Before he tried to join the RAF he says he tried to get a post as a Cabin Boy on the SS Irish Pine, a vessel owned by Irish Shipping Ltd. He was told at the time that he was too young to go to sea.
Bent P. (Carpenter), Cashin K. Charles (O.S.) Clery Patrick (Fourth engineer) Connolly W. (Third mate) Conway J. (A.B.) Crichton Robert L. (Wireless officer) Cowzer Fred. (A.B.) Cusack Michael (Third engineer) Cusack Thomas (Chief steward) Daly Thomas (W.T.O.) Donagh Eamon (O.S.) Dooly M. (Greaser) Duffy Joseph (Cook) Fanning P. (A.B.) Flynn M. (A.B.) Hartnett A. (Second mate) McCarthy John (Greaser) Murphy Frank (Fireman) Nolan John (Donkey-man) O'Brien G. A. (Chief engineer) O'Callaghan Michael (Assistant steward) O'Connell James (Second engineer) O'Connor J. (First mate) O'Donoghue Thomas (Cabin boy) O'Neill M. (Master) Ryan Sean (Fireman) Sheehan P. (A.B.) Smith S. (Bosun) Talbot R. (A.B.) Tobin A. (A.B.) Tracy Francis (Fireman) Ward H. (Greaser) Young H. (Assistant cook)
As with other Irish vessels at the time, the Irish Pine would have been brightly lit. As can be seen from the above photograph it had the words Eire and the Tricolour on both sides. Why it was attacked is unclear.
I have no idea if my dad is telling the truth about the Irish Pine but by November 1942 he was spending an inordinate amount of time giving German AA crews something a target to shoot at....
Some sources of information on Irish shipping during WWII
7 comments:
To think you would not exist if he had gone on that ship. That is a sobering thought. I'll bet he thinks about it himself often.
He does jmb. I'm surprised I made it at all. My grandfather was lucky enough to be taken prisoner at the start of WWI, my dad made it through WWII when most aircreww of his service were killed, and then my mum had terrible time during pregnancy...
Irish Pine is a funny name for ship. It sounds more like a cleaning product.
I'd say that your dad was LUCKY but I know that it was more than luck. Your dad was freakin blessed to walk away from his "adventures" relatively unscathed!
He obviously wasn't meant to be on that ship!
He was EWBL.. most RAF bobmer crews who first flew in 1942 would ahve died. Luckily for him he flew the Mosquito which was very flast and took relatively few losses
THat's very true Cherie
Fantastic story Jams.
Glad you found it interesting Richard
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