SHIPMATES UNAWARE OF NEARNESS

Two old shipmates lived in the same district for 10 years without being aware of the other. So it was with great sadness and disappointment that former Royal Naval Seaman, Mr Archibald Gillies, of Oak Cross Road, learned of the presence of Lt Cdr J E Armstrong of Shaldon too late to meet him again.

When war broke out in 1914, Seaman Gillies was serving on HMS Carnarvon. She captured a German liner, the Professor Woorman, and took her into Sierra Leone. 

He was transferred to HMS Edinburgh Castle, Midshipman Armstrong’s ship. ‘I was transferred as a sailmaker – funny thing for a cruiser – but my first job was to fit out the ship with fire hoses. When we put into St Lucia, we both moved onto another prize ship, the Spunvald, bound for Plymouth Sound. As the senior officer was incapacitated, Midshipman Armstrong was left in complete command.’

On the voyage, Mr Gillies had the night watch. About 3 o’clock, he heard a queer creaking sound. He consulted the engineer, who shot down like lightning. ‘Your main bearing’s overheating – stop the engines!’ But Mr. Gillies told him : ‘This is a Royal Navy ship, and you can’t stop the engines without the order of the captain.’ 

The order from the bridge was ‘You must not stop the engines’. (They would have been sitting ducks for U boats). So they limped back all the way across the Atlantic at 4 knots, and the crew had to take it in turns to pour oil on the bearing.

RESCUED OILED-UP BIRDS

A part-time cleaner at Teignmouth Police Station, Mrs Beryl Rees, of Sun Lane, has extended her cleaning activities to oil-covered sea birds. Over the period of a month, she has rescued 24 from local beaches, cleaned them and fed them at her own expense. Only two died, and the others have been sent to the RSPB sanctuary at Taunton.

CHAY BLYTH

Chay Blyth, who sailed round the world alone in ‘British Steel’, has rejoined the 10th Parachute Regiment as a Territorial, in preparation for his entry in the round-the-world yacht race, later this year. He is well known at Teignmouth, when last summer he received the inshore lifeboat from the Rotary Club for the Outward Bound School, Ashburton.

GPO CLOSING

Dear Sir: With regard to the closing of the GPO on Thursday afternoons, I notice that Mr Evely states ‘Everything happens on a Saturday’.  He wants to close on Thursdays. Has he ever been in the GPO on Thursday mornings? The queues stretch right across the office, with OAPs drawing their pensions. He is, I’m afraid, only thinking about missing football or golf, etc.

B HERBERT, Coombe Vale Road.

MUSSELS

‘There is no danger from mercury in Teignmouth mussels,’ said Mr Ernie Chapman, one of the local mussel men, last week. The weekly testing by the public health inspector has found it to be clear. He was commenting on a warning issued by the Belgian Consumers’ Association ‘Do not eat fish in Western Europe more than twice a week’. 

He added: ‘That sort of statement does us a lot of harm. This part of the country isn’t heavily industrialised, so we don’t get any mercury pollution.’

RIVIERA CINEMA

Campaneros; Commandos; The Go-Between; Monsieur Hulot  in Traffic; Cat Balloo.