Whilst at anchor in Leyte we repainted the ship and it was during this operation that the incident occurred. A seaman named Westwood was painting over the side in a bosuns chair, a petty officer shouted down to him that he had missed some paintwork round the side of the gash chute. Westwood shouted back that he couldn't reach so the P.O. lowered down a "Long Tom" - which was a long handled paint brush. Westwood tried and said he still couldn't reach, whereupon the P.O. called him a useless so and so, at this Westwood threw the Long Tom into the sea. The P.O. ordered the men on deck to pull Westwood inboard and he was marched to the officer of the watch. After hearing the charge the O.O.W. ordered Westwood to be put in the cells awaiting the next captains report. My job at this time happened to be Cell Sentry and I guarded Westwood for about a fortnight while he was waiting to be sentenced. It was no fun being in a cell below decks in the tropics and Westwood went down the nick fast, he was continually sweating and this caused him to break out in prickly heat (sweat rash).
After the fortnight in cells the captain cleared the lower deck for Westwoods trial, it was obvious he was going to make an example of him as it was the first chance he'd had for trying anyone for a breach of discipline since the mutiny. After a long speech about naval discipline and the fact that on a ship the captain was a Judge, King and God, the captain sentenced Westwood to 90 days hard labour, this was of course the suspended sentence that all the mutineers had held over them. Westwood was later put ashore in New Guinea and joined a penal colony there. The job of the convicts in the penal colony was to build a road in New Guinea and months later when he returned to the ship he was about two stones lighter.
Westwood told us that it was real hell. A very severe sentence indeed for the crime which was read out by the way as "Wilfully throwing away His Majesty's property namely one "Long Tom" valued 10/-".
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