Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 10:48:34 +0000
From: Robert Me <winchesterbornbred@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: The Hut/11

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First convoy
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"Oh dear, if I had got here first I would have taken your bunk, I'm
afraid I prefer to be nearer the floor." Patrick was going to be a twat.
"Take it then and it's called DECK on a ship, NOT floor." Simon jumped up
on the top bunk, "There, happy now?"
"Thank you, um...."
"Simon, I'm called Simon. I'm sure a boffin like you will learn it
eventually. Meanwhile goodnight, um...........? The sarcasm was wasted.
He watched as Patrick got undressed and as he did he exposed a wonderful
body, slim, trim and utterly beautiful, but it was when he turned round
and saw that cock! It was MASSIVE! Nine inches? Simon quickly turned
round and faced the bulkhead and silently said sorry to Tony for even
looking at the pricks prick.

At around 9am the first of the crew started to arrive and Simon had
already been up for three hours. He toured as much of the ship that he
could get to and found that the dock workers were beginning to pack up,
it seemed the work was done. He and the other officers met all the crew
as they came on board, they were taken off by the first mate but it
seemed most of them knew where to go as they had already served on
Corvettes.
The Blossom was one of the first Corvettes in service and had crossed the
Atlantic four times and had seen quite a lot of action, none of it
involving U-boats, but rescuing survivors of torpedoed merchant ships.

The Corvette was a mixture of good and bloody awful, but they would serve
throughout the war with great distinction even though they were a bitch
to sail in. It was said of the corvette that they would role on damp
grass as they pitched alarmingly and stayed wet down below all the time
they were at sea. Her top speed of 16 knots could not keep up with a
U-boat until it submerged and that was their main aim, keep them down and
depth charge them if they still had Asdic contact, but mainly so the
convoy could get away.
The Blossom was not as well armed as later versions and sailed with just
4 depth charge throwers and two stern rails. On the foc'sle there was a
single four inch gun and at the stern on what was called the band stand,
a twelve pounder. On the bridge wings were twin mounted .303 Lewis guns.
This ship had early Radar sets and the sonar submarine detectors called
Asdic, were both very basic and in dire need of replacing.

Even though his ship was a rather out dated old girl, Simon loved her and
all down to the fact the officers he had met so far were great and the
crew he had met seemed fine as well. Patrick could possibly be a problem,
but with a cock like that, Simon would forgive him anything! He knew Tony
would not forgive him though if he knew what he was ogling over. "Sorry
Tony, only looking!" He said to himself.
It was 10am and his world was about to change and so would he. In just
one message from the captain, EVERYTHING changed. The speakers clicked
on.

"This is the captain, this is the captain. It is my sad duty to inform
you that this morning after an exchange of fire with German ships, HMS
Hood has been sunk and it seems with all hands. Officers to the wardroom,
crew to the mess deck."

Simon sat there hearing nothing and just stared at the table fighting not
to break down, but it was a battle he was loosing as the tears poured out
of him. He tried so hard poor lad and it was noticed.
"Simon?"  Charles Thickness called his name several times but there was
no response.
"Please leave chaps and go to the crew." Simon did not even know they had
gone.
"Simon? Did you know someone on her?" At least he heard that and looked
at his captain but could not see through the tears.
"The best mate you could ever have and he had his best mate with him,
they have both gone sir and I'm sorry I shouldn't be like this. I'm
supposed to be a fucking MAN."
"No Simon don't be sorry for crying, never be sorry for having a heart
old man. I am lucky, I can go to my cabin and shut the door and that's
where I'm going after I know you are feeling a bit better. You see Simon,
my younger brother was on her as well."

A couple of hundred miles away Tony was also crying his eyes out and
being comforted by Gary. They sat in Tony's room where Gary had taken him
when the news came on the radio. It was a perfect situation for him and
he was going to take full advantage of it. He cuddled Tony into him with
one arm around his shoulders and also stroking his cheek with the other
hand. He had Tony's head touching his own cheek and was able to kiss his
forehead.
"I am so sorry Tony, just let it all out, you know I am here for you."
Tony did not hear or feel a thing, he was just lost in his grief and all
the time thinking about Spike, Brian and of course Simon.
After some time he became aware that Gary was stroking his cheek and felt
him kiss his head and muttering condolences and support for him. He
jumped up and looked at Gary smiling up at him.
"What the fuck makes you so happy? Good news for you was it?"
"NO Tony! I just want to support you, you must know that?" Tony could not
give a toss and went out. It was good for him because he could go back to
work and absorb himself into it. Gary sat there cussing himself and just
a little pissed off. "Blokes always give in when I get physical with
them. Ok I will have to find another way." He was about too.
He got off Tony's bed and was about to leave when he looked at the
bedside locker. He went to the door and looked out, it was all clear.
"Right lets have a look in here." He opened the top drawer and straight
away found something that could be of interest, a bundle of letters and
all from Simon, it was a gold mine. He put them all back and went to his
room in the Sergeants mess, stripped off and went for a bath. He laid in
it and had a good soak thinking the whole time about how he could now
get Tony's mind off Simon and into his. This was going to be difficult
and it could back fire on him if he was not careful. It would be much
more of a challenge, but Gary liked this type of challenge and he was
good at it as he had got quite a few men into bed of his choosing in the
past and many who were not even homosexual. He also knew where the
letters were and what was in them, all very embarrassing and not only
to the receiver, but also the writer and it could be very difficult for
the two of them should they fell onto a senior officers desk in the
Military Police. Homosexuality was such a huge offence in the military it
could see a queer in jail for a very long time and social humiliation
when they got out. Still, that would have to be a last result and only
used if he was positive that he could not get Tony into bed by other
means and he now had a long time to work on him. The letters he knew
would always be in his locker and it would not take much to get his hands
on them. No, he would have to work on Tony's good nature and the fact he
only knew how to like people, there must be a weakness there surely? He
looked down at himself and smiled at his 7.5 inches of straight 21 year
old beauty and took it in his hand and began to stroked himself, he knew
this would not take long as he thought of Tony sucking it and then in his
ass while he fucked him. He came a massive load and as he came too he
still had that smile on his face and Tony in his head. Gary was not the
nice bloke most people thought he was and Tony would come to realise that
as well.

Simon finished his letters to his father and Tony, but given the fact
mail was now being censored he had to be careful what he wrote. Still in
these two it was all about the loss of their friends and the Hood of
course and would not be a problem for those censoring anyway. He went off
to the mail room and then back to his ship, he was still numb with the
news about the Hood and then of course the captains loss as well. Nobody
spoke to Simon about it although they must have known he had lost a
friend or even brother, Simon would not be saying anything about the
skippers loss either and that was noted by Charles Thickness, he already
liked Simon and hoped he was as good a navigator as he was a person, his
reports said he was and that was encouraging. They would sail in two days
after they had stocked up and would join up for their first escort off
the south coast of Ireland and that would give him time to get the crew
to work AS a crew.

There has been much written about the convoy escorts during the war and
the men of the Royal and Merchant Navies and allied navies who virtually
saved Briton not only from starvation but the materials to fight with.
Briton without them would have been beaten into submission and no
American could have got to Briton let alone launch an invasion from her.
There was still another seven months to go before America joined in the
fight against the powers of evil and the average sinking of over 300,000
a month so far could not be sustained and that total would become much
more over the next two years. Loosing the Battle of the Atlantic became
Churchill's worst nightmare.

This is not the story of the Battle itself, but about four boys and now
young men who had often met in a woodman's hut just outside the village
of Hamble and found love. Now two had gone and the other two had other
battles of their own ahead of them with no idea as to the outcome and the
war would control events.

That first escort was all that the new crew were told about by the old
hands, wet, cold, a ship that heaved all over the place, cramped, eating
corned beef and powdered potato three times a day, dreadful weather, but
worse witnessing yet another ship blow up and the search for survivors,
many of whom died after being bought on board. The constant waiting for
yet another U-boat attack and wondering if it would be your turn next. A
common tactic of the U-boats was to attack the escorts first then other
boats could help themselves to the merchantmen. There was also the vast
area on the ocean that did not have air cover because of aircraft range,
or rather the lack of it, when the U-boats were safe from attack from the
air. The Germans called that time, "the happy days!"

Even though the conditions on board were pretty uncomfortable, to say the
least, Simon was helped greatly by those he sailed with. He was amazed at
the relaxed attitude of those who had experienced many escorts, ,it
seemed to him that the worse the conditions were, the happier the crew
was. It certainly rubbed off on him and he soon settled down and became
very popular with all the crew. He was determined to learn all he could
about every action station on board and would often be seen in the Asdic,
radar and wireless shacks asking questions and just observing. Down in
the engine room getting in the way and was often told to, "fuck
off.........sir," but with a huge smile as well. He paid a lot of
attention to all the guns and was allowed to fire the Lewis's and watched
as the 4 inch and 12 pounder guns were practise fired. His continued his
education with the depth charge throwers and how to set depth fuses,
loading and became a tolerated part of the crew when they trained.
"Pilot?" the common name for the navigation officer in the RN, "I want
our position please." Charles smiled knowing Simon had been off the
bridge for ages. Simon gave it out straight away.
"Fuck it."
"Thank you captain, just follow those ships sir, you wont get lost,
unless they already are."
"Fuck it again!"

"CONTACT!" The alarms rang out and the ships company closed up.
"205, 1000 yards."
"Hard to starboard full ahead." Everyone was calm and focused and Simon's
heart was at bursting point.
"Still got it?"
"500 yards."
"Midships. Depth charges stand by."
"300 yards."
"Standby." This seemed too easy.
"TORPEDOS TO PORT!"
"Hard to starboard. Fuck we will miss it." The ship heaved over and one
of her more positive assets proved itself, her maneuverability. They
watched the two torpedo's pass well to their port side.
"Hard to port.......... Asdic?"
"Lost it sir." Thickness was now in guess mode.
"Midships."
"Depth charges...........................FIRE!"

They dropped six depth charges at a time in four passes, but had no
result and were now well behind the convoy and it would take over an hour
to get back on station and while chasing it two ships were hit and went
down in minutes. There would be only 18 survivors from both ships and a
total loss of 152.

A week later they moored up in Halifax and would be there a week before
they started the return escort.
"It will get hot now Simon and you will have to take a watch, the ship
and all of us will be relying on you when you are, so don't fuck up
and get us lost." Simon smiled at his captain.
"Course not sir, England's that way, isn't it?"
"Think so."

They cleared the ship up as best they could and replenished fuel, water
and food. They got the chance to go for a shower and Simon and Patrick
went off together. Simon had not seen Patrick naked since that first
time because the whole crew stayed fully dressed once they went to
sea and did not even get into their bunks, just slept on top of the damp
bedding.
He was looking forward to it and would say a quiet sorry to Tony
afterwards.

It was quite funny really and as soon as they got to the showers they
found a massive room with dozens of shower heads pouring out gallons of
hot water by the minute, and there were dozens of men having a good clean
up. It was an amazing scene and Simon had a good look at most of them,
but EVERYONE looked at Patrick! He seemed oblivious to the attention and
when Simon realised there were some American's in there as well it made
it even more enjoyable.
"Hi there, where in the States do you come from buddy?" Smiles.
"Buckinghamshire and that's in England!" Pissed off or what.

"I get that every time I shower in public Simon. Its such a bore,
I sometimes wish I could swap it, I would get less attention. I HATE
people staring, it makes me feel like some sort of freak show."
"You can swap it for mine if you like Patrick. I would love it." The
answer surprised Simon.
"Oh no dear chap, you are perfect, very handsome and a very nice person
as well. I hope you don't mind me being so forward?"
"Not at all Patrick." He did not want to tell him he was a fucking God
and when he got back to the ship he would have to send all sorts of
silent messages to Tony apologising for thinking like that. "Only looking
my love and I know bloody well your eyes and jaw would fall on the deck
if you saw it."

There were a couple of days to go before they cast off and there was some
time to get to know Patrick a little better. Simon found he liked
him much more now and not because Patrick said he thought he was
handsome, although Simon rather liked it, no his personality was coming
through and although he was out in space most of the time they all found
out he had done a lot of work on the radar system and he got all that
he could working on the ships outfit. He told Simon of a new system about
to be bought into service, the Type 271 and would be housed in its own
"tower" behind the bridge.
"We call it a "lantern" and the system is far ahead of what we have now
Simon."
"Who do you mean "we?"
"I have been working on radars and sonar systems for years and have been
involved since the age of 15 along side my father. I needed to join up
and see the systems work first hand and will report back to father with
my recommendations."
"And what will they be?"
"Dump this shit and get the 271's as soon as possible." Simon stared at
Patrick and laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"YOU swearing, its just took me by surprise that's all."
"Oh do fuck off Simon, I'm quite normal I think. There is a lot you would
be surprised about me and one day I may tell you. You seem a person I
could trust." Simon thought about that and was sure he was right.

It was foul weather and they were being tossed about all over the place.
The rain poured down and the convoy had to reduce to 5 knots. What a time
to do your first officer of the watch. The only good thing about it was,
nothing happened much to his relief. The First Lieutenant took over and
he went below for a wet sleep, but Patrick had been sick all over his
bunk and the deck. It took him an hour to get it somewhere clean. Patrick
rewarded him by throwing up again. He pulled him out of his bunk and made
him climb up to his. He stripped the lower bunk off and just tied it to
one of the life rafts on deck hoping it would wash off. He got back and
tried to sleep on Patrick's stinky mattress, but the alarm going off
stopped even that.
He got to the bridge where he would stay unless they came under fire and
were hit. Simon was also damage and fire control officer. The Bosun
helped Simon out on the passage over. "Right sir, so you are in charge of
fire fighting and damage control, what are your orders?"
"My orders are, I am in charge of fire fighting and damage control. YOU
Jack will tell me what to do and I will do it. Sound good to you?"
"Not bad sir, right grab hold of that hose."

Almost as soon as the contact with the U-boat was made, so it was lost
and after another hour Charles was about to tell them to stand down when
the first ship was hit just a half mile away, followed by two more much
further away. The skipper took Blossom towards the stricken ship that was
now stern down and sinking fast. With the nets over the side and the
Blossom creeping slowly ahead everyman was searching for survivors. They
came across bodies first and then they saw several who managed to grab
hold and pull themselves up. Five got on board who were taken below to
try and warm up. Three more were spotted, but one did not make it as far
as the net and floated out of sight. Simon saw two more further away and
screamed up to the bridge. The CO took them to the men who were by now in
a bad way and would never be strong enough to get up the net. Simon and
Patrick could see that and scrambled over the side and went down and
literally grabbed both men and pulled them up. They were the last they
could find. Charles called for slow ahead and as he  got out of the area
he called for full speed, he lent to a voice pipe. "Come on Asdic, find
the bastard!" The sub had gone.

By the time they were in British waters, but still not safe, a
further two ships were sunk when they came under air attack. It was a
shoot and hope by the 4inch gun crew, but they were too far away and
the two aircraft completed their attack and flew off. There were
casualties, but the majority were picked up by other ships.

"Simon, you did say you lived in Hamble?"
"Yes skipper."
"Aint you the lucky boy, we have been told to go to Southampton and if we
can hail a boat I will let you off and you can stay overnight. You will
have to make your own way back, that alright?" Simon's smile gave his
Captain the answer. This was going to be great, just land at the mooring
and walk into his dad's office!

The next day true to his word Charles got onto the load hailer and
stopped a small boat and with the lads giving him a great send off he was
taken upstream to the boat yard.

"Hello dad." Andrew had his back to the office door and Simon saw him
freeze, he turned round and seconds later they were hugged together.
They did not stop talking for the next two hours and all the lads came in
to say hello, but left soon after, father and son needed their time.
"Have you heard from Tony?"
"No but there are about six letters waiting for you. Come on lets get
home and you can ring the hospital from there, but I doubt you will see
him in the time you have."
Simon called as soon as he had had a bath and put his cloths in the wash,
but was told he was on duty. She said he would give him a message to
ring as soon as he went off in about an hour. Tony smiled and could not
wait, meanwhile he started to read the letters. Andrew got the rum out
and they began to drink through it. "Nice letters? How is Tony anyway?"

Nurse Private Jean Broom was at reception when Gary passed by.
"Gary do you know where Tony is?"
"Yes my little fuck bucket, he is in Orthopaedic Ward. Just going to meet
him now." Gary liked fucking women as well.
"I'm not your fuck anything Sergeant, could you ask him to ring his
friend Simon Walsh, he says he is at home until tomorrow."
"You will be one day Private. Ok leave it with me." He walked off cussing
himself for having such a bad memory.
"Hello handsome, had a good shift?" Gary smiled at him.
"Great thanks Gary, spent most of it in theatre and did all the trays,
loved it." Tony smiled back. "Your on nights right?"
"Yep, what will you do?"
"Something to eat, bath, write to Simon and then an early night. I'm
on 06 00 tomorrow."
"Yes I know, I do the rotas remember. I can make sure your up if you want
and bang on your door?"
"I'm fine thanks, never been late yet. Goodnight have a quiet shift."
"Sleep well." He lent close to Tony. "And no wanking unless its about me
ok?" He laughed, but Tony ignored it.

"Oh bugger it dad, I have to get some sleep, its midnight and he wont
call now. I need sleep anyway, not had much lately. There must have been
some sort of emergency for him not to ring. That must be the reason." He
tried to forget it and made sure the alarm was set, he fell into a deep
sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Andrew came up the ladder
himself after he had hung Simon's clothes up. He stood looking down at
his son so happy he had this unexpected visit, but visibly shaking with
worry, for the millionth time he cursed Corporal Hitler.

Simon was awake before the alarm and went down to iron his uniform and
got dressed, his dad came down soon after and they had a one egg
breakfast and a thick slice of bread each and then got into the car. They
made small talk all the way, but Tony came up again.
"I suppose he got the message Simon?"
"Why shouldn't he?"
"Just thinking that's all. People do make mistakes."
"Well, I wont find out now and have no idea when. I don't even know when
we are sailing. Still, look out for me and I will wave when we pass you!"

As always the goodbye was a bugger and Simon stood looking at the back of
his fathers car as he drove away waving all the time. "See you dad."
Andrew was thinking hard as he drove home. People do make mistakes that's
so true, but if Tony had been held up, he would have called even if it
was in the middle of the night. He would not miss the chance to speak to
Simon, NO chance, something fucked up and he would find out.

Andrew was making a calculated guess and assumed the girl on duty would
be again at the same time. He picked the phone up and dialled.
"Oh hello my name is Lieutenant Commander Walsh, my son left a message
last night for his friend Anthony Tennant Williams to call. Would you
know if he got the message?"
"Oh yes sir, I gave it to one of the Sergeants to tell him, he was on his
way to meet him after his shift, so I'm sure he got it."
"Was Tony late off duty for some reason?"
"Oh no sir, I saw him go myself."
"Oh right. Look I know this is a bit of a nuisance but could you give
him a message to ring me, but make sure you give it to him personally,
its extremely important and quite private to him?"
"That's fine Commander, he is off duty now, but I will go to his room and
ask him to call."
"Thank you so much." Jean Broom could not wait to go to his room, she
fancied Tony no end and dropped enough hints to make let him know he
could go all the way with her. Christ Tony, another one!

He put his shirt on when the knock came thinking it would be Gary.
"What the fuck are you doing here Jean you know its out of bounds?"
"Your friend Simon called last night and I asked Gary to tell you he is
at home and wanted you to call. Did you get the message?"
"No."
"Well his dad just called and wants you to call him, he says its
important and if you want to hook up with me, I'm available." She smiled
at him and Tony ignored her, he was in a panic.
"Thanks Jean now bugger off or we will both be in trouble."
"Ok, but you and I are going on a date soon mister."
"I cant afford to take you out."
"Fine, we stay in then, much cheaper and a hell of a lot more fun!"

"Hello Andrew. What's going on?"
"That's what I want to know. You didn't get the message then?"
"No I didn't and I think I know why."
"Why?"
"Its Gary he ah........he likes me and I think he is trying to take me
away from Simon, in fact I know he is now."
"Could it get awkward for you? You know because you and Simon are
involved. It could get nasty if he is determined to get you
and.............Well you know."
"It could and he is relying on the fact that Simon is away now and we
spend a lot of time together as he is my nursing instructor and we also
share some duties as well. He also mentions lots of times when he helped
you on Peace and thinks he has got a hold on me that way as well. Oh
shit."
"Well, he only knows what you have told him, its your word against his.
Just be careful what you say and don't get led into something that will
be difficult for you."
"Its ok Andrew, I am more than aware now, I will be fine and hope to see
you and Simon soon."
"Any idea when that will be?"
"No and even that is up to Gary. I know he will arrange it so we are off
together."
"Now listen. You DONT have to arrange anything with me before you come
home. If you get time, say like Simon just has and you cant get hold of
me first, just come, do you understand?"
"Thanks Andrew, I will. I wish we could have done something for Spike and
Brian."
"I know son, it will take time to get over that dreadful time. You just
take care of yourself please."
"I will Andrew and thanks again."

On her way back to reception Jean saw Gary and asked him why he had not
passed the message on?
"Something came up and I was distracted, but Private, I really don't have
to explain myself to you. Where is Tony now?"
"On the phone talking to Simon's dad Sergeant."

Gary went off and saw him on the phone near the main entrance. "Fuck it!
Still, there is one thing he doesn't know that I do." He checked it was
all clear and went into Tony's room and when he got back to his room, hid
the bundle of letters.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 winchesterbornbred@hotmail.co.uk