clothes bundle by my side. After a while at about 2.30 pm, I could hear a lot of commotion on deck, and one of the other younger boys Howard Guy rushed in to call me to come and see the plane which was now circling quite close. In fact I could clearly hear the noise of its engine, but as I rose to go, I was sternly held back by Mr Stewart who very calmly and firmly putting a hand on my shoulder pressed down and said.
“Just stay here and get on with the game my boy, I want to see your next move you are not going out now on deck”. Suddenly there was a deafening roar and the sound of machine guns firing .
“No time to waste Mike, quick get down flat and save your eyes above all” I said to myself, and instantly flung myself on the floor with my eyes buried in my elbows whilst the cannon fire raked through the room in front and alongside of me. In spite of my eyes being covered I could still see a series of bright sky blue flashes all around and heard the ear shattering noise of the cannon shells exploding and ripping through the furniture. But my quick instinctive reaction in getting down flat undoubtedly saved me , as both my instructors sustained shrapnel wounds to their bodies, but I do have to thank them for keeping me inside instead of being on the open deck. There was a lull in the firing whilst the plane circled again and I ran down to the dining saloon as ordered that morning when we had all been exercised at “Take Cover” & “Action Stations”, after the plane had been sighted before Sunday Prayers on the Boat Station or promenade deck. By now I had put on my lifejacket and clutching my clothes I awaited Mother who moments later rushed down to join me.
“Thank God you are here” she gasped, “As I ran across the deck carrying my lifejacket I passed two Lascars that had been killed, one poor chap with his entrails lying strewn across the deck, and blood everywhere which I had to leap over. Heaven knows what will happen now, but the thing now is just to try and be very cool and very calm if we are going to survive, and above all do not panic” We were all now crammed into the dining room and awaited and listened to the noise all around. Here below decks all one could hear was a constant rattle of our Vickers anti aircraft guns aloft, and the steady heavy thud of our small 4.5’’ aft anti submarine gun which fired a total of 23 rounds . Suddenly at 3.05 pm there was an almighty crash and the whole ship shuddered from the explosion as we were hit on the Port Bow a few feet above the waterline by a large shell. Then there was a sudden quiet eerie stillness for a few minutes, whilst moments little later the ships foghorn sounded continuously adding still more drama. Then officers started rushing around, shouting orders in all directions, to cut the flags down, cease firing and all assemble at our Boat stations. Curiously whilst all this violent action was taking place I did not feel any sense of panic or even real fear, more a wonderment of what was going to happen next. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, people particularly the Indians and Chinese started moaning, babes were crying whilst others were just grabbing their things together with their families. Suddenly at 3.15 the order was given over the Tannoy to “Abandon Ship”. Ships papers, codes, and other naval papers were dropped from the bridge overboard in a perforated steel box making a big splash, whilst orders in the engine room were given to commence scuttling the vessel. All the time whilst the whole action was taking place, distress messages were being transmitted on various frequencies from the start of the Arado seaplane attacking us, to when we ceased firing. On the first sweep by the plane as she had opened fire, something had dropped into the water, presumably a grappling hook to rip out the aerial, but the quick and vigorous response from our machine guns had forced it to fly

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