing to see them all thank you for that. All I can say it must have been freezing on those ships as not much cover, not to mention rough being at sea all that time. He was in his 40s in ww2, he didn't have to serve but he was a seaman at heart and so dudnt hesitate to sign up.

Lauren, The oldest seaman i sailed with was a sprite 79 yr old Lamp trimmer, Joe Dalzell, I was on another site a while ago and someone with the same surname was searching for a Joe Dalzell, Who was still at sea at 80yrs old. It had to be him with that unusual surname and it was he packed up or rather the Company forced him to at 80 yrs old he was gone before he reached 81 as you say its not so much an occupation more a way of life he must have basically gave up nothing left to live for, R I P Joe. Terry.

That’s how a lot of us us would have finished up without usually a woman behind us to pick up the slack and give us a sense of responsibility to family and shore side niceties. Is alright when young and foot loose and fancy free but had very little future in old age . More than likely a lot would of not of reached old age. It was a way of life. JS.

Yes John I agree with that my Val often use to say to me if she hadn't rescued me I would have ended up in the seamens home. Den

Women we cannot live without them.
I was on my way to Oz to become a layabout, not what the job was called but what I would have ended up as, then I met my wife.

Life changed, we did well for ourselves, still travel, when we can, and enjoy life as much as possible.



Life may not always be a bowl of cherries but with a good women with you the pips are not so hard.

I know too well that if it was not for meting my dear Wife when i did, i more than likely would have become a real Bum! Not the UCL Type John! LOL

My life at that point was on a very delicate edge!@

Then came along the Love of my life and the Saviour too!

At the grand old age of 20 in 1957 and a brand new 2nd. Mates cert. I together with a friend was bound for Hong Kong and a life of debauchery or so I believed , I met my future wife and everything went on hold, my mate went and I didn’t , I think and hope he did well , I only met him once again when he came back to UK for his final certificate , and he was only 25 then , but had a house in Sydney and another one in Hong Kong. Tried making contact again over the years but no luck. However took a further 5 years of long seperations before finally settling down if that’s what they call it. There was only one stipulation I had to make , and that was I wouldn’t bring any problems home. I stuck with that as it suited me as well and I never ever talked about my life at sea with her and the ships were never discussed at home. A friend of my daughter was engaged to a junior engineer in the Eighties and she came and moaned to the wife about her fiancée being away for 3 month stints , and asked how my wife managed with me away a year at a time sometimes , her reply was , you should expect that when you marry a seafarer. Her fiancée wasn’t so lucky he had to give the job away. JS

The Title of the book Run For Home he obviously derived as a Geordie Boy from the hit song from the Geordie band Lindisfarne, There version of Run For Home, Great tune though Terry.

#17 I bet your bad time was in your early fourties Vernon , thats when they say a man goes through the male menapause. JS