Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

from the back of the photo from Dad's War album
1943, Sydney, Australia looking down George St.

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

In due course we were driven to the railroad station, and boarded a Pullman passenger. We got started and this would be a 3 or more days to get to our destination. It was a pleasant trip considering that we were at war. On the East and West areas we were on the attack mode and our troops and Navy were beating the enemy. Things were happening fast. We arrived at ??, California. We didn't get much time to see things Before we knew it, we were on the march to the harbor to board a ship that was a large cruise vessel that belonged to Italy which happened to be in our waters and the Government took it.

It was given a makeover. The suites and rooms did not exist, bunks replaced them 3 and 4 high. The swimming pool had bunks in it. No swimming. There were 10,000 G.I.s on the ship and we pulled out in due course.

We saw the famous Golden Gate Bridge as we were sailing out in the great Pacific Ocean. At one point we caught up with a number of vessels and formed a convoy.

It was an uncomfortable voyage. We were under Naval rules. And had to stay out of the way of the sailors.

When one travels on the ocean the way we had to, it was rather boring. The only excitement occurred when the ship's amplifier turned on and notified us that we would soon cross the Equator and it would still be Sunday. Se watches were change in time and we had two Sundays. Also that Davy Jones would be aboard and we would be initiated into the solemn mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. Some rites!

Once in a while as we got over the Equator the ship siren would sound and we would go below decks. While the sailors manned their positions and a sharp eye would be on the lookout for enemies. Fortunately, they were false alarms.

Sometimes the techniclean would go wacky. But no complaints not on the sea. Not when there is nothing around you for miles but water.

One morning when we went on deck we could see land in the distance and it would spread out as we approached it and began to see houses, buildings, etc. We were told that we would soon be leaving the ship to gather our belongings and be ready to debark. We were in Australia and its chief city was Sydney. As the ship was being guided into the harbor, the view was beautiful and since it was settled at about the same time as Boston, the architecture reminded me of Boston. I guess we were all happy to get ashore. It was rather crowded on the ship.And here we would be on terra firma.