Dad In The Navy - The Memoirs Of John Francis Connor

  The Howe arrived in Portsmouth from its round Britain tour in September 1947. It was then end of the line for me. I said my goodbyes to the lads of 98 mess which included Bob Tilburn, the survivor of HMS Hood and emptied my locker and packed my kit-bags, although I had taken plenty of stuff home (including the accordion) on my last leave, I still had two kit-bags and two cases including a hammock and mattress so I was well loaded up as I left the jetty at Portsmouth and headed for Pompey barracks. At the barracks we put our gear on the parade ground and reported for demobilisation. The first thing to do was get rid of some excess baggage, there were several dealers there and I sold my hammock and mattress and my oilskins and tropical gear. I had already sold my best uniform to one of the lads on the Howe so although I didn't make much money on the deal I was a lot lighter and I still had to collect my civilian clothes.  After the parade ground we took the rest of our belongings i

  We dropped anchor in the Clyde near Gourock, this was the very spot from which I had set forth on my trip around the world over two years beforehand. The weather in late June 1947 was magnificent- it looked as if we were going to get a good summer following that terrible winter. I enjoyed my stay in Scotland and we had some great nights ashore in Glasgow. There was a big dance hall in Sauchiehall Street, I think it was called Barowlands or something and as always we ended up there on a night out. We stayed three or four days in the Clyde, then we headed over to Ireland. We dropped anchor at the bay off Bangor in Northern Ireland. Bangor was a smashing little port, it was strange to see a coal jetty in the middle of a holiday resort with an old fashioned crane off-loading a collier into horse-drawn carts - but this only seemed to add to the charm of the place.  There was a lovely park there-just near the sea front and I met a nice girl there while walking on a lovely sunny afternoon.

  Going back to Portland to join the Howe after my leave turned out to be quite a journey. I left home after tea to get the 10.30pm train from Darlington to Kings Cross. This would have got me back to the Howe easily for 9.am next morning when my leave ended. Unfortunately the trains were delayed by snow and blizzards were blowing across the country. It was after midnight when the train arrived and it was 6.30am next morning when we arrived in London, after more delays I finally arrived at the Howe at noon. I reported to the Office On Watch and was placed on commanders report for being absent without leave. The next morning I received my punishment from the commander. Altogether, I had to do 14 days number 11s which meant getting up early and scrubbing decks and also being called out in the middle of the night during a blizzard to watch the anchor and see it didn't slip. I couldn't go ashore for 14 days and what with the terrible weather I was really fed up. At last that long w