Hook was well aware of the chances being taken. Even flat out the ship's speed was nothing to write home about and, on top ofthat, the engines were old and unusual strain on them might cause something to blow. and weary months under heavy guard. Of that period, Stan reported, "the only cheery bit was the sing-songs, which the skipper led, as he had a good voice and was a regular guy and well liked." As the months passed, the fort became crowded with other merchant seaman prisoners, so crowded that eventually all were moved to another and larger camp. T hey managed to get in touch with the Red Cross, and it was that organization's food parcels that kept them alive. A Scottish padre named Dunbar based in T unis was allowed to visit the camp occasionally, and he brought gifts of food and organized church services. Sutherland and some of his mates did not make model prisoners; in fact they went out of their way to give their gaolers as much irritation as possible. On one occasion Stan and two fellow Scotsmen caused a riot and were punished by being sent to a special camp in the desert. The regime there was so hard they went on their best behavior until they were sent back to join their mates. Soon after that all the prisoners were moved to Sfax which, being on the coast, was a much more pleasant and
healthy place. Later, as their Italian guards grew ever more jittery because of the push being made in their direction by the British Eighth Army, the seamen rook over the camp. Some of them, including Stan and Jimmy, stole a train normally used to bring phosphate down to the port from an inland mine. They stayed at the railhead for a few days before making for Merlaoui which by then had been taken over by Free French sympathizers. Fi nally they made for Tebassa in Algeria, where they fell in with British troops who sent them on to Algiers. Some twenty months after losing their own ship, they joined up wi th the other survivors to board the troopship Orantes for home. On arriving at Greenock the Parracombe survivors were met by the managing director of Stanhope Shipping, Jack Billmeir, who presented each with a new suit and ten pounds to get them home. At an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 9 February 1943 Captain David Hook and Second Officer John Wilson were decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, and Stan Sutherland and Jimmy Mcintyre with the Distinguished Service Medal. The awards were naval instead of civilian be-
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cause Parracombe had been sailing under direct Admiralty orders. The names of members of the Merchant Navywhowerelostatsea in WWII, including those who died on the Parracombe, are engraved on the Merchant Navy Memorial near the Tower of London. Estimates indicate that 32,000 British merchant seamen were killed during the war, close to one in four of the total number of seamen who served on merchant ships during the war. The relevant Lloyd's Confidential Sheet, a contemporary document covering the loss of Parracombe, is endorsed in red: "SECRET. Not to be mentioned in any return." It seems that by keeping the matter under wraps the Ad miralty left the door open for other similar voyages. However, no other attempt to reach Malta with a lone, slow ship was ever made. 1Captain Elphick is a British master mariner who came ashore and was involved in the construction and operation ofcontainer terminals and served as a port consultant on projects worldwide. This article is extracted from his new book, Life-line: the Merchant Navy at War 1939-1945.
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