Soldier At Heart by Michael Reynolds

Author:Michael Reynolds [Reynolds, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Modern, General, Military, World War II, Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781783830442
Google: LWPNDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Published: 2013-02-19T04:08:43+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Staff Officer in Canada

Fortunately for the Reynolds family we were given the choice of travelling to Canada by sea or air. Naturally, we chose sea and were delighted to find that, as first-class passengers, we were allocated two luxury cabins on the 22,000-ton Cunarder RMS Carenthia.

We sailed from Southampton on the night of 2 March 1966 and called at le Havre in France and Cobh in Cork Harbour in Ireland before setting off across the Atlantic for Halifax, Nova Scotia. The crossing was reasonably smooth and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. Having our personal steward and stewardess was great fun and the girls soon discovered that if they rang their cabin bell they could ask for anything they wanted in the way of sandwiches and soft drinks. This meant they could avoid some of the meals in the first-class dining room where they had to behave. We didn’t really mind as we knew the stewardess would keep an eye on them and it gave us some unexpected freedom.

We only remember a few of the passengers. The most memorable was Peter Finch, the actor and film star. Anne was thrilled to recognize him, but less impressed when, on her way to breakfast on the second morning, she saw him emerge from the cabin next to ours which we knew was occupied by a good-looking single lady. The only other two we recall clearly are Herr Doktor Danzer, a single man, who during one of the usual ‘tea dances’, came up to me and after clicking his heels asked, ‘Please, may I dance with your vife?’ I agreed, and he and Anne, to her intense embarrassment, did a turn or two to Reg Bowler and his quartet! And the third was a rather portly chap who usually wore a blazer and called himself a brigadier. After some deep questioning, however, he turned out to be a major quartermaster.

The War Office had issued me with a printed guide showing how much to tip our steward and stewardess, the head waiter, our personal waiter and the girl who cleaned our cabins. When I mentioned this to one of the other passengers I became very popular – everyone wanted a look. I can’t remember how much each of them got, but the total was quite a significant figure.

We arrived in a snow-covered Halifax on the 9th and, whilst I went straight through immigration, poor Anne had to endure a full medical examination. I was furious, but to no avail and when we arrived in Ottawa I made a big fuss about it with the British Defence Liaison Staff (BDLS). As a result, no wives of British military personnel were ever put through this humiliating experience again.

In Halifax we boarded an overnight train bound for Montreal and then Ottawa. Again we were first-class passengers and had our own very comfortable sleeping compartments. We all loved the journey as it gave us a chance to see eastern Canada from grandstand seats. Goodness only knows what the whole trip from Southampton to our final destination cost for the five of us.

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