“WHO DOWN BELOW, COME UP !” SHOUTED THE WATCHMAN.

Written by Clement Faria on November 5, 2009 under Other News.

By NORMAN FARIA

It is the 10th of March 1942 during World War II. At about a quarter to midnight, the stevedores on the docks of Castries Harbour, St.Lucia are still busy. They are offloading much needed cargo such as rice from British Guiana and salt fish from Canada from the Canadian cruise liner/freighter LADY NELSON .

Down below, 18 year old Barbadian crew member Giles Hall was just about to climb a ladder with a pillow to get back to on the aft deck to catch the cool breeze.

Suddenly, he was knocked off his feet by an ear splitting explosion. The 7,800 tonne liner shuddered as if hit by a giant hammer. Hall knew what it was: a torpedo from a German submarine (the dreaded U-boats) , which had somehow penetrated the defences of the harbour. The damage was to the port (left) rear side of the British made steel vessel. Water was already gushing in. Fires had started in the engine room.

He had to get out. And fast !.

Scrambling onto the deck, he heard the night watchman, a Barbadian named “Bizzy” Gall, shouting down the ladders: “Who down below, come up !” . Hall saw that the force of the explosion had somehow shoved the stern away from the dock. Only the bow (front) lines were holding. The ship was settling onto the shallow harbour bottom by the stern. Things looked desperate.

“We had to jump for our lives. Crew members , and these included a mix of Canadian seamen and those from several Cribbean islands and British Guiana, decided to jump over the side away from the docks,” related a still sprightly and unforgetful Hall in an interview at his Barabdian home during this past week.

Trouble was, Mr. Hall , despite growing up around walking distance of Carlisle Bay in the Barbadian capital Bridgeown, couldn’t swim a stroke.

Fortunately, ropes and lifebuoys were tossed into the water near the side of the ship . Hall jumped in. He distinctly remembers one of the white Canadian gunners (manning the two four inch anti-submarine guns installed on the ship that year) hollering to him : “Swim young Hall ! Swim ! And hang onto this lifebuoy!”. He made it. He was pulled from the water.

After the war, it was discovered that a daring U-boat captain named Albrecht Achilles had brought his submarine, the U-161, right up into the winding Harbour and scored direct hits on both the Lady Nelson and the British tanker Umtaka lying astern.

Mr. Hall, now 85 and still a handsome, articulate man looking twenty years younger, said he did not know how many people died in the attacks. One internet site says 14 passengers and three crew members died. Achilles and all hands on U-161 later persished when the sub was sunk off Brazil in September the following year.

Two weeks after the Castries Harbour attack, Hall and the rest of the Barbadian crew were taken by schooner back to Barbados. Among them was his father in law Gordon Hall, who worked in the pantry area with him.

The Lady Nelson was later salvaged . In 1943, it was back in service as a hospital ship.It was scapped in 1968 after being sold to Egyptian owners.. During the War years (the war ended in August 1945) , Hall signed on other cargo boats. He served on such Harrison Line ships as the Governor, Comedian and Planter.

Several times, while in convoy with ships in the Atlantic, he feared his vessel would be torpedoed. He saw several being sunk that way. He witnessed the rescue of many brave merchant seamen. He and his comrades felt sorry for those, including from the then British colonies in the Caribbean and British Guiana, who lost their lives in the Allied cause against the German fascism of Hitler, Italian fascism and Japanese militarism..

Of their sacrifice against German and Italian fascism and Japanese militarism , he had this to say: “On the occasion of Remembrance Day once again, we must always remember the sacrifice of those in the Allied armed forces who gave their lives. But we must also remember, and I am not speaking about mysef particularly but for all my comrades, the contribution of merchant marine seamen, those on the cargo boats. They assisted in the war effort immensely in the sense that they manned the ships that brought the necessary war materials, food and other necessities.”

Mr . Hall, who is the father of four children, commended Barbadian authorities for erecting and maintaining the Mariners Monument in the Miltary Cementry. And he wished Guyanese all the best as well as we too remember this Sunday all those who died so that democracy can be deepened and people of all races and religions live even more prosperous and happier lives.

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