We're Off to France

Jun 28, 2018, 3:11 PM

After a short stay at Barton Stacey, England, we prepared to board our luxury liner for an all expense paid trip France. But before we left for France we were given an overnight pass to London. The Germans sent a little excitement in the way of a Buzz Bomb, landing close enough to our hotel to shake us out of bed. So far we had escaped the U-Boats and now we had to contend with the Buzz Bombs. We thought the war was taking place over on the continent but it appeared it was everywhere.

The day of reckoning came and we were trucked the short distance from Barton Stacey to one of the numerous docks at Southampton. There at dockside was the Marine Wolf, our luxury liner. A search of the records shows it to be a ship of 11,757 gross tons, 520' long, a breadth of 71 1/2', a draft of 30' and a speed of 17 knots. Our target is Le Havre, 126 nautical miles away across the English Channel.

The first unit to go aboard was the 3125th. Signal Service Company. Lucky us, maybe we were going to get the choice suites. Such was not the case. We went down, down, down, down until we could go no deeper into the guts of the Marine Wolf. Our orders were to climb in our bunks and stay there until we were told to disembark at Le Havre. We were also told it was just a short ride to Le Havre. The best news we heard was that all known German U-Boats had been chased from this part of the Channel.

I don't know how many other units joined us on this cruise because our being about one-half mile below the water line we never knew what was going on up above us. We finally realized we were underway and were relaxing in our bunks, mostly wondering what was in store when we got to France. We had not yet been informed of our final destination.

We had not been underway very long when we heard a terrific blast and the Marine Wolf shuddered as if it was breaking apart. Every man jumped out of his bunk and raced to the ladder leading to the deck above At the top of the stairs stood a huge Marine, armed with a rifle that looked like a huge cannon. In a stern voice, he told us to get back down there and get in our bunks. He did not offer any clew that he was open to discussions. We went back down, but I believe there was some dirty underwear. Before our heartbeat could return to anything considered normal, there came another blast. This one even louder than the first and with the Marine Wolf shuddering even more, we started looking for leaks. Finding none, we said a prayer, thanking those welders who built this ship for doing a good job.

We were in our bunks but at the same time we were sitting on pins and needles Scared? Sitting in the bottom of a ship way below the water line and not knowing what's going on when we hear a big BOOM and the ship shuddering as if it's coming apart. Fellows, that's scary!!!

Our prayers were answered That was the last BOOM. Later on, word seeped down to those of us at the bottom that the Marine Wolf was dropping a few depth charges and it was not a training exercise.That was supposed to be a comforting message but there was no true comfort until we finally arrived safely at Le Havre. Our crossing was at night but no one in our group was able to take a nap.

When we arrived at Le Havre we had more excitement but it did not involve a U-Boat. Moare about that later.

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We're Off to France

That is an amazing story. Please keep them coming!

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