By George Kennedy
‘We had to make for the Bar again as we could not be held at the dock side, having broken nine cables from 1 to 5pm – so we had to spend the night on board. And what about the others ashore – well they had the novelty of an experience and came off A1. When they got down to the berth and found the ship gone, the Cape Town military authorities set about getting blankets and accommodation in the Drill Hall. The ladies who run the Visiting Troops Entertainments (similar to Durban) set about providing teas and the breakfast. Their bunks were the floor, but sleep was out of the question as the piano and the sentimental and comic element of vocalists were in the highest of concert pitch. Some slept? Others couldn’t and come Sunday morning it was back to the berth. Aboard the ship, the phrase was ‘I wonder how our friends on shore like the clink!’