NAVAL PREPAREDNESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 99, 24 October 1939, Page 9

NAVAL PREPAREDNESS

ANTICIPATION OF WAR

ANXIOUS DAYS AT SEA

"From what I. was told while. I was in England the British Admiralty evidently anticipated that the present war would begin with a sudden German attack not proceeded by any formal declaration of war; and they had everything ready for such -an eventuality," said Captain D. R. Patterson, master of the Shell Oil Co.'s tanker Paua in an interview with "The Post" today upon his return from spending six months* leave on a trip to the United Kingdom. While he was at Home Captain Patterson attended, on board a naval vessel, a special course for Merchant Marine master mariners covering operation of the convoy system, elementary gunnery, and I other war emergency conditions. "The British Navy was in readiness long before the Germans invaded Poland," he said. The full extent to which the advent of war was anticipated was indicated by the fact that before the ship on which he travelled to Sydney left Liverpool there had been placed on her a supply of sand and sandbags for use in protecting portions oib the liner's superstructure. She j sailed a week before Germany and Britain were at war, but even at that stage maintained a zig-zag course and was completely blacked out at night. Captain Patterson said the evacuation of London had begun before he left and business firms were operating with skeleton staffs who were also awaiting instructions tot-move to the country. At that stage he had quarters at the offices of his company, but found the atmosphere so depressing that he moved to one of the hotels. There he found the social life of the city in full swing—principally farewell parties for men who had been called up for active service. There was already a partial black out in London at night. Electric night signs and floodlighting of buildings had been discontinued and during the day there was already a marked diminution in the volume of street traffic. Captain Patterson said that shortly before sailing he motored from Devon to London along one of the main highways and they encountered a heavy stream of private cars in which families were leaving the Metropolis. Anti-aircraft guns seemed to be everywhere and they had already been fully manned for many days Salisbury Plain, through which he passed, was a scene of tremendous activity. "The early part of the journey out was an anxious time for those onboard," he said. "A constant look-out was maintained with the assistance of volunteers recruited from amongst the passengers and I was in charge of one watch for part of the trip. We were in the Mediterranean when the war actually began. The ship was steaming hard and maintained 20 knots while we remained anywhere in the danger zone. We were not convoyed, but were several times visited by warships, and once a British bombing plane came over to have, a look at us. When we at last reached'Fremantle we thought we were in Paradise."