Click images to enlarge.
Bert Smith 1945 - 1946
I was most interested to see the web page you
have compiled on the Manxman and can possibly add a little to the phase
covering 1945 and 1946.
Regarding the photograph of the Officers (Photo section, The Ship)
they
are on the left the Chief Engineer, whose name I cannot recall, the Captain
in the centre was Captain Thistleton-Smith and on the right the Executive
Officer whose name again I cannot remember. This was probably taken in 1945
they being the Senior Officers when I joined the ship. The photographs
of mine loading were probably also taken
at around this time.
Geoffrey Thistleton-Smith Captain Manxman 1945 (later Sir Geoffrey and Vice Admiral)
I joined the ship in April 1945 just before D. day as a Telegraphist at
Hebburn, North Shields from where working up trials took place prior
to leaving for the Far East after the extensive repairs.
( The repair work from the 1942 torpedo damage was probably carried out at
the Hawthorn and Leslie yard at Hebburn. Welshman and Apollo were built at
the Hebburn yard. David )
I think you are right about the repairs being carried out at Hebburn as workers were still on board when I joined the ship.
We left Tyneside for Chatham on the 17th May, just after VE. day. I remember having embarkation leave from there, that I spent in Bristol with my parents who were living there at that time having been bombed out from London for the third time.
We also loaded mines at about this time before sailing for the Far East.
Manxmam loading mines 1945
From UK we proceeded to Colombo where there was a problem with a propeller that necessitated a diversion to Australia at reduced speed, first to Fremantle and then round to Port Melbourne for repairs, after having first unloaded the mines at Geelong near Melbourne. We later understood these were due to be placed in the Inland sea of Japan. However this was never to my knowledge confirmed .
The passage to
Fremantle across the Indian Ocean was quite nerve racking as we were fully
loaded with mines and sailing quite slowly and as far as we knew at that
time with Japanese Submarines in the same waters.
We were not long in Melbourne before the
Japanese capitulated and the crew of the Manxman led the VJ. parade through
the main streets of Melbourne being the only HM ship in port.
From Melbourne minus mines we proceeded to Sydney and the mine decks being empty were used for stores to be taken on board to sail to Hong Kong where we arrived soon after the ships that took the surrender. We offloaded some of the stores and went up to Shanghai to repatriate back to Hong Kong some Women and Children from the internment camps.
From there we sailed to Yokohama and then round to Kure, the port of Hiroshima to off load food and other necessities for the survivors. From Kure we were able to walk along the tram lines into Hiroshima that was every bit as horrific as shown in all the films and photographs. The remainder of the time in the Far East was generally sailing between Australia and various places in the Pacific to provide supplies from Australia.
During this time we skirted the edge of the dreadful Typhoon in the Pacific that sunk so many US Navy Ships and where the ship I had served on for over one year in the Mediterranean HMS Tumult took a tremendous pounding.
Regarding our trip back to UK from Hong Kong, although I don't remember the actual time taken, Manxman broke all records for the time taken for the trip, a record that probably still holds good today as not many ships travel at the speed she used to. I wasn't aware of this but after the war I met a friend who had also been in the Navy and he told me that it made good news throughout the Forces at that time.
I hope this fills part of your history of the Manxman.
I now live in Hong Kong where I have been for 44
years after 11 years in Rhodesia now Zimbabwe and having finished off my
University studies in London after leaving the RN in 1946.
Should there happen to be anyone who was on the
Manxman at the same time as I, they can contact me at
HERE or via the web site.
Best regards, H.W. Smith RN. ( Bert Smith.)
