Diary of George Loughlin Blore - October 1940 - September 1941 - Part 3

2.4.41

A beautiful tropic

evening, one lazes on

deck after supper 

enjoying the silence

& peace.

3.4.41

Concert tonight by units

of the British army on

board jolly good show 

too.
 

4.4.41

Pulled into Sierra Leone at

lunch time today right

of as far as safety would

permit!  'even to the extent

of using the lead line

for sounding,

very hot as usual

5

Watch as if on that alone,

hung the issues of the day.

This has been constantly

in my mind lately,

the necessity of being

continually on the watch

against slackness in ones

own life, so easy in

amongst a large body of

men here. or any where.

where the worlds 

standards are good enough.

7.4.41

Filled up with oil yesterday

pulled out at dinner

time today.

Most of these natives

must be in touch with

missions, their canoes

have names painted on 

the sides "Likegod"

etc.

10.4.41

Slept on deck last night

it was too hot in the 

cabin news is more

interesting these days,

strange how things 

have happened as soon
 

as we put to sea each time.

11.4.41

wrote to home

Pat

Helen

Jean

Herb.

_____________

12.4.41 to 15th

Nothing much doing

till Wednesday when we

approached Cape town,

half our convoy going

on to Durban & the 

others, with us, to Capetown.

Great News. leave will

be granted every day 

while in port,

a period of about 4 days

I believe, free transport

anywhere in the city 

& reduced rates 

to picture theatres

Paid tonight, I drew

₤5 might need it.

& went ashore with

Dan Kenna, and we 

wandered round

the town most of the

time, what a thrill

to enjoy a city lit

up at night with

no black out restrictions

I gazed & gazed.

Went to the station 

to have a look see.

nice trains, too

electric & steam, fair

sized station too, I

was mildly surprised

about 5 or 6 platforms

at least.
 

All signs & newspapers

are printed in two

languages here, owing

to the od mixture of

races here.

Dan & I rushed a cafe for

ice cream & cool drinks

such a change to our 

fare on board boat

all the time

17.4.41

Today we had leave from

1 o'clock to midnight. 

though I had to be back 

on duty at 6.

Again, Jack, Dan & myself 

went to a cafe

the silver leaf cafe, lovely

place & enjoyed iced coffee

cakes & cool drinks.

We were at the same

cafe last year when

coming to England.

There a very courteous

Dutchman came over

& spoke to us inviting

us out to his place 

for the evening, the others

of course are going, I

had to decline.

Then on to Wsynberg to

where we were going

to see the zoo, however

on the road a car

pulled up & we were

offered a lift to

Rhodes memorial

which we accepted

as Dan had not

been there.
 

The couple in the car

fr turned out to be

from Aust. the girl 

was english, the man

was from Perth.

When we arrived there

we saw the V most

wonderful panorama

spread out below us

just like the last occasion

when we called here.

Then the man showed 

us a short path

foot path cut thru the

mountain leading

to the top which we decided

to follow back to the town.

It was glorious tramping

thru the bush like

that & reminded

me very much of the

Dandenongs & Sherbrooke

forest, especially when

we discovered gum trees

there as well, an

exotic smell of fresh

pine & gum assailed

us as we walked 

along, I enjoyed every 

minute of it, though

at the end after all

our climbing we were

all soaked to the

skin with perspiration.
 

FRI   21 ^18.4.41

Today Jack, Dan & myself

went to ^ l had lunch

in Capetown, then decided

to go for a trip in the train to

Fish Hoek.

We arrived at the station to find

out that free return tickets

were being handed out to 

troops, first class.

Nice run to fish Hoek, houses

are very much like ours at

home, the stations are quaint

what with 2 languages denoting

the station name etc.

Arriving at fish hoek, we

were taken home by a

very nice lady in her car.

she Mrs Graham - Ivy,

who gave us afternoon

tea, then for a car drive in the

afternoon all along a most

marvellous coast road

cut along the side of the

mountain, & known as

Chapmans peak road,

it was a thrilling ride

with the sea hundreds 

of feet below & cliff on the

other side.

We covered about 20 or 30 miles

easily & cut back thru

the Kloof on the other side,

then tea was prepared & 

Mr Ivy came in from business

They are a wonderful family

altogether especially

the 2 youngsters, Ian &

Alwyn.

Mr Ivy then took us 
 

to a show at night & 

afterwards drove us back

to the docks, on the way

stopping at a roadside cafe

for chicken sandwiches &

coffee.

I was surprised to learn that the

english in Capetown comprise

only about 40 or 50% of the

population friction is

fairly frequent, the police

is mainly boers & pro-nazis

in fact if it wasn't for the

loyal dutch, S.A. would be

neutral.

 

SAT.

19.4.41.

Leave again from 1 o'clock.

The three of us went up 

to the Ivys for the day

once again enjoying the

quiet & homely atmosphere

of their home.

Mr Ivy has a business

dealing in furs, ivory &

is also a taxidermist.

They have a jolly nice car, a

Chev too.

They want us to visit them as

much as possible & have

promised to write to our

people at home.

 

SUN 20.4.41

Pulled out into the stream

today, the last of Capetown,

for a while anyway.

I shall never forget the

hospitality shown to us

here. free transport

in the city cheap rates

at the theatre & everyone

seems anxious to take

us home & give us a good

time. _____________

Since last Sun. nothing of 

any importance has taken 

place, a few concerts,

boxing tournaments etc

Anzac service on board.

How wonderful the stars are at

night, to be on deck & to

look up at them is a peace creating

 

[*wrote to Roe.*]
occupation.

thought provoking as well.

28.4.41

Slept on deck last night,

weather is now very hot

& muggy, today they are holding

the "Crossing the line ceremony"

rather late to start this, as

they have already crossed 

most of them at least once.

29.4.41.

Crossing the line ceremony

was really most amusing.

King Neptune & his court

were hard at it 

most of the afternoon,

nominating candidates

to be led to the slaughter,

tarred & brushed, floured

painted & then
 

unceremoniously pushed into

the bath where a further 

trial awaited in the form 

of a ducking.

1.5.41.

Late this morning steamed 

into the gulf of aden.

2.5.41

Change of formation 2 lines

of the remaining convoy

formed up today.

4.5.41.

Red sea today, we took the

lead, leaving the others

well behind most of the day.

5.5.41

12 months now since I left

Melbourne (happy land)

strangely enough too, we are

today on the sea, just like

we were last year though

of course, for different

circumstances.

Our colonel addressed the

original A.S.H unit 

today & handed out smokes

to all to mark the 

1 years service.

Entered the gulf of suez 
today.

6.5.41.

Anchored at suez today

passing the Queen Mary

& Q Elizabeth also.

what a dreary hole it

looks though of course

the town is hidden 

from our sight.
 

9.5.41.

Up at 3.45 this morning.

today we boarded barges

& transferred to a ship

called the Ethiopia (Egyptian

Quite a harbor cruise before

finding her, too,

hailing one ship after another

to see where she was.

10.5.41.

Sailed from suez for the

canal, 12.30 on the way I saw 

that my opinion of suez was

wrong at first glimpse

afar off. its quite a nice

& modern city.

passed 2 sunken boats ni

canal eventually arriving

at Ishmaila, where we

disembarked

& boarded motor transports

eventually arriving at

El Qantara late at night

9 P.M. where we had tea &

ate our iron rations

which we have been living

on for the last 4 days.

The place where we

disembarked from the canal 

boat has a fine memorial

to the memory of men

who lost their lives in

defence of the canal.

By the way, N.Z. forces

& Egyptians, also a few

British forces guard the 

canal, there are machine

guns every hundred or so

yards, also balloons, &

anti-aircraft guns & planes.

 

Air raid alarm at el Quantara

tonight as we lay on the 

sands of the desert. ahem!

may they soon grow cold.

Jerry dropped a load on the

canal or on something

at any rate, further up

the canal.

Boarded train for Palestine

at 4 this morning.

11.5.41.

Slept all the rest of the morning

by hill 7 in a very dusty

train, woke up  (bleary

& be-whiskered after no

shave for 2 days.

Crossed the frontier between

EGYPT / PALESTINE about 9 or 10

after a while we noticed

the improved land of the Palestinians.