Going To Hell For A Living
By Jim Dyer
First published in the South Wales Argus, April 1987
© Jim Dyer 2012
Frank Plaister, of Newport, (now deceased) tells of his experiences in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War.
A young Frank Plaister proudly wearing his
Merchant Navy badge.
When Pill Harriers RFC toured the USA in May 1987 Frank Plaister, a retired docker, went with them. He was looking for an old friend he met in strange circumstances when he was stranded in Baltimore, Maryland during the early part of the war.
He visited Mrs Elizabeth 'Bet' Davies, a South Wales exile. In 1987 she was in her 83rd year and fondly remembered by many Welsh seamen who had crossed the Atlantic.
SS Empire Porpoise
On this steamer in 1941, Frank was in convoy taking coal to the States. 'It was my third ship and just off Key West we were hit by a terrific hurricane. The convoy dispersed and for three days nobody could go on deck. Most of the lifeboats were lost and eventually we strapped the ship's carpenter to a line and he went out to secure the only remaining boat. He was the bravest man I ever knew and he got the Lloyds Medal.'
The weather had affected Frank badly and while his ship was undergoing much needed repairs after the battering she had taken, he was taken ill when on shore leave. He was in hospital for some weeks and upon discharge the British Consul wanted to put him into a hotel until he could find passage back to Newport.
'But Mrs Davies would have none of it and she insisted I stay with her and her husband Bryn. She was involved with the seamans club and found my name on their books. They used to go round the ships looking for Welsh boys and they both loved their native country. They treated me royally and as a young lad a long way from home it was great to have someone look after me.'
Indeed the Davies' had a great love for Wales. Bet’s brother, Trevor Every, had a distinguished career with Glamorgan Cricket Club as a wicketkeeper before the war. Tragically he was struck by a ball and blinded. They still have relatives in South Wales.
Seamanship
Frank left Baltimore in February 1942 determined that one day he would see his friends again.
Like many other Newport boys Frank had an urge to go to sea. Newport was recognised as one of the country's most important ports and the importance of this would grow as the war intensified. Frank's father Horace served in the First World War on HMS Hercules at Scappa Flow.
Frank recalls the poor conditions that seamen had to endure aboard some tramp ships until the early part of the war. 'Sleeping accommodation was cramped and the only hot water had to be obtained from the engine room. Some only had oil lamps and often the food was bad. Sometimes we would be short of fresh food until we hit port. The work aboard was hard and we had to take our own beds with us, a Donkey's Breakfast we called them because they were made of straw. We bought them at Havabucks in Pill for a few shillings. They were tough times for the ordinary seaman who was never highly regarded.’
Frank's first ship was the Blue Star Line ss Royal Star in 1940 taking the famous Walrus airplane from Newport to Simonstown. They called into Capetown and Freemantle bringing back meat - a mere five months voyage. His pay as a galley boy was £33.11.4d including war bonus. After various deductions he came back with £11!
SS Llanwern
His next trip was on the Radcliffe ship ss Llanwern which wasn't so eventful. By 1941 the U-boat threat was ever present and convoys were often attacked by planes too. Escort cover was limited and convoys were left to plough the Atlantic on their own for much of the distance.
The Llanwern was 600 miles off Ireland when it was bombed by German Fokkers working in conjunction with U-boats. 'It was sunk with its load of coal in minutes. My friend Ginger Perkins went down with her. I was terrified but you don’t have time to think. I dived overboard. The next thing I remember is coming around in the sick bay of HMS Weston. I never expected to survive and thought I was in heaven. Only eleven of the sixty crew survived.
A worn photo of HMS Weston, 1941, which Frank had carried for in his wallet for many years.
SS British Character
In 1942 Frank and a full crew of Newport men headed down to Trinidad and Venezuela on the British Character a tanker in convoy with 13 other ships.
The U-Boats were having a field day in the South Atlantic and the thought of a torpedo hitting a tanker full with oil was frightening but they made it back safely.
‘Son if this one takes a hit you won't need a a lifeboat you'll need a parachute!' said Franks father when he learned his net ship was the Fort A'la Corne loaded full to the brim with munitions, spirit oil, tanks and lorries. Leaving Newport in February 1943, to join a convoy the ship was headed for the North African campaign.
One ship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean but Frank's ship made it to moor in the Bay of Algiers. They moved up to discharge at Bone - bomb alley. 'When we did it was like bonfire night with constant German bombardments and air attacks.'
Returning light, little did they know that Commander Jahn in U596 was waiting for them off Oran. 'The ship took two torpedoes which broke its back. We got away in one very-overcrowded lifeboat, picked-up by an armed trawler and taken to Gibraltar.'
Later in the War
Back in the UK Frank joined the special pool for seamen at Plymouth and in June 1944 was posted to the Bibby Line troopship Cheshire to take the first batch of Canadian troops to France for the D-Day landings. They ferried troops back and forth and Frank remembers the apprehension of the American GIs and the ENSA entertainment on board.
But there was no rest for the seamen and soon he was aboard the Fort Glen Lyon out of Newport taking more munitions to the Med - this time to Italy. They were expecting to go to Barioon the east coast but on the way up the Adriatic they were diverted to Ancona.
Frank's luck had held again; he later heard that the ammunition ship had been blown-up in Bari with over 100 lives lost. At Ancona he witnessed the aftermath of the scuttling of the Italian fleet there.
It was aboard the Fort Glen Lyon that Frank went back to the States once more in 1945 the ship forming part of the last convoy to leave when the war ended. 'We left Philadelphia and it was red-letter day. All the ships were lit-up and there was much celebration.'
But he couldn’t leave without seeing his Baltimore friends. He was received with joy and an excited Mrs Davies said ' I thought you had been lost in the war!'
Frank continued to go to sea after the war until 1949 travelling to India with the Empire Deben and seeing the world on many more ships. The one he will never forget though is the Llanwern both for the poor conditions and the immersion into the cold water.
Frank and shipmate Les Avery (left) later lost at sea.
Over 430 Newport seamen were lost in the war - a massive number for the size of the town. Many of Frank’s mates died. One special friend was Les Avery, a friend from Maesglas, who should have joined Frank on the Glen Lyon. He changed his mind in favour of a short trip. Sadly, Frank recalls 'It was the shortest trip he ever made. He never came back. It's what the seamen came to expect during the war and that's why they enjoyed themselves ashore. Some said it was like going to hell for a living.'
Frank Plaister with Mrs Davies in Baltimore 1985.
Jim Dyer - 23 December 2011
NOTES
Article published in South Wales Argus on 7/4/87