Theseus dropped
anchor off Honiara, Guadalcanal, and we went ashore to enjoy the primitive
pleasures that Guadalcanal had to offer. This was another idyllic tropical
island with beautiful white beaches and crystal clear blue sea. It was difficult
to imagine that this was also the scene of fierce fighting during 1942, when the
American Forces took the island that was occupied at the time by the Japanese.
Many thousands of lives were lost, and the ‘Battle of Guadalcanal’ went down in
American history. A war film was later made of this battle. After a couple of
lazy, relaxing days we sailed in the general direction of Malaita Island for
further low flying. The last ‘fly past’ took place on 26th September, this time
over San Cristabal Island. We then cleared the Solomon Islands, and set course
for Port Moresby, New Guinea.
After three days at sea with flying each day, we dropped anchor in Port Moresby
harbour at 1000 hrs and commenced a couple of days refuelling. We went ashore in
the afternoon to see what was on offer, but these tropical islands, although
beautiful, didn’t offer much more than relaxing, swimming etc. It was very
noticeable however, that on all of the Islands that we had visited, the black
native babies and young children all had a distinctive oriental look. It was
obvious that this was the result of Japanese occupation during the war years. We
were the first to visit these Islands after the war.
Wednesday 1st October was the Air Group’s first birthday. It was celebrations
all round, particularly for the officers and air crews. They made a big issue of
it with cocktail parties; sing songs, etc with the Admiral on the Quarterdeck
(the officer’s private domain). The year was summed up with a final comment from
our C.O. Lt/Cdr (A) D. Wynne-Roberts, RN, who said:
“And so begins our second year as 812 Squadron, 14th C.A.G. Our last year had
its ups and downs, its bouquets and its reprimands. Who knows what next year may
bring - but we can be sure of one thing - the best of team spirit, and good
comradeship - UNITED WE STAND!”
Flying continued
as we proceeded to our next destination, Hong Kong, via Singapore. It was during
our journey that we received some very sad news. We were told that almost 50 per
cent of the Service Unit, including myself, would be leaving the ship at
Singapore; we were to be repatriated home for de-mob. This was devastating news
for me; I wanted my dream to go on, and on. Thoughts of Lossiemouth came
flooding back, and that request for a seagoing draft when I had fooled the
Commander that I was thinking of staying on in the service. This was now
reality, and crunch-time. I had to do some serious thinking. If I could have
stayed with Theseus I probably would have considered signing on. I discovered
that this was impossible, however, as my replacement would already be on his way
out. He may already be waiting at Singapore for us to arrive. If I volunteered
to stay on in the service, there was no knowing where I would go. So, very
reluctantly, I decided I would ‘go with the flow’ and leave the Service.
We arrived at Singapore on 12th October where the ship began two days of
refuelling and provisioning ship before moving on to Hong Kong. All the
personnel going home said a very sad farewell to HMS Theseus on 14th October -
it was just like losing a member of the family. We disembarked for the last
time, and were transported to HMS Simbang, the Naval Air Station at Sembawang.
We spent five days leave there, with no restrictions or duties of any kind. It
was quite a change to be able to do exactly as we wished for 24 hours a day.
My pilot Lt Butterworth was also going home so, effectively, being the Senior
Officer, he was in charge of our party. It was rumoured that he had lost his
nerve and was going home for retraining, but there was no proof of this. He had
‘diced’ with death twice in the last year, so who could blame him had the rumour
been true. (Fifty six years later John himself confirmed that the rumour was
untrue.)
HMS Simbang boasted a fabulous swimming pool, so when we were not ashore, we
were swimming, drinking and lazing about all day. All good things come to an end
and, on 18th October, we left Sembawang and returned to Singapore to embark on a
dirty old Dutch merchant ship MS Sloterdyjk. The cargo hold of the ship had been
cleared out and bunk beds fitted - a significant change from the luxury of HMS
Theseus. We set sail almost immediately we had embarked and, for the first six
days, encountered terrific storms. They were so bad that no one was allowed on
deck for the whole of the time, and we were battened down in the hold of the
ship like cattle. We stopped at Colombo and Aden for a short while, but no one
was allowed ashore. Finally we arrived at Southampton on 11th November. After
going through customs very quickly and receiving a cup of tea from the ladies of
the Red Cross who were waiting on the dock, we were transported to barracks, HMS
Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent, where we were given 14 days Foreign Service leave. Our
travel warrants were issued immediately, and after saying our goodbyes we were
on our way home the same day.
HMS Theseus, and
the 14th Carrier Air Group continued on to Hong Kong. The Air Group had a
spell ashore at Kai Tak Air Station on the Chinese Mainland, where more
intensive flying took place. Regrettably, for them, a totally unexpected signal
was received on 30th October from the Admiralty, recalling all Naval Aviation
east of Suez. Farewell parties were hurriedly held, and 4th November was the
14th CAG's last day as an operational Air Group. By the 14th November HMS Theseus
was under way – destination - home. The ship arrived in Plymouth on 14th
December 1947.