Gangway 2/49 Nov 2010 - Blue Star Line

VESTEY GROUP SHIPPING ASSOCIATION
President Mr. R.J.H.Vestey
Secretary: Captain C.I.MacKillop
15 th .V.G.S.A. Reunion Meeting London
The 15 th . Annual Reunion Luncheon was held at “The Naval Club” 38; Hill Street, Mayfair at Noon
on Wednesday 6 th . of October 2010.
Captain Ian MacKillop welcomed the guests and thanked them for their support of the Reunion
and particularly to Captain and Alison Stacey who delayed their return to New Zealand to attend.
David Habgood gave an encouraging update on the Western United Group Pension Scheme which
Ben Fowler has summarised as follows: The triennial valuation of the Scheme as at 31 December
2009 is still underway and the results are expected early in the New Year. The process has taken
longer than it usually does. This is because the Trustees and the Company are having to consider
how recent changes to the Scheme’s investment strategy and proposed changes to pensions
legislation will affect the Scheme’s long term funding plan. The early signs are very encouraging and
the preliminary results have shown that the Scheme’s funding position has improved significantly
from the estimated deficit of £50 million at the end of 2008.
Mr Habgood gave a summary of the changes to the Scheme’s investment policy. The changes are
aimed at creating a more diversified strategy for the Scheme, which allows for higher expected
returns for a broadly similar level of risk. Overall, five new investment managers were appointed in
2009 to manage various parts of the Scheme’s assets: Ruffer LLP were appointed to manage an
absolute return fund; Hermes and Threadneedle manage the Scheme’s allocation to commercial
property; Legal & General manage a small investment in emerging markets equities, and F&C
manage a much larger allocation to a new range of funds, which invest in bonds, but provide
exposure to UK and Overseas equity markets. Alder Investment Management continue to manage
the Scheme’s bond portfolio.
The Scheme’s annual newsletter (the Review) is expected to go out in October 2010, and will include
details of changes to the Trustee Board. Colin Cullimore retired at the beginning of June this year
and Neil Thornton also had to step down in September because of work commitments. The Trustees
and the Company are currently reviewing the structure of the Trustee Board and any further
changes will be announced early next year. The Review will also include a new address and contact
number for the Scheme, as the administration will move in November from St John’s Lane to King’s
Arms Yard, which is close to the Bank of England.
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If you have a question about your pension, or want to find out more about the Scheme, please
contact Ben Fowler on 0845 2082500 or ben.fowler@wui.co.u
43 members attended
MEMBERS ATTENDING:
Mr. A.Baird, Mr. F.A.Baker, Mr. J.Barclay, Mr. D.A.Brown, Capt. J.G.Calabrase, Mr. A.Carr,
Mrs. M.Carr, Capt. J.E.Chitty, Capt. J.L.Clarke, Capt. C.P.R.Clarke, Mr. C.J.Cornthwait,
Capt. T.C.Crookall, Capt. G.D.Easton, Capt. G.Ferriday, Mr. P.E.Groom, Mr. D.J.C.Habgood,
Mr. B.Hatt, Capt.D.C.Hocking Mr. R.C.Hunnisset, Capt. R.H.R.Jones, Capt. H.Fells (guest),
Capt. A.W.Kinghorn, Mr. B.G.Knights, Capt. C.I.MacKillop, Mr. H.M.Morrison,Mr. E.G.Rae,
Mr. D.C.Randell, Mr. D.J.J.Reid, Mr. R.A.Russell, Capt. J.V.Sheridan, Capt. P.Stacey, Mrs. A.Stacey,
Mr. G.Thompson, Mr. B.Thompson, Mr. R.J.H.Vestey, Mr. D.J.Walkerley, Mr. P.N.Wareham,
Mr. R.L.Wood, Mr. M.MacLeod (guest).
W.U.G.P.F.
Pensions Department : Ben Fowler & Lesley Peek .
Late Cancellations: Mr. E.J.Evans, Capt. W.R.Houghton-Boreham, Carolyn Langdon.
Apologies received: The following sent their best wishes to past friends and colleagues:
Mr. M.Barber, Mr. R.Berry, Capt. A.Braund, Capt. A.J.Brown, Mr. & Mrs. D.A.Burke,
Mr. R.J.Burnett, Mr.R.Bushell, Mr.C.A.Carr, Mr.C.Carr, Capt. A.J.Cheshire, Capt.
A.J.Chivers, Capt. J.E.Clayton, Mr.J.A.Clarke, Mr.C.R.Collier, Mr. M.W.Croft,
Capt.P.H.Daniel, Mr. F.Darrah, Mr.J.I.Davis, Capt.P.B.Dixon, Mr.R.W.Dutton,
Mr.K.Eade, Capt. D.Eckworth, Mr. L.Fiddock, Mr. J.C. Fiddock, Mr.J.C.Freeman, Mr.
E.Gibbs, Mr. G.E.Gunner, Mr.W.A.Harding, Capt. J.R.Howarth, Capt.P.Hutchings,
Capt. P.Hutchinson, Capt.J.R.Inniss, Capt. C.Jackson, Capt. G.C.Jones,
Capt.T.H.L.Jones, Mr.D.Kennedy, Capt.I.C.MacKintosh, Mr. Calum MacLeod, Mrs.
B.malt, Mr. J.Massey, Mr.R.McCormack, Mrs. V.M.Mead, Capt.C.R.Mundy,
Capt.S.Nichols, Mr.P.Nutting, Mr.K.Orpin, Capt.A.H.Osgood, Capt.H.N.owen,
Mr.J.Parry, Mr.P.E.Phillips, Mr.D.C.Plummer, Mr.C.Purser, Mr.J.Rice, Mr.I.Q.Roberts,
Mr.J.A.Roby, Capt.J.F.Rowe, Mr.I.D.M.Simpson, Mr.D.B.Smith, Capt.J.Suddes,
Mr.J.Taylor, Mr.M.C.Towers, Mr.G.M.W.Vestey, Mr.K.J.Wardle, Capt. P.Watson,
Mr.W.H.Watts, Mrs.J.West, Mr.P.Willcock, Mr.B.J.Wilson, Mr.A.L.Wise, Miss
Y.M.Woolgar, Capt.R.A.Young.
New Members: Capt. C.P.R.Clarke, Mr.R.L.Wood,
OBITUARIES & DEATHS. Our condolences to family and friends.
Mr. W.W.Cornwell, Mr. D.A.Ormesher, Mr.R.Parker.
ooooooOOOOOOoooooo
Donations We are most grateful to the following members who have kindly sent donations:
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Capt. J.R.Inniss, Capt. I.C.MacKintosh, Capt.A.H.Osgood, Capt. P.Stacey, Mr. W.H.Watts,
Mr.P.N.Wareham, plus the remains from a “Tarpaulin Muster” by the “Stragglers!”
FUNDS: At the time of writing, the Association’s bank balance stands at £ 2,191.78 in credit.
Again our thanks to all those who have made donations.
Several members have been enquiring about the possibility of purchasing company ties
but all old stock was exhausted many years ago however, it did prompt the possibility of a
design for an all encompassing logo for the “Vestey Group Shipping Association” first
mooted during the 12 th . Naval Club reunion and had the tentative blessing of the committee
with input from many quarter’s and particular thanks for Captain Cec Jackson’s input who’s
artistic talent was greatly appreciated, also Fraser Darrah and Captain Peter Hutchinson’s
input.
The final logo embodies the initials V.G.S.A with a “V” shaped anchor forming the lower
part of a diamond with the letter “A” forming the upper part of the diamond. The “A”
formed by a setting blue star reflecting triangular rays across white capped sea depicted by
Lamport & Holt funnel colours (white and a lighter blue). The anchor stock forms the
horizontal bar of the “A” and the anchor rings forming a “B” for Booth Line. The “G” is
depicted by the famous “Liverpool” cargo hook with it’s distinctive spur protecting the hook
from catching under the coaming during cargo operations when in “Union purchase”. The
“S” is then formed by the twin wires of the union purchase shackled to the hook by a
“monkey face” plate. The “diamond” shape is then enclosed within a Merchant Navy cap
badge.
Enquiries are presently under way for a suitable supplier with a sufficiently small
minimum requirement. The intention is to round up the item cost to the nearest pound
with the remaining pence adding to the V.G.S.A . funds.
Forgive my rather amateurish attempt to copy the design below by the “Paint”
programme on the computer but it will give an indication of the emblem for the tie.
Also my Merchant Navy cap badge was a bit too long in the tooth for a decent photograph
so I amended the “Starman” cap badge with it’s rather colourful backing cloth.
The final submitted design will be on a traditional Merchant Navy cap badge design just
to avoid a fit of the vapours from other traditionalists!
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NEWSLETTER ARTICLES.
Many thanks to Bryans Knights for the following article written about his first trip to sea
with fellow “first tripper” David Conway on the “Norman Star” Voyages 92 &93 and the
“Empire Star” Voyages 2 & 3 starting in October 1946. Bryans said “The reason that I know
the voyage numbers is that I wrote them in my tables and still have the tables, admittedly
rather battered but still covered with a piece of duck. You probably will not believe this but,
having checked those voyage numbers which are on the inside cover of the tables, I found
The “Clock change” book which I circulated when 2 nd .Off. on the “Paraguay Star” and Rowlie
Jones initials as Chief Off.!! Also there is a collection of sailing distances removed from
Brown’s Almanac. Just had a glance through those tables and haven’t a clue how to use
them these days and doubt if the current navigator has a copy anyway. How things
change!”
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THE OTHER FIRST TRIPPER
The news came in a ‘phone call just after six o’clock one Tuesday morning....
Some time ago I had asked a very good friend of mine, who lives in Auckland, to keep an eye
open for what was the inevitable. He rang to say that the newspaper that morning had
carried the notice that the end had come two days before. From all accounts it certainly
came as a happy release as apart from being bed-ridden, he had suffered considerably over
the last few years.
One hot morning towards the end of June, about five years ago, I was sitting on
the ground beneath the raspberry canes picking a rather good crop, (for many years I have
always picked them that way as I find it easier to see the fruit from underneath). My mind
was in neutral, as it often is on such occasions, when I heard the distinctive sound of the
postman’s van pulling into the lay-by a couple of houses down the road. Always ready to
knock off at the slightest pretext, I left the raspberries and went to see if there was
anything of interest in that morning’s delivery. Much to my delight there was a letter from
David which I then read whilst having a cup of coffee. It was when I returned to the
raspberry picking that I began to think of the past and to realize how true it is when older
folk refer to one’s teens as the impressionable years. I began to consider how much I did
learn in those years and just how much I learned from David during the four trips which we
did together on two ships.
In October 1946 we both joined our first ship, the “Norman Star”. She had
returned from South America and discharged on the Continent and was not calling at the
U.K. Some of the crew paid off over there and we were in the group going over to Antwerp
to replace them. I had signed on at Connaught Road the day before, as I presume that the
rest of those joining had done. My Father came with me to London where we met David
under the clock at Victoria station. I would add that I was not so successful some years later
when I had arranged to meet a young lady under the clock at Flinders Street station, as,
when she seemed to be late, I found out that there were several clocks there! I had chosen
the wrong one and had to spend some time running between them all until I found her. (She
was late.) I am not sure just how many of us were in the party but seem to think it was
about twenty in charge of the Second Engineer. I can not remember his name but can still
picture him. The last time I saw him was at Captain D.R.MacFarlane’s funeral at Barham
Crematorium. He finished up as a Superintendant. Peter Coghlan was the Fourth Officer
(not sure of the spelling so hope that it is correct.) It is a funny thing but having written that
he was the fourth, I now have doubts as to whether he travelled with us. The Fifth Engineer
was Dougie Bourne on his first trip and last time we met he was Chief Engineer. The only
other name I can remember is Bob Banks who was the Cook as I met him on another
occasion which I think was in Auckland when the “Norman Star” did her only voyage ( in
recent years) to N.Z. after I had left her.
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At Victoria station my father suggested that our baggage was registered so that
all we had to do was to collect it at Brussels. It certainly saved us the problem of looking
after it on the way across but when we arrived in Brussels the customs had knocked off and
would not clear it until next morning.
The result was that the rest went on to Antwerp and the two first trip cadets were left to
fend for themselves. Fortunately David had been to the “Conway” and had also had a spell
at Gordonstoun and had also done a bit of travelling around the U.K. He took us to the
R.T.O. on Brussels station who found us an hotel and arranged for a taxi to pick us up,
collect our baggage from customs and get us on the train for Antwerp next morning. I still
have vivid memories of our evening window shopping in Brussels. We had very little money
so could do nothing but look at those enormous cream cakes covered in chocolate which
seemed to fill every shop window. On signing on at the Connaught Road shipping office I
had been given a letter, probably by someone from head office, to take to the Antwerp
agents. We were on our way to deliver this when we were stopped by a not very tall
gentleman in navy blue rain coat and trilby who had asked us where we were going. David
was a little off hand with him but we showed him the envelope and he told us to carry on.
We were sitting in the saloon that evening for our first meal on board when David turned to
me and said “look over there that is the chap that stopped us in town this morning. It is the
Captain!!” It was Captain Dominic J. Stratta. In spite of getting off on the wrong foot with
him he did not hold it against us and was the first of several first class masters I sailed within
the company.
One of the first things that was decided when we arrived on board, and probably
by Captain Stratta, was that, as we were both doing our first trips and David had less sea
time to do than I did, then he had better be the senior cadet and that was the start of a
friendship that was to last 53 years.
The family had been on holiday at Margate during the summer of 1946 and
during that time my father had arranged for a trip out in the boat when it went to take the
pilot off the “Norman Star” at the N.E. Spit, and so the second time that I saw her was from
the bus taking us from the agent’s office in town where we had joined up with the others.
The dock area at that time was still a scene of devastation with heaps of rubble, the Ford
factory was an awful mess with a collapsed roof and I do not remember seeing a single
crane and very few ships. The “Norman Star” was at the far end of an enormous dock which
seems to have been known by seafarers as Siberia Dock. It was twelve years before I was
back there and what a difference there was then.
On leaving Antwerp we loaded in Lisbon, Madeira and Santa Cruz de Tenerife a
cargo of dried fruit, fish and wine for Rio, Santos, Montevideo and B.A.
One is not consciously aware that one is learning at that age, or I suppose, at any
age but I do know that I picked up many little bits here and there from David. He certainly
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told me never to walk around the deck without a bunch of ropeyarns in my hand so that I
always had a ready answer for the mate should he see me and want to know what I was
doing. He did not tell me in as many words but it was because of him that I learned to treat
the sun with great respect. We had had several days at anchor in Rio harbour and when we
went alongside David and I together with the Fourth Officer were on night work as the
stevedores worked around the clock. One morning the other two decided to go to
Copacabana for the day. Needless to say, having been up all night, they fell asleep on the
beach. David finished up with the most enormous blisters which I have ever seen, across his
back... it was many days before he could sleep on his back. I have never forgotten his
suffering and have always been most careful with the old bronzy bronzy since then.
It was in Santos that it was brought home to me that there were dangers in life at sea. We
had again been on night work, this time with the Third Officer, and had not been turned in
very long one morning when there was a commotion out on deck. During the night the
stevedores had refused to go into one of the lower holds when it had been opened because
of gas. We had rigged winds’ls but there was very little in the way of a breeze. The Third
Officer, David Thomas, had gone down into the lower hold to assess the situation and was
overcome by fumes. Among the crew who went down to find him was the Bos’n Jimmy
Truelove who in turn was overcome. David Thomas had collapsed in a dark part of the hold
and was only spotted when someone saw the light reflect off his watch. Both were left
ashore in hospital although the Third Officer did rejoin us later but I believe that the Bos’n
never returned to sea. It turned out that he had sailed as A.B. with my father when he was
at sea many years before. Some time in about the early eighties I met David Thomas again
when we were on an examining panel. On being introduced, I was asked if I knew Captain
Thomas when he said that we had met on the “Norman Star”. I must admit that I had not
recognised him. He was a superintendent then and, unfortunately, died a very short while
afterwards.
Homeward bound that trip we had a rather rough crossing of the Bay of Biscay. We had
loaded a full cargo of frozen meat in B.A. and added a load of tomatoes in those flimsy
wooden crates which were common in those days. These filled the after deck with just a
narrow passage on either side so that we were fairly well down. The sea was coming at us
from the starboard side with the ship rolling well. We had been called out on deck to help
the deck crowd secure various items which had started to move and David and I were on the
port side amidships securing some stanchions which had come adrift when a sea came right
over the engine room fiddley and poured down on us. A very good reminder of another
piece of advice which I had been given some while beforehand of “One hand for yourself
and the other for the ship, and the best one for yourself”. The damage to the ship was all
done on the starboard side. The apron around the captain’s deck went as well as the
starboard accommodation ladder. The starboard lifeboat finished up on the engine room
skylight. Unfortunately on its way there it removed the small mushroom vents to the cabins
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underneath, so they were flooded. In addition it shifted all of the deck cargo which gave us
a port list. There were tomatoes all over the place and we arrived back in London in the
middle of a very cold winter of 1946/7. The result was that, as we had steam winches which
had to be kept running over all of the time to prevent them freezing up, the mess of
tomatoes, bits of wood and packing were frozen solid and only thawed out about three days
after we sailed again on the next trip. The weather in the bay was not that bad but it was
the first time that I had seen what the sea could do and I certainly remembered that.
We both did another trip down to B.A. which was remembered for the number of
times which we broke down. The first time was on the way down Long Reach when tugs
which were running with us had just about disappeared around into St. Clement Reach. In
spite of signals on the ship’s whistle they did not hear them and it caused a bit of concern to
the Chief Officer and Carpenter as the anchor had to be let go with the tide under us.
Fortunately the cable held. I seem to remember that the shackles had been turned in
London and not remarked so that there was confusion as to just how many shackles had
been run out. We finished up with the lot out but only just. This must have been how the
expression “The sparks were flying” originated! We then had to put into the Solent to get
some oil as ours was too thick due to cold. It was about this time that the enormous icicles
hanging over the side from the scuppers began to drop off. Our longest stop was around
the Cape Verde Islands when it took the engineers about three days to make some new
part. I think it might have been on our first trip that that we both learned not to go ashore
without putting in the mosquito ports and switching off the lights. The first and only time
we did not do this we came back on board when we were alongside the Anglo in Dock Sud,
B.A. to find the whole of the deckhead and bulkheads covered in flies. The old Flit Gun
came out and it set them buzzing around the place, it took ages for them all to die. They all
had to be cleared up before we could turn in.
On return to London and after leave, David and I transferred to the “Empire Star”
which had just returned from her maiden voyage. She carried 140 passengers in those days
and the cadet’s cabin was ideally situated on the after end of the boat deck adjacent to the
engineers’ lounge. We had our meals in the engineers’ mess room which was just below
our cabin but we were allowed to mix with the passengers and to attend any social
functions which were arranged for them. This social life came to a rather abrupt halt over
the matter, not a serious one I must hasten to add, of a shipboard romance. The Chief
Officer was older than most others in the company at that time as he had been taken
prisoner at the start of the war, with the result that he had been overtaken in the seniority
stakes and there were not many ships left in the company at that time. What happened
was that he and David both had their eye on the same young lady! She, it seemed,
preferred the younger of the two. The upshot was that the cadets were not allowed to
associate with the passengers! That did not worry us unduly. We then took to going for a
walk around the promenade deck after dinner and suitably attired in our No. 10’s This also
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did not meet with the approval of our lords and masters and so we were hauled up before
Captain J.S.C. Phillips, the senior master in the company, who was known to us lesser
mortals as “Ginger” Phillips. It was he who pointed his finger at David and said “I blame you
for this, you are the ringleader!” (there were only two of us) “You two are striding around
the deck like admirals on half pay” So we were banned from that little evening exercise.
That “Ringleader” bit appealed to David’s sense of humour as he mentioned it two or three
times in later life. There was another time when David and I fell foul of authority and I must
admit that this time I did think that he had gone too far and stayed right out of it. As the
“Empire Star” carried more passengers than any other ship in the company at that time, the
two of us and the deck crowd used to turn –to at 0600 to clean the passenger deck areas
before they were about. Generally we cleaned the Bridge and the outside brasswork
around the passenger port holes while the seamen holystoned and washed down the decks
and attended to the deck chairs. This meant that wee finished at 1600. We were in the
tropics with the wooden sided swimming pool rigged when we thought it fair that if we
went without the afternoon “Smoko” we could knock off that much earlier and have a swim.
We knew that the captain used to have a swim about three and so was usually clear before
we were free to go in, and if he wasn’t then we did not have long to wait. Something must
have delayed the captain that particular afternoon as he was showing no sign of vacating
the pool so that the cadets could use it. Ginger Phillips was just floating on his back with his
eyes closed and certainly at peace with the world. David was getting a little impatient at
having to wait much longer than he was used to waiting. His argument was that we had
finished work, were allowed to use the pool, and so he did. He dived in. I do not know how
much water our captain swallowed but I do know that it was something else we were
prevented from doing. That was David’s last trip there. I did one more with a first tripper
who was considerably older than myself.
David, at times, combined his sense of humour with a certain amount of artistic
talent. This became evident when he found time to produce cartoons, which he did on odd
occasions. When we started at sea we were on the princely sum of £8 per month. This was
made up of 30/- wages, 30/- good conduct money and £5 war bonus. Shortly after, changes
were made and the war bonus was amalgamated into our wages and we were lead to
believe that good conduct pay was being stopped. In actual fact there was no change in our
total monthly pay as we still received £8 per month, but for David the thought of having the
good conduct pay removed produced a cartoon showing Lord Vestey counting his money
and surrounded by a large number of money bags. Underneath was “I’m down to my last
£40,000,000. Better cut out the cadets good conduct money!” After being in trouble on
another occasion he drew a Blue Star ship high & dry on the rocks with the Captain and
Chief Officer on the Bridge and looking over the side with the words “Well we can’t blame
him for this!” Another one of his efforts nearly caused a wharfie strike in Auckland, as he
stuck it in the cadets’ window. It showed the ship alongside with a derrick outboard and a
single bale of wool hanging on a strop. The wharfies were sitting there playing cards and
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one of them just hanging up the ‘phone and saying to his mates:- “Righto lads, knock off. It
is raining in Dunedin!” I am not sure how the Chief Officer managed to talk his way out of
that one.
He always had an eye for making an honest penny, although some of his ideas did
not meet with the approval of his superiors, at least they didn’t when I was with him at sea.
One of his ideas was to buy cigarettes from the Chief Steward and then raffle them among
the crew. They were packets or tins of 50 in those days and I am not sure how much he
charged, probably 3d or 6d a ticket. He did a good trade for a couple of times or so and
then that was stopped. Never did find out if it was because he made more money than the
company or if it was because the cadets were mixing too much with the crew.
I managed to acquire a fair repertoire of songs from him and expect that he in turn
had picked up most of them on the Conway. The words were what one would expect from
such a source and, needless to say, I can still remember most of them. I must also add that
he passed on a lot of good seamanship to me. I suppose that anyone reading this will say
that one of the main things which I should have learned from him was not to get caught.
I lost contact with David for a few years after we parted from the “Empire Star” and
the next time I saw him he was married and they had two children and were running an
establishment near the naval air station at Lee-on-Solent. He was very proud of the vast
number of whiskies which they had behind the bar. He also had several barrels of wine
made from fruit normally associated with home brew. He told me that in the intervening
years he had tried flying Fairy Swordfish and had been in command of an advertising craft
which went around the coast steaming up and down off holiday resorts. He said that he had
turned a Swordfish upside down and hit the neon sign on the boat or a low bridge but I take
both of those with a pinch of salt but there might have been a grain of truth there
somewhere. These activities were before he went into the hospitality trade. After a spell in
Ireland running Lord Mountbatten’s place he and his family went out to N.Z. He and his
wife ran several places out there, one being in the Dunedin area and then moving on to
Glenorchy on Lake Wakatipu. Again my knowledge of this time in his life is rather vague as
he had a frustrating habit of writing to say that they were moving in a couple of months or
so to another area but always failed to give me the address. I then had to wait a couple of
years or so before he wrote again. In another couple of years the same thing happened
again. It was about this time that he and his wife parted company.
It was not until the early seventies that I suddenly had a ‘phone call and David
announced that he was in London and that he had an old friend of mine who wished to
speak to me. It turned out to be a girl whom I had first met on our first time in Auckland
somewhere about January 1948. Needless to say I did not recognise her voice as I had only
met her twice but do remember meeting her and her sister. Her father had a farm at
Mangere which was later bought out to make way for the new airport which superseded
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Whenuapai. I had actually introduced the two of them to David on the second time that I
had met her. She and David were about to leave London on their way back to N.Z. after a
trip here via the trans Siberian railway. That was when we re-established regular contact
after the on and off years. By this time David was producing a magazine for the hotel and
catering trade in partnership with Del and he also had a few other brands in the fire. In
1981 I had a holiday in N.Z. and called on the two of them to find out that David had just
come out of hospital after a heart operation. They were living in a rather large house in
Parnell at that time. Unfortunately the operation did not solve his heart problem and his
condition became more serious, so much so that he and Del came to England for him to
have a replacement heart and he became one of the first to have a heart from a living
person.. in case anyone wonders how that can come about, briefly, it is as follows. David
needed a heart and a Swedish surgeon needed new lungs. It is easier to transplant lungs
and heart together. A donor became available and it was a toss-up between David and the
Swede as to which one had it and it depended on the final match. It was decided to give it
to the Swede but when they removed his heart they found it to be good, when they
expected it to be diseased. So David had the Swede’s heart and the Swede had the donor’s
organs.
David was very caring as far as animals were concerned. Apart from his own two
dogs at home another played a large part in his life. When in England awaiting the
transplant, he and Del rented a house near to the hospital and undertook to look after the
owner’s black Labrador bitch. She was a big comfort to David when he was waiting for his
operation and on his return to N.Z. was most concerned as what would happen to
“Minnow”. (She had that name as all of her litter were named after fish, and she was the
runt.!) He made several ’phone calls to this country to make sure that she went to
someone who treated animals as he and Del did, i.e. as part of the family. Needless to say,
we never regretted the fact that we said that we would have her.
On 17 th . October 1986 I had a telephone call from David who gave me his
congratulations. On enquiring what the congratulations were for he said that it was the
40 th . anniversary of the start of our sea career. I had not given it the slightest thought but
did remember to get the call in first ten years later, before he did.
In 1992 he and Del played a big part in organizing the visit of U.S. veterans to N.Z. to
commemorate the 50 th . anniversary of the Coral Sea. It was about this time that they
decided to move out of Auckland and they bought a property in Paparoa which is on the
road to Brynderwyn to Dargaville, on highway 12, about a couple of hours drive from
Auckland. It was while working around the place that he stood on a rusty nail and finished
up with gangrene setting in. This gradually spread up his leg and his health gradually
deteriorated so that he regrettably suffered over his last years.
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Yes I did learn a lot in those early years at sea and it is true to say that I learned quite
a lot from David, some of it what to do and some of it, most certainly, what not to do,
which I suppose life is all about. There are several people whom I have met in this world
whose friendship I value, and that of David certainly so. At a time like this I wonder if I
should have told him, but maybe one does not have to tell a friend.
His funeral service was held at St.Mary’s in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell,
close to where he and Del lived in St. George’s Bay Road for so many years before they
moved to Paparoa. It was a fitting tribute that so many attended to say farewell to a larger
than life character who failed to reach his 71 st birthday by just seven weeks. One last thing,
which says something about him, and that is that the two women to whom he had been
married were among the pall bearers.
Caballeros.
oooooo000000oooooo
Captain A.H.Osgood has kindly donated a little more historical interest, and I quote:
“When I was at the London B.S.L. reunion lunch in October 2009 I recounted to all at the
table how I had received a letter from an old seafarer with a Photostat copy of a page from his
discharge book showing where he had been signed off the s.s.”Viking Star” by the Master.... my
Father.... Captain E.H.Osgood.
This gentleman also included a Photostat copy of the s.s.”Viking Star”, “The biggest ship to
have gone through Tower Bridge” up to that time 1935.
At the table was Bryans Knights.... he came forth with the information that his Father had been a
Trinity House Pilot (River) and had been the Pilot on that occasion.
A little history revealed after seventy four years. Hope this is of some interest.”
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DESPATCHING OF NEWSLETTERS & MEMBERSHIP LISTS.
Newsletters and Membership Lists are dispatched electronically to members with e-mail addresses.
Members not on the internet will continue to receive the newsletter via ordinary mail.
The secretary should be notified if members with e-mail addresses do not receive the
correspondence or experience difficulty in downloading the information.
REPORTING OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS, CONTACT NUMBERS AND OCCURANCES.
Members are requested to advise the secretary of their change of address, change of e-mail
address and contact numbers.
Information on the death of a member is usually received via the Pensions Department, however if a
member learns of the passing of a fellow member, please forward this information to the Secretary
as soon as possible.
BLUE STAR LINE WEBSITE.
Members who have electronic mail and are not aware of the existence of the above website should
contact the following address: bluestarline.org
This excellent site is the creation of ex Blue Star Line Chief Engineer Mr. Fraser Darrah. The site,
although named Blue Star Line contains the history of Blue Star Line and Associated Companies.
VESTEY GROUP SHIPPING MEMORABILIA:
BOOKS:
1 X Lamport & Holt by P.M.Heaton £6.00 each + p/p
2 x Blue Star Line at War by Taffrail £6.00 each + p/p
Spare copies of Gangway: 1 copy nos. 19,21,31,37,38,43,49,50,54,56,57,68,73,74.
2 copies nos. 20,32,52,55,64,67,71.
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Mr. Edmond Owen-Humphreys has made a DVD featuring hundreds of photographs of Blue Star
Ships And can be purchased by writing to him at his address : 10; Jessel Court, Westminster, 6061
Western Australia.
=============================
The 16 th . V.G.S.A. Reunion Luncheon will be held at “The Liverpool Marina & Harbourside Club”
Scheduled for Noon on Tuesday 5 th . April 2011. Cost will be advised closer to that date.
Oooooo000oooooo
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