Remembering Overlord
ou may be interested in a few notes relating to my experiences with (Tom Cunliffe, last month) during National Service 1955-57. After my initial training at the RASC Water Transport establishment based at Fort Victoria, Yarmouth, IoW, an officer somehow discovered I had considerable knowledge of the maintenance and handling of small craft. My call-up at the age of 24 was deferred because my employer, the Berthon Boat Company, was building Inshore Minesweepers. One of my duties was to helm the Windfall yacht while it was towed from its winter quarters at Gunwharf Quay () Portsmouth, to Yarmouth to its summer berth. Under way, it was normal practice to scrub the deck. While helming I watched a Lt Colonel, a Brigadier and two Majors beavering away pushing holly stones fore and aft with beads of sweat on their foreheads. Upon arrival in Yarmouth, one of the officers remarked he had noticed a slight brown stain in several areas, he was informed by me you should never scrub a fir deck in this manner. This treatment over a number of years had reduced the deck thickness allowing salt water to penetrate below the caulking seam exposing the secret fastenings.
