Memories 6

Memories, section 6 …

More from the collections of …

The card below was signed and presented to Alan when he left Ocean Monarch in 1966. Clockwise from top left are: George Buckley, Entertainer; Michael Shaw, Entertainer; Millie Buckley; Charlie Byers; Bill Fraser, Shop Manager; Captain Ray Marshall, Master; Ralph Michele, Cruise Director; Dr J C Collins, Ship’s Surgeon; Peter Stephens, Electrical Engineer and Nicky; Ann Boulton, Stewardess; Andy Moore, Chief Engineer; Michael Whelan, Writer; Charles Acton, Chief Steward; Eric Dinnett; Al James, Assistant Purser; Captain Heys, Staff Captain; Henry Latoy, Staff Chief Steward; Dave Townson, Assistant Purser; Charles Garvey, Entertainer; Frank Walsh, Orchestra Leader; Ben Arnold, Thomas Cook Representative; Clella Colton, Social Hostess; C Brewerton; Des Kirkpatrick, Snr. Assistant Purser; Ann Jordan, Stewardess; Rodney Pattinson, Assistant Purser; Donald Parkinson, Writer; Jean and Peter Chapman, Chief Radio officer.

… Sir Alan Duddle

Sir Alan sent these photographs from his days on Queen of Bermuda and Ocean Monarch. Below is a rare group taken on ‘C’ deck aft of Queen of Bermuda of a party to celebrate the 21st birthday of John Day, 3rd Officer. Alan is standing on the far right with Basil Wild, another assistant purser, to his right. Also featured are David Gillmon, radio officer, David Harris and Ray Gleave, assistant pursers, and Ivor Atkinson, Staff Chief Steward. Which one is John? Please contact the webmaster if you can identify him and any more faces. The same photo appears in the Grand Reunion memorabilia film. Click here.

Alan standing at the entrance to the cinema on ‘A’ deck forward of Ocean Monarch

In the centre of the group photograph (left) are Captain Ray Marshall and his wife, Jane. Alan remembers that the other couple was the Chairman of Furness Withy (ed: Tom Crabb) and his wife (name not known).

Help with their names and the man seated next to Ray Marshall would be welcomed.

… Alex Reay

Alex (Alec) Reay served in the engine room of Ocean Monarch from her commissioning in 1951 until her de-commissioning in 1966 - the only crew member to do so.

We were contacted by Angus Tinwell, brother-in-law of Alec with the two pictures below, part of memorabilia created from family papers for Alec.

Angus tells us, “We have been lucky in as much as our daughter now lives in New Jersey, only a couple of hours away from Alec in New York, and we have been able to visit him twice a year when visiting her.

It’s quite amazing how our family has gone full circle and ended up in the USA so close together, Alec in the1950s when he married whilst working on the ships, and then our daughter in 2003.”

Alec at the Grand Reunion in May 2011.

Photograph: Simon Mitchell.

Alec (above) with his younger sister, Iris Tinwell (Angus’s wife).

Photograph: Angus Tinwell.

The photograph (below right) was taken in St George’s, Bermuda of the celebration for the1958 tug-of-war victory of Ocean Monarch’s engine room staff over the deck department. Alec can be seen over the shoulders of the two men standing in front of the prize cases of beer. Photograph: Collection of Alex Reay

… Bryce Higgins

Graham Higgins, son of former deck officer, Bryce Higgins, sent us this photograph of a Bermuda beach party in the 1960s, from a set found in his loft.

Standing on the left is Laurie Lawrence, Chief Engineer, next to an unidentified lady, in the centre Daphne Taylor, wife of Derrick (Buck) Taylor (with back to camera), Snr. Assistant Purser, all from Queen of Bermuda.

Photograph: Bryce Higgins, from collection of Graham

… John Quick

John Quick (right) was an assistant purser on Queen of Bermuda in 1965/66. Now living in Australia, he was excited to find our website and make contact with former shipmates around the world.

Not having heard of him for 45 years, we asked John what had become of him and his wife Beatrice. He tells us “I left Queen of Bermuda the day she sailed from Bermuda for the last time. My first job in Bermuda was as a Front Desk Clerk at the Bermudiana Hotel in Hamilton and I eventually became Front Office and Reservations Manager.

Beatrice and I married in 1967 and lived at the Bermudiana Beach Club in Warwick. I have to thank Dave Gillmon for bringing her down to the ship for an ice cream after he had met her and her friends on Elbow Beach. Our first daughter was born on the island, just before we left for Canada.”

“In Canada, I joined the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal as a Food and Beverage (F & B) trainee. After three years training, I became the assistant F & B manager of Place Ville Marie from where I was transferred to the London Hilton and, ultimately, to the opening of the new Stratford on Avon Hilton in Warwickshire, England. By 1973, I was transferred to the Sydney Hilton, which was then being built.

The building was stopped after difficulties were encountered with the unions, so I took time off to pursue a business opportunity adventure with the, then, Sous Chef.

John (kneeling left) with Bob White, standing in blazer is Dave Gillmon, with Bill Cox to his left. At the back are (left to right) Malcolm Llewellyn, unidentified, Mike Shailer, Malcolm Sargent and Ray Gleave. Dave and Mike were radio officers and the others assistant pursers.

A postscript

Having spent some time looking through the website, John came across John Turner’s photo album in Memories 4 and says, “Maybe you could pass the following on to John as it might be of interest to him and his note number 7 (left), regarding the small boat. As I remember, it was called Sea Egg and was sailed solo by John Riding across the Atlantic, with a stopover in Bermuda. We met John in 1967/8 during his extended stay on the island, where he was quite busy on the social scene.”

John (left) with fellow assistant purser, Mike Willey

“Eventually, I joined a major department store group, where I remained as a Store Manager, until I retired in 2003. Beatrice and I had another daughter, and recently our first grandson, and are both happily retired and living on the northern beaches of Sydney.”

“He eventually sailed down to and through the Panama Canal and on to New Zealand where he made another one of his stopovers to re-provision. In 1972, he set sail for Sydney, where we were then living, and we hoped to catch up with him again in early 1973. Regrettably he never made it, as he was lost somewhere in the Tasman Sea and no trace was ever found of him or his little 12ft yacht.

Many details can be found online under 'Sea Egg" / John Riding and of the book he wrote about his voyage across the Atlantic.”

… Ered Matthew

Ered Matthew (above), of ‘Cabin Class Collectibles’, model builder and former Cruise Director.

Ered (see his model of Queen of Bermuda in Archives 3) contacted us again with these two photographs. He says, “I have attached a scanned image of a World Wide Press photo I recently acquired, depicting the 1938 Queen of Bermuda rowing team during a practice session near Poughkeepsie, New York. The photo (right) is dated 21 August 1938. The crew members are identified as (from left, foreground) A Veater, H Laite and W Burke; (background) J Smith, P Perry and H French. I have been able to match some of them to the photo (above) of the team holding the 2nd Place trophy. A pity that three of them were cropped out of the practice photo and remain unidentified.”

Photographs: World Wide Press from collection of Ered Matthew

For Memories, section 1, click here, section 2, click here, section 3, click here, section 4, click here, section 5, click here , section 7, click here, section 8, click here, section 9, click here, section 10, click here and section 11, click here.