'I was lucky, I never saw an angry German'

By Jim Lewis and Rob Burnett
July 2005

Commemorations will take place this Sunday, July 10 in the Falkland Islands - and around the world - to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The aim of the occasion, which falls between the anniversaries of Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8 and Victory in Japan (VJ) Day on August 15, is to remember all theatres of war in the 1939-45 conflict and everyone who took part.

A veteran of that terrible war, Jim Lewis (84) has lived in the Falklands with his Islander wife Jean, since his retirement in 1986. When war broke out in 1939, Jim was already a seamen, working in the Hull fishing fleet on a trawler, having first gone to sea at the tender age of 15.

After his ship was commandeered by the Admiralty, Jim signed on to the Royal Navy and was sent to join HMS Baltavia, a merchant refrigeration ship. After getting the vessel rigged out with the necessary weaponry orders arrived for the ship to head to the Falklands.

It was Boxing Day 1939 when Jim first arrived in the Islands, a week later than planned, after the Baltavia had to be diverted. At the time, the crew were unaware of the reason but upon reaching Stanley Harbour, were informed by Commander Martin, the Naval Commander in the Islands, that their diversion was, "on account of the Battle of the River Plate."

Jim was told that as a supply ship, the Baltavia would have been at risk of being captured by the German fleet keen to get at the stores such ships were carrying. Ships sailing to the Falklands were at risk, Jim says as, unlike in the North Atlantic, "you couldn't come in convoy because there weren't enough ships coming at the one time."

For two years Jim was stationed in the Falklands. During this time he was the coxswain of the ship's launch: "I used to run people ashore and run between some of the other ships, as well as collecting mail."

The Baltavia's job was to supply the ships in the area with food. In the course of these duties, Jim had two or three trips to the River Plate where he called in to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The ship also travelled to South Africa to restock which meant making room for fresh stores on the way, or as Jim says, "we dumped all our meat in the sea for the sharks because it was getting old."

It was while in the islands that Jim met and married his wife Jean Grant, an Islander. Unfortunately the couple did not have long for a honeymoon as Jim was posted back to the UK just four days after their wedding in October 1941. In 1943 Jim finally got to see his wife again when she arrived in the UK as a volunteer war worker in a factory.

In between time Jim was posted to HMS Mersey barracks in Liverpool before briefly being aboard HMS Devon City, another merchant ship. Only three weeks later, he was seconded into the Merchant Navy as so many men had been lost in the service.

One of the ships Jim served on also carried a plane which was launched from the vessel by a catapault to engage the German planes if their convoy was attacked. The problem with the system however, was retrieving the RAF pilot and his plane once he had flown from the ship. Jim says, "If they went up and then ditched, there was no way we could pick them up, as in convoy you weren't allowed to stop."

Although Jim says that many of these pilots were inevitably lost, it seems his particular ship was lucky as years later, in 1970, while Jim was working in Surrey, "I met a chap and we got chatting and I found out that he was a pilot on this ship I was on!"

One of Jim's most abiding memories of the war is that of the fleet's departure for the D-Day invasion of mainland France in 1944. He was aboard the merchant ship Temple Yard and was anchored off Southend: "With all the ships and small boats going across, it was a battle royal and quite a lot of people were lost going over before they even touched France."

After the initial invasion, Jim's ship, "followed and replenished supplies and ammunition". He sadly recalls, "When we got there to start discharging, it wasn't a very nice sight because you saw bodies floating by now and again as they had no time to pick them up".

Although Jim was known as something of a lucky charm for ships, having never been sunk, his father did not share his son's fortitude. While working on fishing trawlers in the Second World War, he was sunk three times, and in the First World War he was even sunk twice in one night. (After his ship had been torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine, the crew were transferred to another ship which was then sunk by the same submarine. Not wishing to push their luck any further, both crews managed to get aboard another ship which then quickly headed for shore.)

Jim served in the Merchant Navy for the remainder of the war; when it ended, he rejoined the Hull fishing fleet and, with Jean, lived in Hull, Peterborough and Surrey before coming back to live in the Falklands on his retirement in 1986. Jean says, "We came for six months holiday and we're still here!"

Fiercely patriotic and still a seaman at heart (Jim's Ensign could be seen flying last week to mark the Battle of Trafalgar celebrations taking place in the UK) Jim was always happiest at sea. He says, "I didn't like being ashore, not when the planes were going over and they were bombing the cities, I was always glad to get back out to sea!"

Jim thinks it is vital that people continue to commemorate and remember those that took part in the Second World War, whatever their role in the campaign was. Jean shares here husband's feelings on the subject and says, "The Baltavia played and important part down here feeding the Navy. Feeding the troops is a very important job, they wouldn't get far without food."

There were also social benefits: as well as their normal duties, many of the ships stationed in the Falklands raised money for the Red Cross and the crew on the Baltavia used to run dances and boxing tournaments. As Jim says, "… there were quite a few handy lads in the Falklands!"

Despite sailing with the Royal and Merchant Navy throughout the war, being involved in the D-Day invasion, and seeing many dog fights between British and German fighter planes over his convoy, Jim regards himself as very fortunate. "I was lucky," he says, "I never saw an angry German."

First published in the Penguin News on 8 July 2005, and reproduced by kind permission of the Editor

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