sidsal
23rd December 2008, 21:21
There appears to be a silence from ex Brocks men at present so I am throwing some inconsequential rubbish into the ring, hoping it will strike a chord with some.
Sounding pipes. When I was in Brocks - WW2 and just after, the chippie, on our approaching the Suez canal would remove all the brass sounding pipe screw tops and replace them with wooden bungs. This was because the Gyppos would steal them. I was on one ship -(forget which) where the emergency magnetic compass on the poop fell over when we cleared the Gulf of Aden and started rolling heavily in the SW Monsoon. The Gyppos had stolen the long brass fixings - you know the ones - they had a ball on the top with a hole to insert a tool to unscrew them.
It was also known for bedding to be stolen whilst people were sleeping in their bunks. The Gyppo used twine with a miniture grappling hook and pulled the sheets out of the portholes. Of course this was before airconditioning and such luxuries. I can remember being very envious of those on the new ships which had punka-louvre systems which circulated the hot air about !!
When we were in Port Said the Gyppos who swarmed aboard offering a variety of services including getting aquainted with their young sister often had references from various ship's officers. I remember one barber who flashed a P&O letterheaded reference from the chief officer of the Chusan ( if I remember correctly ). It said -
To Whom it may concern -
This is to introduce Mohammed (somebody or other)
If you require a haircut I strongly reccommend that you give this man a wide berth.
The poor chap thought it was a proper reccomend !
Sounding pipes. When I was in Brocks - WW2 and just after, the chippie, on our approaching the Suez canal would remove all the brass sounding pipe screw tops and replace them with wooden bungs. This was because the Gyppos would steal them. I was on one ship -(forget which) where the emergency magnetic compass on the poop fell over when we cleared the Gulf of Aden and started rolling heavily in the SW Monsoon. The Gyppos had stolen the long brass fixings - you know the ones - they had a ball on the top with a hole to insert a tool to unscrew them.
It was also known for bedding to be stolen whilst people were sleeping in their bunks. The Gyppo used twine with a miniture grappling hook and pulled the sheets out of the portholes. Of course this was before airconditioning and such luxuries. I can remember being very envious of those on the new ships which had punka-louvre systems which circulated the hot air about !!
When we were in Port Said the Gyppos who swarmed aboard offering a variety of services including getting aquainted with their young sister often had references from various ship's officers. I remember one barber who flashed a P&O letterheaded reference from the chief officer of the Chusan ( if I remember correctly ). It said -
To Whom it may concern -
This is to introduce Mohammed (somebody or other)
If you require a haircut I strongly reccommend that you give this man a wide berth.
The poor chap thought it was a proper reccomend !