These were individual wrapped and packaged
with waterproofing heavy wax paper
and indestructible without a sharp knife.
The packages contained variations of 4 ounces of
plum pudding in a can, an instant coffee package,
a bar of chocolate,a dehydrated soup packet, some
unrecognizable can of fish or meat.
four cigarettes and toilet tissue....
This ration was generally issued before
a mission as a supply for a couple of days.
Water treated with iodine for safety
was brought to the Company area by Battalion trucks
and hung in a large bag, with a spigot, for any individual to
to fill their canteens..Canteens were carried on our
Garrison utility belts at all times.
The reason I mention these facts is when we went out to
a Liberty cargo boat we took our K rations with us.
The ships galley was off limits to us but the cooks and crew
who had meals from an up to date kitchen, took one look at our
K rations which we were heating up on our steam winches, and it
kinda turned their hearts to invite us to what ever they had available..
Fresh eggs and cookies were an extreme benefit sometimes...
if we asked.....for some fresh milk for our coffee ...
When the ten or so days had passed our Company
set up a reasonable kitchen on the beach and was serving C rations...
Pretty much standard Army chow except for the fact
we had no tables or chairs, so we took our
mess gear and food back to our foxholes.
Most of the ships we serviced were Liberty ships or Victory
ships..The Victories or C2's as we called them, were
faster than the Liberties and less prone to submarine attack.
They also used Electric Winches to unload their hatches.
Occasionally we found ourselves aboard a Hog Islander which
had 3 specific decks higher than the hull line. We thought that
the name Hog Islander was with reference to these three
raised decks.
All these ships carried ammunition and war supplies,food and fuel
not necessarily with the above priority.
There was a vessel called a C4... A Reefer.
A Victory C4 was an ocean going boat with complete refrigeration
capability to transport fresh meat and ice cream, etc. etc.
The C4 had a vastly different configuration than all the others because
the cargo hatches were all in the forward part of the boat and covered
with water tight hatches to keep out seawater.
When we unloaded a Reefer we might celebrate in our Kitchens
for a few days with the stuff that "fell off the truck"..
Most of these boats were in the 10,000 Tonne
dead weight category where her cargo was concerned.
The most unique vessels we unloaded were called, Coasters...
They were one third the size of the Liberties and Victories,
About 125 or so feet long compared to 400 to 450 of the others.
They generally delivered their 700 tonne cargo by running aground
at high tide onto a beach that had no harboring accommodations.
At high tide as they entered the beach area they would
drop a trailing anchor,and play out sufficient cable to allow
them to get as close as possible
for the next high tide to float them off again..
then,using the anchor and cable to winch them out to deeper waters.
When they beached, land trucks would take their cargo
directly to land storage places for distribution.
When the tide came back in and she was afloat ,empty, the Screws," propellers"
which are completely encased for protection from the sands could
take them into deeper waters with help from the cable and anchor.
One night a Norwegian Coaster with a cargo of mortars arrived
at low tide and was unable to beach.We were sent out to unload
her before she beached in the morning.
When we boarded, a German aircraft that we called Charlie,
who dropped a few bombs almost every night was in action again.
He dropped two bombs beside a Liberty we could see all lit up
because our orders were to keep our lights on when we were unloading,
even under attack, Fish in a Barrel, we called it.
The plane then circled our coaster.We could not see
it but we heard it very clearly.
We watched two bombs hit the water 2 or 300 feet on our right, amidships.....and one bomb 100 or so feet in the waters to our left.
We watched the explosions and didn't move.
We had no place to hide! THE WATER WAS DEADLY.
The concussion of that bomb in the water would have killed anyone NOT aboard the Coaster.
Nevertheless, not knowing if Charlie was coming back, and we, sitting atop tons of explosives, covered ourselves with the,tarpaulin
that secured the hatches,and went to sleep,
waiting for the tide.
