Dad In The Navy - The Memoirs Of John Francis Connor

Fujiyama was a sight to behold - all I could see was the white cone above the clouds, snow capped against a blue sky, we were still many hours sailing away from Japan but the tannoy was blaring out telling us what to expect, the war had only been over a matter of months and the Japanese were having a hard time.  This was brought home to us when we dropped anchor in Tokyo bay just off Yokohama. The farm boats came alongside and there were whole families aboard them, they had long fishing nets with them and they fished out anything eatable out of the water, bread, fruit, potatoes, vegetables and anything else useful which had come down the gash chute - they were obviously near starvation. I went ashore that night to Yokohama, it was the main port for Tokyo and had a good fleet canteen, but that was about all, we had a good drink in the canteen drinking English brewed beer which was brewed on an amenities ship anchored in the bay, the Jap beer was good too though, it was bo...

The Belfast made its way North through the beautiful Pacific to Fiji, it was a pleasant trip and I felt almost as if I was a tourist, I had very little work to do on board and as we sailed in Suva, the capital of Fiji, I was all ready to go ashore and look around this tropical paradise. There was a band playing in the jetty as we came alongside and beautiful Polynesian girls dancing in sarongs and garlands and singing Loloma Mai Viti which means Welcome to Fiji in Polynesian. I went ashore with a couple of mates and had a swim first in the local pool (I didn't fancy swimming in the sea there as I had seen some of the biggest sharks in my life swimming near the ship). After our swim we had a good meal (steak eggs and chips) and then had a look around the town. The policeman were outstanding, they had fuzzy hair and policemens tunics worn with a white skirt and bare feet, they were all over six feet and although they were friendly I wouldn't pick an argument with them.  ...

The Sutherlands lived in May Avenue which was a posh part of Napier. They had one daughter Shirley who was eighteen years old. They owned three outfitting and haberdashery shops in Napier and were New Zealand born but of Scottish descent. We had a fine tea and a good chat afterwards, we found that there was to be a dance that night in the town hall in honour of the Belfast visit. I asked if Shirley would go with me to the dance and she said yes and she would ask her friend to go with Gypsy Lee my mate. The dance went down very well, it finished about midnight and I took Shirley home, I had a drink with her dad who had waited up and I said I would meet her the next night. I met her in town the next night and we walked along the cliffs, she told me the history of the town and how they used to go for holidays to Fiji before the war. They were hoping to go back to Fiji this year as the war was over and things were getting back to normal. I told her about my family and she promised to ...