“Durban”stencilled at an angle across their sides to maintain the merchant ship disguise. There was a further small aft anti-submarine gun on the poop. Slowly as we drew nearer, many from the other boats were already scrambling up the rope ladders and a large net from a yard arm. At last we came alongside and stupidly whilst in a trough, I jumped on the nearest ladder and the all of a sudden the swell rose back, and I very nearly had my leg crushed by the lifeboat against the side of the ship, but luckily a man below put his hand up my bottom and shoved me quickly up to scramble up into safety as the boat rose. A large wicker basket was also lowered and women and small babies were hoisted aboard. I climbed up my rope ladder and as I approached the top two German sailors hauled me onto the firm deck, such a contrast to the tossing movement of a lifeboat even though the sea was calm. I was very anxious and worried as to what was going to happen next, but felt that whatever it was, it could not possibly be worse than being adrift in an open lifeboat in an immense ocean thousands of miles from land. So at that moment as I stepped aboard on the Raiders deck at about 5pm on Sunday 10th May 1942, I with my Mother, were now for the first time “ Prisoners of War” a situation that was going to continue with a whole variety of extraordinary experiences in all sorts of locations thousands of miles apart, until the war finally ended on August 15th 1945. From now on, we had lost our freedom, our life and conditions would be determined for us, and we would be forever under some sort of foreign regime, under military orders for better or worse until our release at the end of the War in August 1945.

(chaptor 1) Page 7/7 next Chapter 2