Diary of Denis Patrick (alias Rupert Bert Patrick), 1941-1945 - Part 7

21/6/43.
Here is the brief account of one
of the best leaves I have so far spent in 
England
The good news of our leave came through
and we duly set out on our various
courses becoming a very valuable 14 days
pass to where we will in the British
Isles.
I decided to skip London this
time as I had previously spent many
leaves there and accommodation was
difficult too since the steady influx
of American & Canadian troops had
begun.
My first stop however was London     
after spending the night in the
Aberdonian Express.- Thousands of
people surged through the streets,
mostly troops, all eagerly seeking what
ever fun London had to sell, never
mind the price - These people live
for today, and to hell with tomorrow
It doesnt bare thinking about anyway
After a cup of tea at the Boomerang
Club I travelled on to Bournemouth
the scene of my first home in
Bournemouth England - Bournemouth
had been a pretty, peaceful little
seaside place then - It was
still peaceful to now but 

the Jerry Tip & Run raiders had played
the devil with the town and many
of the most important buildings were
just crumpled heaps of twisted girders
& fallen masonry - The Hotel where I had
been billeted had one side blown out
fifeteen pilot officers lost their lives - The
war ended for them ^ended before they had begun
fighting it - I can never cease to admire the
plucky way the English carry on inspite of bombs
& rationing and que's - ques for buses ques for
food ques for theatres but the seldom 
complain
From here I went to Boscombe where
I saw an old friend Edna Thatcher who
insisted ^that I stay a few days - well I was
badly in need of a drop of real sunshine
and Boscome looked the place to get it
so there I stopped and just lazed in the
sun for four days - at nights, we went
out usually th to friends of hers or to
a theatre - I liked the the fresh air down
there but the company bored me at times
so I moved back to London after receiving
a couple of telegrams from Colin arranging
to meet me in London on 22/6 - He would
be on leave too -
Back at Australia House I sat down
and thought where to now. Then I
remembered Thelma, whom I had spent
a lot of time with at Bournemouth

eighteen months before - she, I remembered
was nursing at Guys Hospital now - So
I got busy on the telephone and found
that she had moved to Guys Annex
The Wildernesse Seal Kent - So I did
a spoto of phoning to Kent and spoke
to the lady herself - 'My God, the
jeep she cried when she heard my
voice - So I caught the train that
very hour to Kent, taking my bags
with me - Seven Oaks was my
station after a pleasant run on
a sunny afternoon - Thelma had
booked a room for me at one
of the village pubs at seal which
is about two miles from Seven
Oaks - Thelma was nursing of
course but came down to see
me as soon as she could. - It was
just like a breath of spring to
see her pretty blue eyes and
fair golden hair again - she put
her arms around me and kissed
me just like a very fond sister
and then I realised what a fool
I had been to leave of writing
to her as I did a couple of months
after leaving Bournemouth. 

There is something unexplainably beautiful
about a woman who is not sophisticated
and yet is proud - who is honest but not
simple - and she has all these and many
other admirable qualities.
In her spare time, all of which I occupied
we hiked through the oak forrests, hand
in hand - For the first time since I came
to England I was able to put the war & 
flying completely behind, only because
I was so happy in this lovely part of
England - The lines quickly vanished from
about my eyes - Lines which made me
look years older than I really was - I
was beginning to feel my old care free
self again - We hiked to Knowle
House; a great wandering Tudor House
surrounded by a massive stone wall.
History reveals a great battle fought in
Knowle park - I dont know who fought
it or why but it happened in 1400
We also visited Tonbridge & Seven Oaks both
very ancient towns with tradition
literally oozing out of the chimneys
We went one evening to something Manor,
a road house where one can enjoy
a very pleasant dinner & dance - Thelma
is a very dainty dancer and can
avoid my big feet with amazing
skill, so I like dancing & dining with
her. 

Like all good things I had to

leave. If I had had any prospects

in life & a chance of realizing them

I should have asked the girl to marry

me inspite of very keen competition

from a naval commands surgeon

who had previously sought this fair

hand and had been delayed in

answer. mostly because of me.
In London again I met Colin

who had arranged a bit of leave.

He was in the thro's of a violent
romance with an Irish nurse

Ann Burke. He told her that if

she married him she would have 

to give up her Roman Catholic
religion to which she was very

devout and then only would

he marry her a year after the war.

This was a pretty safe proposal

he said as he didn't think both

conditions would survive.- We 

did the usual things in London

and then Thelma came up

and we visited Kew Gardens &

went boating on the Thames

We took fond and lingering

farewells from our respective loves

& departed for Leuchars - Colin

had decided to come up for

a few days - to play golf and see

the country - He rode first class of

course on his third class pass, even

succeeded in talking the ticket inspector

out of the £1-0-0 difference

18/9/43

And now my first operation of tour

is completed - looking back over fifeteen

months of activity I am aware that

I have a great deal to be thankful 

for - many have come since I but

many have also found watery graves

and enemy prison camps- I have

refrained from mentioning details of

operational flights since security

will not permit such descriptions

however I have no doubt that I shall

be able to write one day a fairly

rough resume of them from my flying

log - There were times on the

squadron when we were inactive.

These were periods of 'standing by'

Standing by represented the greatest 

nerve strain from ones experience - Since

we were termed a Fleeting Target

squadron - long periods of waiting

for the moment to strike could

not be avoided - The scene of

most of our long stand by's was

Wick - consequently we remember 

Wick as a place where flap was

rife and also scene of many furious

parties - among my travels I went

to the Outer Hebridies to a place called

Benbecula- The Hebrides are barren

mountainous island sparcely inhabited

by a race of scotsmen many of whom

speak gaelic they are originally Danes

by extraction - all of them are devoutly

religious and of meagre intelligence

since they rarely move off the islands

and live by their fishing. From

Benbecula we went to Iceland.

The Icelandics are a surprisingly

modern race - Their architecture is

equal to any thing I have seen in

the world - The people are fair with

blue eyes and very pleasant complexions -

Of course they are Anti-British

since we invaded their country & I 

believe they refer to us as the Invaders

However I found them at least civil

but disinclined  to encourage

conversation - The Americans run

the administration of the island -

They have little to grumble about

when one considers the lot of other

occupied countries - They have not no

clothes or food rationing and goods are

obtainable in any quantities - All of their

goods are shipped from England or U.S.A.

Rayjhavik aerodrome is right alongside the

city. The runways are 100 yds wide and

all of good length. The aircraft are of very

varied variety Lightnings Aero cobras Spitfires

Liberators Fortresses all of which belong

to an RAF or USA Squadron - The liason

between the two is very good for they

seem to be on excellent terms with each

other - most agree though that the

Icelanders are hard to please -

After returning from Iceland preparation

were already being made for our departure

from the squadron with every indication 

that we were to return to

Australia to form the nucleus of

three new torpedo squadrons. This

information was met with varying

degrees of approval & disapproval

I was rather keen to go home & see

the folks again but the thought

of leaving the overseas squadrons to

fly under Australian conditions didn't

appeal - furthermore. I had succumed

to the charms of a very beautiful

& intelligent waaf officer from

the R.A.F. station at Anstruther -

and once again I was contemplating

ringing the wedding bells but

alas fate had cast these great

& unforeseen obstacle upon my

unhappy shores - and so with tender

farewell I said  goodbye - to a very

fine woman.

Our first move was to the 

Personel Reception centre Brighton where

we spent a week finalising our

R.A.F obligations - I spent a few days

with Colin, and reluctantly shook

his hand good bye - Both of us

no doubt wondered when next we

would meet with the air war

steadily growing in the European

& Pacific areas - however we have

come through our ops so far

unscathed and with a drop of luck

will do it again, & again if

necessary.-

I bought a small gold brooch

for Mrs MacKenzie who had been

very good to me during my stay

in G.B. and then came the day

18/10/43 when we finally put our bags

(abord) aboard the Queen Mary which

was lying in Grenoak near Glasgow.

We sailed that night - The Mary

of course is a beautiful ship we

sped along at a steady thirty knots

The u-boat menace had broken out

again in the Atlantic but our

speed was our defence and after

five days sailing we slid into

New York harbour - most of the

passengers were returning American

soldiers and airmen. The experience

of waking to find yourself in the

'New World' is one to remember.

The famous Statue of Liberty enhanced

by the morning mists. The huge

Wall street buildings with their tops

hidden in the clouds and the

usual thousand & one little tugs

and ferries busy about their mornings

work.-

A forlorn motley looking brass

band was swinging American ballads

on the warf to the amusement of

a lot of sailors who threw pennies

down much to the band leaders

annoyance

We disembarked and were taken

aboard a ferry which crept up

the East river for three steady

hours and eventually deposited us 

at an American Army station

called Fort Slocum - We spent

the night there and were then

given indefinite leave with an

allowance of seven dollars per

day to help us along our weary

way - so Dick Humphreys & I

went to New York and remained

there for 2 weeks -

We spent the first week buying

clothes & having big hearty meals,

a then luxury which we had

been denied in England.- We

visited most of the sights. Empire

state building Rockefeller center - Wall 

street Broadway, etc - We stayed

at two or three different Hotels the

best being the Shelton on 5th Av 

Lexington Avenue - The Shelton was

a thirty five storied building with

enclosed swimming pool in which

Dick and I spent a lot of time

trying to get a bit fit - The

night life in new York is a bit

solid. the bars and night clubs stay

open all night. nobody seems to

bother about sleep things just go

on & on. We went to the Stork

club - The Marsailles & the Cuba

Cabana - and a be  few other

posh night clubs all of which

are shockingly expensive - we

met a Mrs Lorraine who as very

good to us and took us out to 

a married sisters place in Jersey

Lucille & Frank Park and two lovely

kiddies Pat and Penny aged three & seven

where with whom we had several

happy days. The Parks were a 

thoroughly American familly with

the art of living well understood

they lived in a suburb of avenues

& trees - they were so interested in

us as we in them - I spent most

of the time drawing boats &

areoplanes for the kiddies a game

which gave me as such fun as

it did them -

Dick & I made a few dollars on

the stirling & dollar exchange - and in

^the three last days we made £40

each which came very nicely and

managed to almost pay for our 

holiday -

Eventually we were warned to return

to Fort Slocum and from there we

were taken in buses to a river

side wharf an boarded the Rualini

on 12/11/43. - the RuALini is an eleven

thousand ton cargoe cum passenger

boat - she is alleged to be thirty

years old and by the variety of

smells which ooze from her cabins

& lounges I wouldn't be surprised

- Our passengers are mostly merchant

navy. person^nel returning from their

previous cruises The remainder are

representatives of airways newspapers 

and lesser organisations - We sailed

in convoy from New York down the 

coast of Florida and after a weeks

of ocean dropped the hook in some

bay in Cuba where we stayed

for a further five days awaiting

the passage of a very voilent

u boat menace which had broken

out in the Caribbean Sea.- We 

didn't see much of Cuba - but

that which we did see didn't

look very exciting - The Cubans all

wore highly coloured shirts & pants

resembling pajamas - They had

a brown greasey complexion black 

hair & dark eyes -

On 25/11/43. we left Cuba in a

different convoy and sailed through

the Caribbean for five days and

and were thankful to see land

again in Panama. (the only land

sighted between Cuba & Panama

was the South East corner of Jamaica

We were allowed ashore at Colon

City - Colon is a rambling spanish

town colourless & dirty - The streets

swarmed with dirty niggers

the gutters and side walks reeked

with filth infact there was nothing

about Colon worth remembering

every cafe and night club was filled

with women who obviously are

prostitutes or taxi dancers. they

would without invitation come

& sit down beside you, pull

a hair out of your leg (we wore

short pants) and say "nice") Some

of them we quite attractive in

a Spanish way but I'm afraid I

wasn't inspired very much - they

remaining decorations in their

cafes were sexy paintings of

nude women - We had to be back

on board by 3. am. and I was glad

to get the smell of the place out 

of my nostrils -

The Panama Canal was a sight

of great interest one couldn't help

but remember the great history

which surrounds this remarkable

piece of engineering - and the

hundreds of men who died of

malaria & heat during its construction

The land we passed through was of

typical tropical type teeming 

with dense vegitation -

The trip through took about

eight hours and we anchored

again at Panama City to take

on more food & pick up some of

the bodies who had failed to make

the ship before she left Colon

From the deck Panama City looked

a much more impressive place - The

lights were already burning giving

the place a very vast appearance

We only stayed a couple of hours

& then steamed slowly out into

the Pacific unescorted & alone

So we were really heading for

home I thought as the phospherescent

waters slid by - we were

making better speed too 12½  as

against 8½ -  next morning we

were way out at sea heading

south west. Thousands of swallows

camped on our ship that night

Apparently this was their southward

flight from the northern winter

At night the blackouts are drawn

& Port holes are sealed, the ship

becomes very hot and smoky within

and as there is nothing to do 

except sit & perspire the nights

arent particularly attractive

I figured today that of twenty

four hours I probably spend

twenty three & one half sitting

on my bronzeor sleeping - the

latter being a pleasant escape

from the boredom of things 

I have read about eight books in

the last twenty days sailing

and am now wading through

AP. 1.2.3.4 with the hope of awakening

some solitary gleam of intelligence

within my long since inactive
mind.

Yesterdays news mentioned the

meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill &

Chang Ki Check - they intended they

said to defeat & take back every

foot of land Japan had a quired

since 1914 - including all Chinese

owned Jap occupied territories which

is quite an admirable but optimistic

intention involving at least another

four years of war - I can see my

self plodding homeward with

a long beard and an assortment 

of wooden legs & glass eyes after

all this is over - However as I

have apprenticed myself to adventure

& travel this war should at

least realize some of my ambitions

& save me from the drudgery

of the common daily task

life without risk either physical or

financial is pretty dull at the best

heaven spare me from a routine job

9-4-44

And so to New Zealand again

It was almost like walking on sacred

ground to be back in n.z. I couldn't

help but remember my previous visit

when we were going away -  We

all seemed to be so young then

so full of hope & ambition, everything

was new even our clothes our first

big venture - How many men could

I associate with those few days

three years ago - Bob Wells Bill

Spon Wog & lots of others who

were with me then it was their

big venture too - but they will

never come back those laughing

happy youngsters who grew rappidly

into manhood when they became

pilots of giant bombers and then

went their way - It is an odd

thing that the best & the finest

always buy it first and only

we who have less right to

attain ripe old age dodder on

but I suppose we wont always

dodder were not as bad as all

that -

In Wellington everything was

fine. The people are as hospitable

as ever. They say goodday Aussie

in the street  I love New Zealand 

and its people - We spent Xmas

day at some peoples place - The

Host saw Dick & myself walking along

the road called out come in &

in we went had dinner & a

chat & passed on - back at

the Wharf the Rualini was

punching out the smoke & we

soon got under way - Five more

days of ocean and we landed

in Melbourne for New Year's day

Eve - It was a roaring hot day

and I only had my blues and

woollen underwear - Perspiration

trickled down my melting form

as I lugged backage and junk

around Melbourne looking for

a pub to stay most of them

were full but I managed to

get into some moth eaten

old bug house in a main 

street - Melbourne looked hot

and unfriendly - I decided to

stay over the weekend and avail

myself of the opportunity of seeing

our Fishermans Bend air craft

factory. New Year's Eve came

and I sat alone and miserable

in a melbourne pub nobody

was interested in me no body

cared boy was I sad

At last in desperation I went to

a masonic dance or new year revel

well I couldn't see any revelling

every body looked hot - However

I met a nurse who looked a

bit brighter than the rest and

engaged her in deep conversation.

she spent the evening with me in

different places - we managed to

amuse each other until daylight

when I put her on a train and

sent her home - I can't remember her

name. After a very hot week end I

went to Fishermans bend and inspected

Australia's no I aircraft factory. There

they were punching out Beauforts &

other a/c.- I've never seen a bigger

pack of bludgers than the team

of tradesmen so called - after

seeing all there was be seen

we left in disgust - I caught

the train that evening for

Sydney. and so to home again

when our ship sailed under

the Bridge nearly three years 

before it was too much to

try and visualize how &

when we would come home

if ever  - However here I was

getting off the train at

Central just as if it 

had been yesterday - nothing had

changed almost every corner was

familiar - The barrow men & the

loungers & scroungers just the same

mingled with my joy to be back

again was the feeling that something

had departed from me. I wasn't quite

sure if I like the familiar sight

of Sydney. Still glowing was an

ember within me. to a coal which

was adventure & the unknown,

surely this was the end of my

travels and I suddenly felt horribly

lonely.

With my six trunks I leaped aboard

a Hornsby train - which went from

the same platform & at the same time

and so to Epping.  Iris was waiting

at the station - I was amazed at the

way she had grown up in my

absence - She looked very attractive

and business-like - We got a taxix

& went home together.

Mum was terrible excited & looked

surprisingly well - Everything looked

fine except that poor old Tinker

had gone for a Burton.

Things had changed very little in three

years except that the pines had grown

a little taller and the hedge next

door had got more & more out of