Naval memories - Boarding officer

My education included the image of Nelson leaping from ship to ship, cutlass at the ready, at the head of his boarding party. I'm not sure about my grandchildren - perhaps Johnny Depp has taken over the role model.

I was a boarding officer once. In 1959 HMS Battleaxe did the Cyprus patrol, which consisted of going round the island close inshore, looking for caiques which could be gun runners, and boarding suspicious vessels.  We suspected that the aim was to search vigorously, but to find anything would have been an embarrassment for the British Government

My equipment included:

• a set of army webbing;
• a lifejacket;
• a revolver (unloaded - the cartridges were in a separate pouch in the small of my back);
• a large torch;
• an enormous board, which I carried, containing the Instructions for Boarding Officers.

There were other items, which I forget, but it showed what bureaucracy can do to courage and enterprise and in my encumbered state it was quite difficult to scramble up the side - not at all like Nelson.

With Moslem hospitality I was invariably offered a coffee while I studied the bill of lading  (entirely in arabic) in a knowing way while my boarding party searched for guns and stuck knives into their sacks of corn. It was an unpleasant job.

But what a beautiful coastline.  We anchored off Kyrenia, a lovely little fishing harbour where Laurence Durrell described buying his house in "Bitter Lemons". Two of us climbed up to St Hilarion's castle through scrubland full of red partridges, and afterwards drank one-star brandy in the café.

At Famagusta David Martin and I took our sailing dinghy down the coast and dropped  anchor for a swim - right on top of an ancient shipwreck, with a great heap of amphora encrusted in the sea bed. I broke off a bit to take home, but have lost it now.

Comments

[Mark]

Just to let you know that the absence of comment in no way reflects my lack of interest in your personal history. My only comment to the above is that I am lucky to be alive. (I am very lucky that the Arab captains produced a coffee and bill of ladingand not something else leaving you fumbling at the small of your back for the bullets!)

[Mark]

Just to let you know that the absence of comment in no way reflects my lack of interest in your personal history. My only comment to the above is that I am lucky to be alive. (I am very lucky that the Arab captains produced a coffee and bill of ladingand not something else leaving you fumbling at the small of your back for the bullets!)

[Tone]

I thought I managed to get "comment" in here yesterday - but it has disappeared.
Mike, - I have tagged you, - so do the right thing as a blogger, - visit my blog and see what the tag is about.