Diary of Wing Commander Edward Lloyd Fleming, January 1944- January 1945 - Part 4

FEBRUARY, 1944

Friday 18

We had a couple of parades fairly early and 
handed in our S. African money. We were
told that camp was closed & we just moped
about all day. I went down to YMSA &
brought some fruit then I came back to
the hut & then at about 4.30 "went thru"
I went to Willowvale Hotel by taxi & met
Mavis Bingham then stayed there a while
till Wallace picked me up in the car. I had
tea at the Short's & came back c.2200. I
caught a taxi with a pole but he took us
way out of our road but I got back OK
& got off to bed. I missed seeing Vivienne
so must write her. My intention was to
see her!

FEBRUARY, 1944

Saturday 19

We were called very early & packed up at 0730
and made tracks for Durban by train. We let all
and sundry know that we were on our way.
We embarked once more on NIEUW AMST. but
this time it is a very different ship. We have
cabins and are quite well off but the
ship is crowded to its capacity. Polish women
Canadian & English girls, native soldiers,
Canadian & US. men, Aussies, English,
Dutch, S. Africans & Greeks. I copped
guard duty and am by the purser's office
looking after the poles. The food is scanty & not
nearly as good as before. I have still got a
bit of dysentry & it is pretty unpleasant. I
was on guard at 2400 - 0200 up between the
funnels. It was rather cool & I had a yarn to
an Englishman. The boys caught a Boong
in the ship hut pinching clothes today.

FEBRUARY, 1944

Sunday 20

I did guard from 0600 - 0800 then had
breakfast & came back & had a snooze.
I roamed about on deck awhile. We
have 30 nationalities on board. English, Scotch
Welsh, Polish, Australians, Yanks, Canadians,
Greeks, Italians, Germans, Chinese, Dutch,
Maltese, DEI's & Boongs etc. I had lunch &
did more guard then went on sick
parade. I had some ML3T Sect cum opis.'
We pulled out of Durban about 1730 &
I missed it as I was guarding the Polish
women's quarters. A Catalina is conveying
us. I knocked off at 2000 & came to bed
after seeing the M.O. I slept till 2400
when I had more guard to do.

FEBRUARY, 1944

Monday 21

I did guard again from 0600 - 0800 & then
had breakfast. I went to sick parade &
came back & shaved & had a fairly good
sleep. I woke just at 1200 & missed dinner
& went on guard. We finished off at 1230 -
In the afternoon I was 25% in the latrines
& on deck. We have a Vega Ventura escort
& I watched it for a while. I had tea then
went on sick parade & things seem
to be improving. I went off & watched the
wake for a while then walked round the
deck & came below & had a shower & did
my washing then I got off to bed.

FEBRUARY, 1944

Tuesday 22

On opening the Porthole we gazed out
on the C. of Good Hope. It was a
wonderful sight. We pulled in at
Cape Town a little later & spent the
day at the wharf. We were not allow
off the boat at all. I went on sick
parade & the diarhoea seems to
have stopped but they gave me some
oil to clean me out. I took a good
look at the town & at about 1830
we set sail with a few more bodies
on board. we stooged round in
the Bay doing circles for quite a while
then eventually hit the track. I had
a shower & got off to bed. 

FEBRUARY, 1944

Wednesday 23

I had a wash then went to breakfast. We tidied
up the cabin & I spent the morning on deck. I
had dinner & then wrote a letter home. I
used a fair bit then came below. The dysentry
seems to be better but I have still got a
bit of an upset. I had tea and went up on
deck for a while & listened to the impromptu
concert on deck. I came down to No 1 Mess &
went to the United Protestant devotional
service. There were not very many there but
it was a very good show. I came back
& had a sort of shower & then got off to
bed. I am in a crook cabin - ie. it is
a rotten crowd namely Hogan, Hayes,
Herbert, Hatch, Herbele, Holland, Hamitty
& Hobson. The ship has developed a rather
severe roll in addition to its pitching now.

3

FEBRUARY, 1944
FOUR

Thursday 24

I was up a bit later today but went to
breakfast as usual. I was cabin orderly
with Hatch & then went up on deck & read
for a bit. I had lunch then went on deck
again & read. After tea I had a shower &
we had another impromptu sing-song on
the W. prom.deck & it was a great turn. The
Polish girls sang a number of their native
songs & some resembled American & English
tunes. "Yes My Darling Daughter" "My Bonnie
lies over the Ocean" etc. Some of them have very
nice voices. The boys sung more freely tonight
& kept the party clean. They broke it all up
about 2000 hrs & the boys dispersed thru' out

the boat.There was a practice shoot this
morning & they chopped a smoke float &
fired at it. We also had an emergency
alarm. In the mess we have Italian P.O.W.'s &
they are a very friendly mob. One to whom
I spoke tonight was a pilot (S:M) in Abysinnia
Apparently all the foreigners on board are getting
better treatment than they have had for some time

FEBRUARY, 1944

Friday 25

I saw phosphorus in the water for the first
time last night.  Flying fish have increased
& there are swarms of them & also a few school
of porpoise. I had breakfast & read all the
morning then had lunch & read again in the
afternoon. I got a bit of stuff from the
canteen today too. I had tea & went up to
the impromptu concert but it was broken
up very early owning to black-out. The Polish
girls are doing a lot of singing first
lately & they have very fine voices. I did
the rounds of the deck with Ken then came
down & started writing to Margaret but gave
it up. I got off to bed but it was terribly hot

FEBRUARY, 1944
Saturday 26
As soon as blackout was lifted I got up
as it was very warm & had a shower. I
did the rounds of the deck & then had breakfast.
I sat & read & then had inspection then
read for the rest of the morning. The sea
was terribly calm & blue today & there was
hardly a pitch or roll. We maintained a
steady course & you could follow it back
to the horizon. The cumulus cloud looks
strange as if it is floating. After tea there
was a sing-song by the Polish girls &
also a bit of boxing but I read. I came
down below & got off to bed.

FEBRUARY, 1944
Sunday 27

We passed a very large shoal of what we thought
were tuna. The flying fish are still very plentiful.
I went to church this morning & it was in the
officer's lounge which is the same as pre-war.
At 1.30 pm a Mitchell bomber intercepted us &
shot us up a few times then went away The
opinion is that it came from Ascension Is. we are
supposed to be only about 600 miles from S.
America. The sea is still very calm & the day
hot. The boys are taking to sleeping on deck at
night. I saw a bit more phosphorous & then
went to church which was xtra good.
Another bloke got pinched for gambling today
I had another slight recurrence of diarrhoea
but am O.K now.
Did Bach & Mozart etc ever expect that their
works would be played in the middle of the
S Atlantic Ocean?

FEBRUARY, 1944
Monday 28
Same routine as usual. I got a book from
the library in the Padre's office opp. No 1 Mess
& then after inspection went on deck & saw
the ceremony of King Neptune. Have
detailed it in my "observations" It was a
hilarious, crazy turn & everybody got a
huge amount of fun - & water. After
dinner I read all the afternoon. A
Liberator escort stayed with us all day
& only left late this evening. We were able
to read a bit of aldis too. A tropical
storm blew up & it was quite interesting to
watch it coming, travel thro' it & see the
other side of it all within 30-45 min.
After tea I did some promenading then
came & had a shower & did a bit of
reading & writing then went to bed. The
Polish girls came out in civvies today. The
sunset was a treat again tonight. We
crossed the line yesterday I think.

MEN AGAINST HITLER - FRITZ MAX CAHEN*

FEBRUARY, 1944
Tuesday 29
A Sunderland picked us up & at about 1030
we entered Freetown harbour after the long
approach. The bay is filled with ships. We dropped
anchor in mid bay & took on oil & water &
dropped Italians & French. We stayed all day &
sunset was rather glorious. I read & wrote &
looked about the place. In the evening the
aldis lamps from the ships were going hard.
We had another concert & it was 100%. There
were 9 pieces in the band & the M.C. a former
radio chap. The male choir, polish choir, girl
dancers, Spanish trio, monologues, dumb
show, card trick & humerous sketches were
all xtra. Des Devine & a chap McCallum
were super with their solo items. The
padre had charge of the girls & they put on
a first rate show. The audience behaved
better & there was much more continuity
& the artists were better. We had to wear
long pants etc. after dark on account
of Malaria mosquitoes.
A LEAF IN THE STORM. LIN YUTANG*

MARCH 1944
Wednesday 1
We stayed in Freetown all day and altho it
was cool to start with, the sun became very
hot. A lot of English blokes came on. We
finished taking oil & water. I got paid in
the morning & did some reading. After
lunch I read the whole afternoon. I had
tea & watched the sun setting beyond the
entrance to the bay. I went to the church
service & it was fair. It was very hot
below on A deck but we have to stay &
sleep here.

MARCH, 1944
FIVE
Thursday 2
I missed the departure from Freetown c.
1000 hrs as I had to go down & do a job
in the hold. It was lumping luggage & took
all the morning. I had lunch. We had a
Swordfish escort & 2 destroyers & 3 corvettes
then a Walrus took over & now we have a
Catalina. The waters are very thick with
fish & we saw shoals of porpoise, shark
& some long chap with & pointed nose.
There are also many squids on the
surface. I read part of the afternoon &
then we had emergency boat stations.
I got a new book & stood in the bows
for a while. Then I had tea & after tea a
tanker passed us on the stbd side. I
stood for'd for a while then came down
& sorted my stuff. I had a shower
earlier & got to bed as soon as possible
GOING ABROAD - ROSE MACAULEY

MARCH, 1944

Friday 3

The sea was a good deal rougher today

& the wind quite strong. I had a long walk

in the morning then went to breakfast. I

was hut orderly & then got our canteen

stuff. I read a bit & then it was

dinner time. They played the water mus.

suite today. I went to the library & got

two books. I read a little & then we

came down & had an FFI & got some

cigarettes. I read & then walked round a

bit & had tea. I stood on deck for a while

with a commander bloke & then came below

we saw a whale today & flying fish are

prevalent.

MARCH, 1944

Saturday 4

I was up first & shaved & then had

breakfast. I went on deck & sat on the 

windward side. There was still a bit of a

gale & the sea was quite choppy. I came to

parade & then went up again. I had dinner

& after reading a while there was an air-raid

test & an abandon ship. I read a whole lot

more & then had tea. It is still blowing hard

& the clouds again appear to be "floating" due,

we think to the low formation over water. Also

does the water go clockwise or A-clockwise in

the S. hemisphere? It goes  here. I had tea &

stayed in the cabin all the evening. I am

canteen rep for our cabin for tomorrow

& it took a while to fire up. Then I got off

to bed. We had no air escort today. There are

still flying fish & squid about. The moon

has been very bright last few nights.

MARCH, 1944

Sunday 5

I had a shower & shave went to breakfast

got up on deck as soon as possible & read for

a while. I came below & fixed up the canteen

distribution then went up again to church at

1000. The padre is very long winded & the

pianist rotten. I wrote to Shirl & then had

dinner. Meals seem to be improving quite a 

bit. I went on deck & tried to read but couldn't

settle down. We saw a very large whale on port.

side this afternoon. I can't help but note the

peculiar calm on the sea today. There was a

very big swell but the sea was like oil or

glass gently undulating. There was no wind &

the clouds were all perfectly reflected. I had

tea & then read the ship's magazine, published

today. My contribution was not accepted. I

wrote a bit & then went to church. There was a

very large attendance "The day Thou Gavest" was

very impressive.

They played Gounod's 'Ave Maria' & Shubert's Unfinished

Symphony today !

MARCH,1944

Monday 6

We were got out of bed by an air-raid &

emergency station. I had breakfast & changed

to No.1 mess. I went to the library & then had

a haircut. I read a bit & then had dinner. I

got on to my sheepskin in the afternoon &

put a collar on it. It took c.3½ his & then I

did a bit of reading c.1200 we A/C & are now

dashing W. Why I don't know. Clocks go

back another ½ hr tonight. I had tea & then walked

round the decks & came down & did a lot of

sewing & had a shower. I got off to bed.

MARCH, 1944

SIX

Tuesday 7

I went to breakfast & then promenaded around

the deck. The weather is peculiar here there is

a continuous mist altho' there is a bit of

wind & the sea is quite rough I read all

the morning then had lunch. I changed

my books & wrote some letters home, Ian

& Mr Hughes. I had tea & walked around

the deck then went to a concert after having

a shower. It was quite a good show &

the Polish girls & male choirs were excellent.

The girls sang the Nat. Anthem in English.

Orderly room says we are 1½ dys due east

of New York & the situation of course [[?]]

yesterday was on account of submarines

& we followed a convoy all day. Arrival in

England is Sat or Sun.

THE GOLDEN VASE - LUDWIG LEWISOHN.

MARCH, 1944

Wednesday 8

There was an air-raid panic about 5.00

& the story is that we sailed slap into a

convoy & were hunted by 4 destroyers. We

passed on O.K. & did not get up altho' a

lot of the boys got up. I had a shave & had

breakfast & a walk. I mooched about all the

morning & then had dinner. It is very

cold. There is still a mist which I think

must be caused by the Labrador current &

Gulf Stream. We passed quite a bit of waste

from other ships today & stbd side aft

we saw a line which followed for a while

then disappeared. It was too cold & wet to stay

on deck - we still have to wear Tropical Dress -

& the sea is getting pretty rough. I had a

good tea & played patience. I went to the

United service & it was quite good. I had a

stroll on deck & then came down to bed.