SHIPS IN THE NIGHT
By Bob French
It wasn’t until I had reached the winding path that led
down to the edge of the pond in St James Park, that I realised it was raining;
not the hard wintry rain that stung your face, but a fine drizzle
that felt refreshing. As I nonchalantly kicked aside the bright
coloured autumn leaves that now littered the path, I became aware of the
stillness that surrounded me. Over the tops of the tall majestic white
buildings of the Foreign Office and Downing Street,
Big Ben’s toll suddenly shattered the dawn silence. It was six
o’clock.
The
bench was wet, but it bothered little to me as I sat down and ponder my
surroundings; the annoying flocks of noisy birds that constantly harassed the
tourists for food had long since left for warmer climes; leaving behind the
grey Canada Geese to face the winter alone; their honking echoing eerily in the
early morning mist. I had come here in search of peace
and tranquillity; to try and calm down, sort my mind out after a demanding
watch at Naval Operations Center, based in the lower basement of Admiralty Building. The war was going badly.
The
chill of the morning soon penetrated my damp uniform and as a feeble attempt to
keep out the cold, folded my arms. It was then that the lone figure
of a man; a naval officer, caught my attention. He had been sitting
on a bench on the other side of the pond, about fifty yards up from where I
sat.
At
first I ignored him and stared down at the still surface of the pond that
reflected the beautiful backdrop of the trees in their full autumn glory and
thought of the Wrens under my command who had outdone themselves during the
last few weeks. They were responsible for providing intelligence to
the Royal Navy warships sent to protect the merchantmen on the Arctic convoys.
I
recalled that this last one had been particularly bad, loosing eight
merchantmen on the way up to Murmansk
and two on the return leg. Thankfully no Royal Navy vessels were
lost, though many had sustained considerable damage from enemy ships, aircraft
and submarines.
One
ship in particular, HMS Ashanti, a Tribal class destroyer had engaged, then
chased off the Eiger, a German pocket battleship; sunk her escort, the Minden,
a light cruiser and destroyed two submarines, but not before taking a mauling
herself. Although the admiral was please with the result he, like me and the
rest of the watchkeepers were please that the Tirpitz had remained in her
Fjord.
I
casually glanced across at the lone figure, who had now lent forward,
burying his face in his hands. He appeared to be shaking his head,
probably blaming himself for something. I contemplated going over to
him, but thought that it would be inappropriate for me, a mere sub lieutenant
in the WRENs to approach a captain, even though all I wanted to do was help.
Suddenly
he stood; thrust his hands deep into his pockets and started to pace up and
down. My curiosity drew me to study him and his behaviour until he stopped and
stared directly ahead of himself, as though he had come to a decision; turned
and walked back towards Admiralty
Building.
I
suddenly found myself panicking as he approached me; do I ignore him or should
I stand up and salute. My eyes followed him until he was opposite
me, then without thinking, stood and threw him one of my best
salutes. My actions must have caught his attention because he
stopped and looked across at me, then smiled and returned my
salute. It was surreal. We both stood there looking at
each other in the middle of a cold and misty empty park. I noticed that he had
bright blue eyes and his hair was starting to grey at the temples, yet he
looked no older than I was, then I saw the bandaged hand. His smile
was infectious, but what moved me was the sadness in his eyes. He then gave a
curt nod and was gone.
That
night as I wrote to my parents, I found my concentration was being interrupted
by my thoughts of those few minutes in the park this morning; trying to relive
them; to capture as many details of him as possible. I knew he was a
three ring captain and he had a chest full of medal ribbons and he wore his cap
at a rakish angle like a Destroyer captain, but my tired body soon surrendered
to sleep and my letter home and thoughts of my mysterious Captain quickly faded
from my memory.
The
following day I was briefing the watch when the admiral came in and caught my
eye. I quickly brought the briefing to a close, leaving my ratings
to get back to their duties.
“Sorry
to interrupt your briefing Miss Mason, but we’re having some drinks aboard the Colchester this evening; Trafalgar Day and all that, and
thought that you and your ratings might like to attend, they’ve certainly
deserved it. Please invite Lieutenant Corrington and her watch as
well. Transport will leave from the south door at twenty hundred hours
sharp.”
I
thanked the admiral, who always took care of his own, particularly when there
was a run ashore. Within minutes tired minds and fatigue bodies had
disappeared and everyone was talking about this evening.
The
Colchester was an old county class Cruiser, a
relic from the Great War, yet still a potent weapon. As I entered
the Ward Room, expecting something similar to the
cabins on modern ships, I was pleasantly surprised to find it not only
spacious but comfortable. Mandy Corrington, a Canadian WREN who had
come over in 43 with her countries contingent had only just stepped inside the Ward Room
when she was grasped by her arm by a Canadian pilot and dragged off.
A
cheeky faced mess steward approached me with a tray full of drinks and leant
towards me and whispered.
“The
younger officers are over to your left mama.” I nodded my thanks and took a
glass of something dark from his tray. Before I could take a sip, an
elderly Commodore extended his arm, inviting me into his circle and after the
briefest of introduction, which got lost in the noise of the chatter and
laughter surrounding me, he continued to reminisce about his time in
battleships.
I
took a sip of the warm liquid and felt the Pusser’s Rum slide down my throat
and burn my stomach and secretly cursed myself for not eating at lunchtime. I
then felt someone gently taking my elbow and steering me away from the circle
of elderly admirals and Flag Officers.
“Do come
and join us. We’d rather you celebrate Trafalgar Day with those who
are here to remember it, rather than those who took part in it.” I
smiled at the fresh faced young Midshipman, who must have been the same age as
my younger brother, as we entered a circle of officers who were more my age and
seemed much livelier.
After he
introduced the officers in the circle he extended his hand.
“And
my name is Timothy by the way.” I took his warm hand and felt his
insecurity and was pleased that I wasn’t the only one who felt nervous in such
surroundings. We chatted and laughed until I felt my elbow being
eased away again.
It was as
I was joining the new circle that I looked across to my left and there, looking
at me through the crowd, was the young captain I had seen in the park that
morning. I smiled at him and he nodded, but then he had vanished as bodies
moved across him like huge Atlantic waves that surged and moved, breaking our
eye contact.
The
circle was loud and quiet jolly as the three Navy flyers and an Army captain
tried to recall who did what at the Battle of Trafalgar. When the
jokes started to get rude, I nodded my thanks and turned away.
Before
I had moved a few passes, a huge bearded RNR captain took my hand.
“Hay
lassie, we canna have you wandering around the Ward Room
with an empty glass.” Before I could object, he had swung me around
into his circle of friends and another warm glass of rum was thrust into my
hand.
“Jock
Mackintosh of the Ajax.”
His huge hand covered mine and I felt the roughness of his style of living in
it.
“You
dinna want to ken this bunch o’ pirates un blaggards young
lady.” His comment brought a robust cheer from the men in his
circle. As they quickly introduced themselves, I was surprised to
see that not only were they were all captains but they all looked so
young. Then my eyes settled on my mysterious captain from the
park.
He
smiled and extended his hand and I felt its warmth and strength as I took it.
“Jammie
Buckingham of the Ashanti. So
glad you could come Lieutenant….?”
I
suddenly felt like a young schoolgirl on her first date; my mind went blank and
felt my heart leap as I took in his blue eyes; his young boyish face and his
smile. The noise in the room seemed to fade into a muffled drone and
I felt that we were the only two in the room. I suddenly realised
that I was staring at him.
“Um,
sorry Sir; sub Lieutenant Mason. Operations, Western Approaches at the
Admiralty, Sir.” My duty station instantly brought a cheer from the group and I
felt several of the officers slapping my back. I heard the big Scot
saying that they considered us as guardian angels, always watching over us, and
I felt for the first time that my watch were appreciated.
Jammie
excused himself; gently took my elbow and nodded me towards the bar.
“Do
you fancy a real drink Miss Mason? I somehow feel sure that the
officers of your mess don’t go around drinking Pusser’s?” He spoke quietly with
no real accent and it made me feel comfortable.
“I’d
murder a cup of tea if that’s alright Sir.” He turned and smiled at
me and I felt my heart leap again.
“I
think in such surroundings, we can dispense with the
formalities. You can call me Jammie, as long as I can call you…..?”
He tilted his head as though demanding an answer.
“Jennifer.”
He nodded as though storing my name secretly away in his tormented mind.
“Right
then Jennifer, one cup of tea it is?”
It
was when he slid the tea across the bar towards me that I noticed his hand and
recalled that when we had met in the park it had been
bandaged. There was a ugly red scar where he must have been hit by
shrapnel and without thinking I took it gently in my hand.
He
seemed to stop and study my face. Then he spoke quietly and caringly so that
only I could hear him.
“It’s
alright, I’m afraid such things go with the job.” I could see the pain in his
eyes as though he was reliving the carnage and death on board his
destroyer and instantly I wanted to hold him, cradle him from the dangers he
selfishly faced daily in those bitter arctic waters.
“You
should really take care of yourself you know.” then felt myself blush as I
looked up into his eyes and saw the happiness in them for the first time.
“I
shall try my best next time…for you.” He tilted his head and
smiled. I wanted to hold him close to me, never let him go and knew
from the expression on his face he felt the same way. It was then
that I realised that I was still cradling his hand and went to remove it when
he gently placed his hand upon mine and quietly said.
“I
promise Jennifer, just for you.”
As
we stood their staring at each other, the tall bearded Scott interrupted us,
shattering our private moment.
“Come
on Jammie lad, it’s not every day you get a second bar to your Distinguished
Service Cross. Our hands remained in contact until, like a ship
slipping her moorings, they gently drifted apart and he was gone, but I knew
that I would see him again and prayed that it wouldn’t be too long.
Copyright
Bob French