A troopship to Malta, bad ears and a broken nose
It must have been around September or October 1944 by the time I reported back to Chatham Barracks and was drafted to HMS St Angelo on Malta. We took a trooper – it was actually one of the invasion troopers, Highland Monarch – from Southampton. Only about 120 RN were on board, the rest were army and air force, most bound for the Italian war theatre.
We joined a convoy and one of the escorts was HMS Tyne, a depot ship that had a local friend of mine, Jackie Foster aboard. He lived close to my home in Gateshead. I got to the bridge of the trooper and sent a message of welcome but got a warning and a bollocking from the duty officer. I eventually got a reply and met him in Malta. His destination was the Pacific war theatre and thankfully he survived the war.
We joined a convoy and one of the escorts was HMS Tyne, a depot ship that had a local friend of mine, Jackie Foster aboard. He lived close to my home in Gateshead. I got to the bridge of the trooper and sent a message of welcome but got a warning and a bollocking from the duty officer. I eventually got a reply and met him in Malta. His destination was the Pacific war theatre and thankfully he survived the war.
Since leaving ML303 my ears were giving me considerable trouble. I had a level of deafness in both as well as bouts of tinnitus, my balance was affected and to cap it all the left ear had a rotten bloody smell to it. The Scylla report and a letter had gone to Haslar Hospital and I had to report there the next time we arrived at our base in Haslar Creek. The first time was when the Wrens ammunitioned the ship. My mate Carpenter rang up the hospital to make an appointment for me, as my ears were poor on the telephone. He got a rocket for his trouble (who did he think he was short cutting the system? Same old RN…) and was told to follow the proper procedure, that was that I had to report to sick bay at Hornet base and they would decide whether to send me to hospital. That afternoon and night we had urgent business trying to shoot down doodlebugs and then to Cherbourg so I missed attending at the sick bay.
On returning later that month I missed it again on leaving for Felixstowe where both ears were syringed¹ (no attention ever paid to the Scylla letter) and that was the usual procedure ever after in the navy. Until Gibraltar (much later on) where it was suggested cleaning both ears with peroxide.
Heading for Malta on the trooper I reported the bad ears to the sick bay but the syringe was the usual solution. The naval doctor was interested in my ear history and I got well in with him as I volunteered to box for the navy in a mad moment. These inter-service activities take place to entertain the troops and are well attended.
The guy I got to fight was a champion Royal Artillery Sergeant about 12 years older than me and he gave me a hell of a hiding – breaking my nose in the process. It’s only three rounds of three minutes each but the longest nine minutes in my life. Well actually eight minutes as I was carted away to the sick bay. I actually worked there at the time helping out due to my ear problems. Anyway, the doctor put the tongs up my nose and straightened the mess out as best he could. The Sergeant I fought came to visit me and he along with his mate got fixed up as helpers in the sick bay as the doctor wanted some men with authority to curtail the malingerers. As the two sergeants were bound for Malta we became friendly for my time on the island.
On returning later that month I missed it again on leaving for Felixstowe where both ears were syringed¹ (no attention ever paid to the Scylla letter) and that was the usual procedure ever after in the navy. Until Gibraltar (much later on) where it was suggested cleaning both ears with peroxide.
Heading for Malta on the trooper I reported the bad ears to the sick bay but the syringe was the usual solution. The naval doctor was interested in my ear history and I got well in with him as I volunteered to box for the navy in a mad moment. These inter-service activities take place to entertain the troops and are well attended.
The guy I got to fight was a champion Royal Artillery Sergeant about 12 years older than me and he gave me a hell of a hiding – breaking my nose in the process. It’s only three rounds of three minutes each but the longest nine minutes in my life. Well actually eight minutes as I was carted away to the sick bay. I actually worked there at the time helping out due to my ear problems. Anyway, the doctor put the tongs up my nose and straightened the mess out as best he could. The Sergeant I fought came to visit me and he along with his mate got fixed up as helpers in the sick bay as the doctor wanted some men with authority to curtail the malingerers. As the two sergeants were bound for Malta we became friendly for my time on the island.
¹ Ear syringing involves the use of a pulsating jet of warm water to remove impacted wax.