"He joined the Blue Funnell Line owned by Alfred Holt and Company Liverpool shipping line (I think) as a cadet and rose through the ranks and became First Mate probably before the second war. At the outbreak of WWll he joined the Wavy Navy Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (so called because of the wavy sleeve stripes that RNVR officers wore to differentiate them from the Royal Navy) still serving with the same company. He was twice torpedoed in the Atlantic but survived. The ships were named after rivers or towns I think and I remenber his was taken out of line for a time for a wartime film to be made with John Wayne, to keep morale up. He may have had his Masters ticket then. After the war my family used to visit him on board ship in the Pool of London when he came in. As his seniority rose so did the size of his ship. It was a large freighter latterly which could take a few passengers and sometimes his wife. As a young boy it was a fantastic day out being shown the engine room, etc. In the 1950s he was offered Commodore of the Fleet but it would have meant moving to Germany from Inverness so he stayed senior Captain until retirement. He died in his garden in Inverness about 6 months after he retired. Unfortunately he was not in contact with my mother (Florence Willis) or Tess (Willis) Taylor following the death of Fred C. Willis as he did not agree with the Will, which is another story." - per
nephew Alan Stutchbury. |