CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY
The Misery Train
Richard Simmons tells the chilling tale of a wartime naval officer’s return from Scapa Flow.
I WAS going through dad’s papers, tidying away a long life. He had not left much admin, just two boxes of papers to empty, but one stopped me in my tracks. It was a wooden job, full of old documents, and underneath were three medals. He had never talked about the war, just wanted to forget.
There was the 1939-45 Star, which everyone got, and the Defence Medal for non-combatants. Dad told us he was a naval officer with a ‘cushy number’ ashore, so the Atlantic Star surprised me, as it was awarded for the Battle of the Atlantic. Dad saw action after all.
Putting everything back, a notebook fell out, opening at the heading ‘The Misery Train’. The first line read: “I can’t tell anyone, so I’m writing this to get it out of my head”. Below are his words.
Snowed in
Our destroyer put into Scapa after a rough Atlantic convoy, weather freezing, seas violent. It was hell, but kept losses down. We were bunkering when the captain called me over.