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Thread: Ex R/O

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    Default Ex R/O

    I joined a few weeks ago, but am late saying hello. I was an r/o 1956 to 1961 - HMT Dunera, Jimmy Nourse's MV Hughli, Cory collier Corburn, and then various Brocklebank ships. I wish I could do it all again.
    After coming ashore I went into the technical areas of TV studios. I now live close to Whitby, N Yorks and have turned to writing the occasional novel, but am now in the middle of attempting a memoir of those splendid days at sea, and when the docks were crammed with graceful ships.

    Best wishes to you all
    Harry Nicholson
    1513 fusion | My new novel, 'Tom Fleck' – set in 1513, the year of Flodden. Also, you'll find some enamel art and writing.
    Last edited by Harry Nicholson; 29th June 2017 at 03:55 PM.

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    Hi Harry, just had a look at the Tom Fleck novel on Amazon, plenty of good reviews there. I think I will give it a shot it is
    my kind of story, PS welcome to the site. Cheers JF

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    Thanks for the welcome, John. I'm reading 'Dots, Dashes and Spindrift' by Dan Williams, it came today and I've had to force myself to put it down.
    Harry Nicholson

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    Hi Harry.
    Welcome to the site, hope you enjoy all there is to peruse on here. We have had a number of R\Os on site over the years. Have a read of the Articles the lads have posted, never know there may be some ideas for a new book. I wrote a novel some years ago, still in the bottom draw.
    Cheers Des

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    Hello Harry
    Welcome to the site and I hope you have a good stay here with us.
    I see you were on the H M Troopship Dunera
    Now you can help me here as I cannot find some info anywhere
    I was shipped to Aden in 1960 on that Ship,well I am almost sure it was her
    can you recall a trip to Aden with RAF Troops. By the way I was also a Radio Op in the RAF.
    There was another as well but cannot for the life of me recall her name.
    Her trooping contract ended in 1960 that is why I somehow recall it, being her last Year of taking Troops to Aden and other places
    We had 1st Battalion, Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment.on that Trip as well
    Thanks

    Capture Dunera.jpg

    Think the other at that time also used was HMT Dilwara
    Last edited by Doc Vernon; 30th June 2017 at 03:39 AM.
    Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    Hello, Doc. My two trips on Dunera were in 1956, first to Japan to bring home troops from Korea, second terminated in Hong Kong. We always had a few mixed people for Aden. Late 56 I signed on the Nourse tramp, Hughli. The only units I recall were a detachment of Inniskillin Fuseliers at Singapore, and a NZ regiment at Kure. Dilwara was a sister ship - identical; I even boarded Dilwara by mistake in dense fog in Southampton and demanded that the occupant of 'my' bunk removed himself. Sorry that it is now all a touch vague.
    Our paths would not cross - unless you were at Gan Island about 1959.
    That is a splendid image of Dunera - she looks to be mint.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Thanks, Des. Don't leave the novel in the draw, unless you intend historical fiction. Novels are alternative reality, and might be good place to inhabit in these times.
    Harry Nicholson

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    I've finished part one of my memoir of the sea, and other things besides. I got to the point where I was 19 yr old and thought I'd best publish as I'll shortly be 80.
    I enjoyed the task immensely and have begun to tinker with the next stage of memoir. Brother-in-law said, I thought dismissively, 'Oh, memoir - it's an age thing'. Perhaps he's right. But it's done and I enjoyed raking in the attics and cellars of memory.
    It's called 'The Best of Days' (because they were).
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Days-m...arry+nicholson
    Harry Nicholson

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    Missed this somehow before but,
    will take a good look in the morning.

    Thanks,

    Keith.

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    Default Re: Ex R/O

    After 'Best of Days' was published a year ago, I'm now working on a sequel. Working title is 'Back to Bengal'. At 81, my writing pace is not so brisk. I reckon to be half way through. Here's a snip:

    Sunday, the thirteenth of October 1957 is a good day to leave behind the joys of Calcutta. In fact, any time is a good time to steam down the River Hooghly and escape. Forty-two days in Kidderpore dock is sufficient for a fellow unless he has an interest in microbes. In that time, Mahanada discharged her effluent into the scummy waters of the harbour, as did a score of other vessels, likewise the legion of families that inhabit the cargo barges. The dockers made their own arrangements: a platform suspended over the side of our hull. At low tide, noxious dock water flushed into the river whenever the lock gates opened. At high tide a cleaner, but still dubious, offering from the Holy Mother Ganges replenished the dock. The route home is via the United States of America, a nation said to be the acme of hygiene.
    We almost missed the tide as we waited for the release of four of our Europeans from police cells. Two apprentices and two engineers had ventured on a last night ashore in a house of entertainment that served food and drink and provided rooms for ladies of the night to ply their trade. The West Bengal Police mounted a raid on the premises and ruined the jollifications. Our fellows, followed by several European businessmen, jumped from the windows to avoid the cops. Overcome with hilarity they ran off along the street, straight into an ambush. After a night in the lock-up and chapattis for breakfast, they paraded before the magistrate to hear a charge of 'Singing, dancing, and shouting in the streets of Calcutta'. They had to make humble apology and yield up one hundred rupees each. It was wise to stay aboard; that fine amounts to three day's pay.
    Harry Nicholson

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