I forget the details but we disembarked and were whisked off to various
destinations; our draft together with some others was sent to a disused
distillery in Wishaw. We sorted ourselves out and bedded down for the
rest of the night. Next morning, Sunday, we looked around the town and
were amazed at the friendliness and hospitality shown us. Our stay
lasted about three weeks or a month while HMT Antenor underwent surgery,
transplants and general re-conditioning. At intervals during this
period small groups of us were given a few days leave at home but all
the time we were in Wishaw we were well looked after by the local
population; one businessman took out parties of us for a meal (was it at
Green's?) then on to a cinema show; this happened on many occasions.
Some of the lads were more or less adopted and lived out most of the
time there only looking in at the distillery to find out when our next
move was due. In the forces I always got on well with all the Scots I
met but our reception at Wishaw was something else, it stays firmly in
my mind and I have a very soft spot for the Scots and Scotland.
All good things must come to an end of course and we had to return to
Glasgow to re-start our travels. Waiting for us at the dock was our
troopship HMT Antenor, well repaired we hoped. This time there was
little delay, soon we were steaming down the Clyde to form up with a
convoy; again we had a naval escort on our flanks and although the seas
were not as rough as before the screw still came out of the water and
the engines raced. Day followed day uneventfully and we seemed to be on
the same course as before according to our amateur navigators; for many
of us this was the first time we had been so far from our island home
and we were quite excited.
In order to keep up our spirits and inform us of the progress of the war
the BBC news was frequently broadcast. These newscasts were usually
preceded by a recording of Rule Britannia and while joining in mentally
with the remembered words I reached the phrase Britons never, never,
never, shall be slaves; I recalled the definition of a slave as being
one who received little or no remuneration for his services and who
could never voluntarily escape his predicament. I made the comparison.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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