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Arkie Goes To Sea |
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Meet Arkie...Supply Sergeant, United State Army Air Force, 50th Fighter Group, 10th Fighter Squadron, formerly of Cabot Hollow, Arkansas. Now Arkie did goes to sea twice during World War II... once going to England in 1944 on board the HMS Sterling Castle, a British Troop Ship, also known as the "Starvation Castle" and again coming back home in 1945, on the Queen Mary, another British ship. Three times, if you want to count the time he went to Normandy in a LTC, right after D-Day but that's another story.  Now...we're going to show you some of Arkie's ship photographs from the war but at first he wasn't to sure if they were of him com- ing or going...which is understandable, considering that it has been well over forty years since he was last at sea! So we all kinda decided, that the photos, were of the Queen Mary, on the return trip back home. Arkie, hadn't rescued any cameras until Germany, is our reasoning. But I think you'll agree, one crowded ship looks the same as another. So, sit back, relaxs and enjoy more stories from Arkie! |
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 We boarded the Sterling Castle, March 23rd, in New York bound for England. As soon as we got settled in below, we found a nice spot under a staircase, about seven feet square and started dealing. Heck, we were still tied up at the dock, when some British officer came over to break up the game saying, "There's no gambling allowed on Her Majesty's Ship." Then from behind the officer in the crowd somewhere, somebody muttered pretty loudly, "F#?& the Queen."  Well, I didn't know who said it and I didn't want to know. That British officer got all hot under the collar and turned the nicest shade of red, that I've ever seen. He demanded to know who it was that insulted the Queen. Demanded to know who was in charge. But, when you stop and think about it, what was he going to do if he found out? Have whoever it was sit out the war peeling potatoes or have him kick off the boat?  Don't get me wrong, I loved army food! Couldn't get enough. I had a cast-iron stomach, but I couldn't go anywhere near the galley on a British ship without getting sick. They ate a lot of mutton and the smell would just turn your stomach. Our boys didn't eat mutton...it was to strong smelling and gamey! It put them off but good. Well after afew days of mutton, some of the American cooks suggested that the British cooks take a rest and let them take a turn. After all, they were just sitting around...not doing a damm thing. Boy, did the British take offense! "How dare we, that's an insult to Her Majesty's Navy they said."  The Americans then asked if our cooks could at least make the coffee, but the British wouldn't even let them near their ships gallery. And the British just couldn't make a good cup of joe to save themselves. They had no idea how! No wonder, that the HMS Sterling Castle was nicknamed the "Starvation Castle," by our guys! If it wasn't for their crew members, who sold us tins of salmon and fruit, we surly would have starved! Afterall, they only fed us breakfast, if that's what you call bowls of glue (oatmeal) and supper...no noontime meals. Sandwiches sold for a buck! And believe me, I ate alot of sandwiches!!! It just seemed like the British Navy was to darn proud! Some of the British units were pretty good guys. There was an AA battery next to our airfield in Lymington, that we got along with and British engineers who were in charge of maintaining our airfield were okay too! Once there was a supply snafu and we found ourselves ass deep in tea. We traded it to the British AA battery for coffee. You know, that stuff you hear about tea time, it's no joke. Every morning at ten o'clock and then again in the afternoon, they would call off the war and made tea. Right in the middle of a job. It didn't matter! Tea came first. |
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