Just looked in my discharge book and see I coasted the Hughli in 1956 for 3 weeks as R/O, a rather eventful three weeks too. She sailed out for a two year trip after that. She was a tropical ship, cabin doors opened straight onto the deck. Small crew of European officers (two refugee Polish engineers) Scots captain, some Chinese and some Indians. She missed her sailing out of Barry Dock, as most officers were in hospital with food poisoning (getting the stomach pump treatment) due to the pie and peas bought on our way back to the ship, at a chip shop in Tiger Bay, bought opposite Shirley Bassey's childhood house. (I can see it now from the wall outside the shop where my mates had propped me while they were inside).The medical authorities worked out where the poisoning came from because they learned that I had not had the pies on account of being overcome by the beer at the time. Everyone else had pies except Captain who had not been ashore.
He was a stern, old fashioned Scotsman (said he was a genuine Pict) who liked to dominate the dining table with his views. I upset him by telling him that I'd read that the Picts might have been one of Lost Tribes of Isreal, I can still see him spluttering now.
