Uganda Sails Wednesday

Stuart Condie

Description

It's 1960, and pregnant with her lover's child, Heather Fontwell makes a plan to visit her husband William at the tea plantation he manages in Kenya. If she gets there in time she hopes she can convince him that the baby is his so she books passage on the SS Uganda for her and their son Johnny, sending notice to William that she is on her way. In Kenya, William is distracted by secretary Dorothea's news of financial misconduct at the plantation, something that William suspects may be down to Mombasa harbormaster Carruthers - currently on the SS Uganda making his way back to Kenya... During her journey, Heather meets resistance, traveling as a single woman, particularly from the unpleasant Carruthers and bullying turns to danger as her cabin catches fire. She and Johnny are moved to first class, further angering Carruthers and the morning sickness she is hiding as travel sickness is showing no signs of abating. The ship matron is handing out a new anti-nausea medication like sweets and Heather relies more and more on these thalidomide tablets to keep the sickness at bay. Events take a tragic turn before they dock at Mombasa and William arrives at the port to find no wife and a captain and crew who seem to be hiding the truth...

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: RedDoor Press
• Date de parution: 24 septembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781913062583
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Stuart Condie
The uganda sails Wednesday

Published by RedDoor
www.reddoorpress.co.uk

© 2020 Stuart Condie

The right of Stuart Condie to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the author

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover design: Clare Connie Shepherd

Typesetting: Fuzzy Flamingo
www.fuzzyflamingo.co.uk





To all those who sailed on the SS Uganda (1952-1986)

Contents
SS Uganda Selected Crew and Passenger Lists
Prologue
Chapter 1
March 1960 – Kiambethu, Kenya
Chapter 2
24 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , English Channel
Chapter 3
24 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , Celtic Sea
Chapter 4
25 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , North Atlantic Ocean
Chapter 5
March 1960 – Kiambethu, Kenya
Chapter 6
26 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , Gulf of Cadiz
Chapter 7
18 th March 1960 – Orpington, Kent
Chapter 8
27 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , Western Mediterranean
Chapter 9
March 1960 – Kiambethu, Kenya
Chapter 10
28 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , Western Mediterranean
Chapter 11
29 th March 1960 – Malta
Chapter 12
20 th March 1960 – Orpington, Kent
Chapter 13
30 th March 1960 – SS Uganda , Eastern Mediterranean
Chapter 14
30 th March 1960 – SS Uganda ,
Eastern Mediterranean
Chapter 15
31 st March 1960 – SS Uganda , Eastern Mediterranean
Chapter 16
1 st April 1960 – SS Uganda , Port Said, Egypt
Chapter 17
March 1960 – Nairobi
Chapter 18
1 st April 1960 – SS Uganda , Suez Canal
Chapter 19
2 nd April 1960 – SS Uganda , Port Suez
Chapter 20
3 rd April 1960 – SS Uganda , Red Sea
Chapter 21
April 1960 – Kenya
Chapter 22
5 th April 1960 – Aden
Chapter 23
6 th April 1960 – SS Uganda , Gulf of Aden
Chapter 24
7 th April 1960 – SS Uganda , Indian Ocean
Chapter 25
10 th April 1960 – Mombasa, Kenya
Historical Postscript
Note from the Author
Excerpt from the sequel
July 1960 Kenya
About the Author
SS Uganda Selected Crew and Passenger Lists

Crew – Officers
Captain
First Officer
Second Officer
Third Engineer James Scott
Chief Medical Officer Dr Sullivan
Purser
Assistant Purser Hancock
Chaplain Rev. Ian Tremwell
Cadet Mark Edwards
Chief Children’s Hostess
Children’s Hostess, Margot
Sister
Nurse Marion

Stewards
De Souza
Parminder
Diaz
First Class Passengers
Reg Worthington
Honour Worthington, his wife
Philip Doyle
Monica Doyle, his wife
Tourist Class Passengers
Heather Fontwell
Johnny Fontwell, her son
George Carmichael
Daphne Carmichael, his wife
Sophie Carmichael, their daughter
Norman Brown
Bob Saunders
Betty Saunders, his wife
Donald Kirby
Cynthia Kirby, his wife
Michael Kirby, their son
Mr Carruthers, Mombasa Harbour Master
Mrs Carruthers, his wife
Simon Carruthers, their son




Prologue
The seven of them were crammed into the Captain’s cabin, all in tropical uniform except for the chaplain and harbourmaster who wore ill-fitting cream linen suits, with a dog collar in the chaplain’s case. The Captain sat at the head of the table with a file in front of him, which he flicked through whilst the last of them were sitting down. No refreshments were offered despite the heat.
‘Well now,’ growled the Captain, ‘this is a bloody mess, which we’ve had to investigate fully.’ The officer handed him another file and the Captain looked around the table at all of them. ‘I’ll go through the findings and you can save any questions till the end.’
‘To begin with, the treatment of the ill passenger was a shambles. The doctor had to be summoned and took his time getting to the hospital, whereupon he refused to treat the passenger and left. He was obviously drunk and required the sister to accompany him at all times to ensure a modicum of order. Or maybe the two of them were doing a spot of therapy of their own, eh?’
‘Now look here, Captain…’ said the doctor.
‘Shut the hell up!’ shouted the Captain. ‘This is your last voyage with BI, you’ll return to London straight away as a passenger. If you don’t like it, remember that I don’t have to give you an honourable discharge and I might choose instead to write to the General Medical Council asking for you to be struck off.’
There was a pause during which the doctor made a wheezing noise before the Captain continued. ‘So, you left the treatment entirely to a nurse who was completely unsupervised. She did her best, but things went wrong, which I don’t blame her for personally.’ The nurse shifted in her seat, staring blankly at the table as the Captain turned to face her.
‘There is also the question of the Distaval pills, which were found in large quantities in the passenger’s cabin. However, since Sister should have been supervising this, and you have a good record with us, no action will be taken against you.
Then we come to the state of mind of the passenger, whom many of you said seemed quite febrile. The recent letter to the passenger that we found also seemed to be quite challenging. What did you make of this, Chaplain?’
The chaplain coughed and clasped his hands together. ‘Well from what I could see, the passenger’s private life was complicated, leading to a lot of stress, but then the cabin fire didn’t help matters either.’
‘Quite so. And lastly, Engineer, you were not implicated in the passenger’s death but were witness to the cabin fire, their collapse and subsequent medical treatment. What are your thoughts?’
The engineer mumbled, ‘Yessir. The passenger was certainly under a lot of strain.’
‘As a result, I’ve concluded that nobody can be certain why the passenger died, but the circumstances do not reflect well on the company or many of its employees. For this reason, I’ve decided that, for the official paperwork, I will choose a version of the truth which does the least harm, namely that the passenger took their own life by a cocktail of pills whilst their mind was unbalanced by the fire and the letter recently received. The doctor will sign the paperwork to this effect.’
There was a long silence whilst the Captain stared at his audience, at the end of which the doctor nodded his assent.
‘Lastly, there is the question of the passenger’s remains. I’ve decided to follow the long tradition of burial at sea with a service tonight presided over by myself and the chaplain.’
‘But given that we don’t know the exact cause of death, the normal procedure would be for an autopsy,’ said the chaplain. ‘The family is bound to ask for this.’
The Captain sighed. ‘Have you not been paying attention, Padre? An autopsy would mean a coroner’s enquiry, with many of you called as witnesses and a lot of uncomfortable questions, especially for the medical staff. Besides, we cannot keep a body on board till Mombasa in this heat.’
‘There’s space in the refrigerated cargo hold,’ said the engineer.
‘I think you’ll find that’s required for perishables,’ replied the Captain quickly.
‘Burial at sea is quite normal, we have a lot of cases in Mombasa,’ said the harbourmaster. ‘There won’t be any problem with the paperwork.’
‘But think of the impact on the family when they’re told that their loved one has committed suicide and we’ve chucked her body overboard,’ whispered the chaplain.
‘Well maybe it was suicide, who knows, and there’s a proper Anglican service for burial at sea, the same as on land, is there not? So that’s what we’re going to do. I must emphasise that we all stick together with this line, especially you, Chaplain. Anyone disobeying or tempted to speculate publicly on events will face disciplinary procedures. This would be especially unfortunate for those at the start of their careers with unblemished records.’
‘Yessir,’ the engineer replied. The nurse looked up briefly but remained silent.
The Captain stood up and handed the files to the officer. ‘You have your orders and I’d like you all to come to the service late tonight as well.’
They all filed out, the last being the chaplain, who was beckoned over by the Captain.
‘I know about your dirty little secret, Chaplain,’ the Captain murmured. ‘So make sure you give a good performance tonight, and sound convincing to the family.’
The chaplain gave a wan smile and followed the others down the narrow gangway. On the bridge, a new course for Kilindini Harbour was being plotted as they awaited the return of the Captain.






Chapter 1
March 1960 – Kiambethu, Kenya
Like a lot of things from Heather, there’s no news for ages, then a bolt out of the blue.

MY DEAREST WILLIAM. SURPRISE! CRISIS AT JOHNNY’S NURSERY SCHOOL. COMING TO KENYA SOONEST. WILL TELEX PASSAGE DETAILS. HOPE ALL OK. LOVE. HEATHER.

I re-read the telex from our London office and finger the torn bottom left-hand corner where I’ve ripped the paper from the cogs in my haste to hide it from prying eyes; telexes are charge