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Location
At Sea
Age
17 Years

28th October 1940

BEEF

Today also proved to be one of thrills and excitement, but this time the cause was not Jerry, but mother nature! From yesterday’s slow, heavy swell, the sea gradually became heavier and heavier until eventide, when it had reached gale force. Most of us were prepared for dear old “Ethel” though, and soon fixed everything so that they wouldn’t (as we thought) roll about.

Gradually rising, the wind became a howling, shrieking fiend. Seas began to come over the side with increasing fury, and by nightfall anything and everything was liable to be slung about, no matter how firmly you fixed it. One became thoroughly tired out from the exertions necessary to keep one from going over the side or falling over. I went down to the galley to fetch a little water to wash myself and a shirt (the cabin boy was sick). It was really hard work getting there, and going across the exposed portions of deck between the ‘midships, and the engineers quarters, was almost suicidal. Water swilled about in the hollow between the bulwark and the hatch, and now and again it was was replenished by a green’un coming over with a zooming smack. It was impossible to keep yourself dry, no matter where you went on deck, for spray was everywhere. Your feet were always up to their ankles in water, even on the lower bridge (and sill are for that matter!). The galley when I did get there, was a scene of confusion. Pots and pans were flung everywhere. A saucepan full of potatoes was upset all over the wet, dirty floor. A bucket of flour shot off a bench and spilled it’s contents on the cook’s feet. You couldn’t help laughing! It was practically impossible to  stand up in that galley – you just slid. When once more, I had regained the haven of my room, I completed my toilet and washed my shirt. I made sure when I left the room that all was secure and that no water could upset. When I returned, it was all over the deck. The carpet was sodden! There has been no tea tonight, except for one fish cake (cooked at 3pm) and a piece of bread and butter! The pantry was in as bad a state as the galley. The saloon wasn’t much better. Half the crockery in the pantry was broken. You couldn’t help laughing! The steward laughed all the time whilst sliding back and forth, vainly trying to get a hold so we turned in damp and and wet, nearly rolling from our bunks. It’s a life!