Does anyone remember sailing with Tony? He was born 15th February 1940 and died at only 23 on 8th January 1964. His daughter was just six months old so has no memory of him and has been trying to find out more about his short life. She has gleaned, from stories and letters Tony sent to his wife, family and friends, the following ships, destinations and dates and hopes someone remembers sailing with him. He was a steward and sailed from Avonmouth.
MV La Ensenada, December 1957
MV Hartismere, Feb – March 1959
MV Camellia, Montreal, June 1959
MV Ashburton, Manila, New Zealand, Panama Canal, October 1959 – Jan 1960
MV Tremayne, Lagos, Dakar, May 1960
MV Carron Park, Sapele, Jan 1961
TSMV Calgaria, Montreal, May 1961
There is also a mention of La Hortensia but no information.
In case it jogs someone’s memory, she mentions a couple of incidents that someone may recognise.
- On a trip to Belgium, the crew were larking around on deck, and his 2 front teeth (which were false due to an incident), fell out over-board. He dived in after his teeth without even thinking. He surprised himself. The crew got him out of the water and then they all went to the pub, they laughed about it all night.
- In Ghana (if she remembers correctly) they had 2 monkeys on the ship for a short time, one of them they named Jenny.
- One trip to Canada, in Toronto she thinks, at 1 am in the morning, a few of them went up to see Niagara Falls. They ‘borrowed’ a car and managed to get it back before the ship sailed again but she doesn’t think they were officially meant to be off doing an outing as they didn’t know when it would set sail the next morning.
His daughter says that, apparently, he was happy and always smiling and positive, and seemed to be friends with many in his time at sea. He was a very good poker player and won many hundreds of cigarettes (according to him!) and would rally the guys for an evening game.
If any of this strikes a chord with anyone, please contact me so I can put you in touch with Tony’s daughter who would love to hear from you.
Linda
