HMAS MILDURA - Life on Board a Corvette

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More stories of life on board HMAS MILDURA

FOOD

Fresh milk was not usually available so most of the time the crew used cans of condensed milk. There were always two holes punched in the lid of the can to make it easier to pour. One hole was big, the other always small. A naive young signalman asked why this was done. He was told that the small hole was to let the cockroaches in, and the larger hole was to let them out.

Mealtime, HMAS MILDURA, August 1951

Allan Waugh commented that on his first meal on the MILDURA he watched as experienced sailor, Jack Coulter, carefully cut the crusts off his slice of bread. Having been raised through the Depression, Allan thought this incredibly wasteful. He challenged Coulter about this habit. Jack told him that the corvettes used to anchor out in Sydney Harbour and send a small boat it to pick up their supplies which were left on the Man O' War Steps (near the site of the Sydney Opera House). The loaves of bread were stacked up waiting to be picked up. Every dog in Sydney used to wander up to the bread stack and then cock their leg. Allan has cut his crusts off his bread ever since.

Cool room door, HMAS CASTLEMAINE

Sailors probably ate better than their army counterparts. The ship's refrigerated cool room would hold sides of lamb and beef. In the later years of the war, depth charge "practice" used to bring large hauls of fresh fish. Four meals per day were served. Breakfast was at 7.00am. This often consisted of steamed eggs (cooked in their shells in a large wire basket), tinned herrings (goldfish), baked beans (yippee beans), toast, porridge and prunes. Dinner at 12.00pm was the main meal of the day. This was generally pretty good with beef or mutton. Sundays was always roast pork with saratoga chips and baked potatoes. In the tropics there was also an issue of unsweetened lime juice. Tea was at 4.00pm and was usually bread, jam and a cup of tea. Supper was served at 7.00pm which was solid meal, perhaps bully beef in batter. There was a dessert like rhubarb crumble or tinned fruit.

Petty Officer Cook Smedley (?) 1941

All food was cooked in the small galley. Each crew member would take turns to carry trays to their mess. In heavy seas you could lose the lot which caused great amusement to others. The galley was staffed by three cooks and a rating. The officers also had two stewards to serve their meals, wash clothes, iron etc. The officers ate in the ward room, the Captain ate in his cabin. The captain's cabin was larger than the communications mess deck which held ten sailors.

The Captain's Cabin HMAS CASTLEMAINE

Communications mess deck, HMAS MILDURA recreated at the Australian War Museum

The Officer's Wardroom, HMAS CASTLEMAINE

When working in the tropics, the corvettes were supplied by the Fleet Victualling Store Issue Supply Ship (F.V.S.I.S.) MV MERKUR. It held refrigerated supplies. If the ship was late, the crew had to rely on tinned goods and powdered eggs. Fresh food, especially fruit and vegetables were in short supply. These foods were stored in a large vegetable locker on the main deck. Involvement with other nations often made different items available. The Americans were popular as the ship could get ice cream and on one occasion while working with the British in Hong Kong each crew member was issued with a tot of rum. There was no alcohol served when the ship was at sea. On coming into harbour, the ships would signal their food requirements for delivery as soon as possible.

Washing up was done on at platform at the stern. Used water was thrown over the back, occasionally with pieces of cutlery. Replacement cutlery would be "liberated" from various hotels ashore. The ship was equipped with salt and pepper shakers from some of Australia's finest hotels.

OYSTERS AND FISH

Seafood was always an important part of the ship's menu. Even if fishing meant a "practice" depth charging. John Jewell recalls a trip to Fitzroy Island during a break from minesweeping after the war:

"We returned to the motor boat with a bag of huge oysters. Fair dinkum, they were as big as saucers. One of the cooks, I can't recall his name, loved oysters too and used to join us. We had them every imaginable way in the galley, battered, stewed, deep fried, raw with salad...what a life of luxury."

John Jewell and Mick O'Connor collecting oysters

Afternoon swimming party on Fitzroy Island.

John Walker and John Jewell carrying the oysters

TEA?
A recollection from John Walker

"Once whilst in Cairns, Geoff Jones was painting the ship's side. We tied up alongside the wharf and Geoff was standing on the wharf painting happily away. He noticed Cook Bryan Dalton pass the porthole and called out, "What about a cup of tea Bryan?" As Geoff did so, MILDURA drifted away from the wharf. Geoff overbalanced and fell, paint tin and all, into the water. As he broke the surface, Bryan poked his head out of the porthole and said, "One or two sugars, Geoff?"

FISHING

Every old sailor knows, depth charges were rather lethal weapons when dropped near submarines. They were also useful for other purposes, like providing fresh fish when the need arose. Not strictly according to regulations mind you, but it did happen occasionally.

During a fairly quiet sojourn off the Queensland coast in 1944, Jim Radburn reared up in his ASDIC cabin and reported a good contact with a rather large shoal of fish. What better time to find out if the depth charges were in good working order.

The catch proved to be a good one and brought inboard, contained a rather large sea eel which surprisingly showed little life. Intrigued by this inertia, a bare footed Ordinary Seaman prodded it with his big toe, whereupon the eel suddenly came to life and clamped its jaws on the offending toe, much to the hilarity of the upper deck spectators.

The victim, John McCann, later served on HMAS AUSTRALIA and at Leyte was in the adjacent Bofors crew to Leading Seaman "Checker" Hughes (ex MILDURA) who was killed in that engagement.

The Skipper, John Little, catches a fish, watched by Jack Pantry

HYGIENE

Fresh water was always in short supply on a corvette, at times sea water was distilled for use. At sea the showers would be locked. Sailors were limited to one jug of water per day for washing. Washing facilities consisted of 3 bowls on a bench which pivoted on an axle so they could be tipped out. You used half the water to lather up and then rinsed off with the remaining water. Sometimes there wouldn't be enough water so you missed out on the wash, or get caught halfway through. As water was only pumped up to the decks at the end of each watch, there would be a 4 hour wait for more water. The reason for hand pumping the water was because of the shortage of fresh water. Sailors certainly learned not to waste it. The physical effort was probably good exercise as well. Alan Sargison reports getting ten days jankers on one occasion for refusing to pump the tank up before going off watch. Most sailors were very fastidious about cleanliness.

Vegetable locker and water tank on HMAS CASTLEMAINE

The water ration was a 300 gallon holding tank, gravity fed from the upper deck (next to vegetable locker). A lever action pump was used to pump water up to the holding tank. Sailors pumped during the day, other crew pumped at 4.00pm. It was quite a social occasion, taking around 30 minutes to complete, with each person spending about 3 minutes pumping. The pump was in the waist of the ship on the bottom lower deck. There was always a cheer when the tank overflowed.

CAPTAIN OF THE HEADS

George Burns, a gruff voiced and heavily tattooed AB, was "Captain of the Heads" during 1944. He resented any attempt to use them after he had cleaned them. "Why dontcha try the ship's side?", he would snarl in intimidatory tones. This was a practice sometimes used in the MILDURA, but usually only in silent hours and you had to be careful to choose the lee side!

George was also a crash hot oerlikon gunner and perfected his craft on the starboard wing of the MILDURA's bridge. It was said he honed his skills in HMAS NORMAN on Messerschmitts during the Russian convoys to Murmansk. In summer daylight hours were experienced 20 hours out of 24 and German aircraft played hell with the convoys.

THE CAPTAIN'S ROUNDS

Every night at 7.30, the Officer of the Watch and the Cox'n carried out a general inspection of the ship. They asked the crew if there were any complaints. On Saturday mornings there was a more thorough inspection by the Captain. Dirt, dust or poor housekeeping were dealt with promptly. Sailors sometimes went to extreme lengths to keep the ship spotless. The teapot, which was a brass vessel similar to a watering can, was kept highly polished, and on one occasion a young sailor polished the inside as well; the tea tasted "off" for days.

Another inspection found a certain radio operator with his feet up on the desk. He was told, "...there's a bumper on the floor..." to which he replied, "...oh yeah, it's got no name on it, you can have it if you like!"

CLOTHES

In the tropics, the sailors didn't wear much, just shorts and sandals. In cooler weather the crew wore boiler suits, overalls, serge trousers or jumpers. You did your washing in a bucket. If you had a mate in the engine room, they had racks where you could hang clothes to dry. Uniforms were worn when going ashore. To make a real impression, sailors had their own uniforms made, known as "tiddly suits." These were often so tight you needed a mate to help you get them off! Thirty-four inch bell bottoms were not unknown. During training, the recruits were inspected on their way out of the depot, so the tiddly suits had to be smuggled out. You changed in the train to Melbourne to you could make your grand entrance into Young and Jacksons Hotel in Flinders Street.

Sailors who got married often had a special suit made with velvet cuffs, green for the left and red for the right. A band of white silk, apparently as a tribute to Lord Nelson, was also worn. Specialist Naval outfitters made a great business.

There were changes to the uniform during the war. Originally sailors were dressed in the all white uniforms, but this change in 1942 to more serviceable colours.

Officers and Crew in whites, 1941	Officers in variety of colours, 1946
Stokers in their overalls	The Gun Crew in action in shorts

 

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