That weekend another soldier and I got a week end pass and decided if it would be New York or Washington DC. We decided it would be NY and got there somehow. After some walking around not seeing anything important we were somewhat discouraged. A girl walking by called us paddlefeet. So we decided to just go back to Dix. It was a fruitless week end.
The next week any waiting problems were solved. One night that week we were ordered to get our duffle bag and head for the train to ship out. One day before we left I had been able to wire Kay some flowers with a message. The next morning about 2 A. M. we walked up the gangplank of the Queen Elizabeth in New York harbor. The largest ship in the world at that time. It was a little longer than the Queen Mary. Boarding was not difficult although the ship had a great number of decks. Some of the earliest soldiers on board had been there for three days. Waiting for a full load. Eating the miserable English stuff called food I suppose. If they ate the same thing we ate going over which was instant scrambled eggs in the morning with orange marmalade. Yuk. But I suppose feeding thousands it was about as good as it could be.
Troop ships load first in last off. They put the first in the bottom and work up to the top.
I was keyed up and could not sleep. So as the ship got underway about 6 AM I went on deck and as luck would have it I watched the Statue of Liberty slide by over a little way aways. I treasured that moment ever since. As I boarded that morning at 2 am and the ship sailed at 6 AM that meant I would be one of the first off at Glasgow Scotland.
Which was by lighter. (barge) If it took them 3 days for 16,000 men to load by gangplank how long did it take them to unload by barge? I didn't have to stick around to find out. The unloading was incredibly long no doubt. As we were almost the last to load we had to take the last available space which was the Promenade Deck Observation lounge. It's just as it sounds. In it's civilian life the observation lounge was THE place for the wealthy to hang out. If you have ever been on a large ferry there us usually a place up front to sit and watch the scenery. In a way this is what it was on the Elizabeth. That is why it is called the Observation Lounge. No doubt there were bars and restaurants and luxurious furniture. But by now the Queen had made dozens of troop crossings and the Observation Lounge furniture were gone. Replaced with bunks 4 high. All the windows had been blacked out. However I had a bunk just inside the doorway from the Promenade Deck so had easy access to the deck. The only problem was the passage way was taken up with hundreds of crap games, card games run by card sharks. It was even hard to walk around them. It was here that I found I was not cut out to be a gambler. Any inclination for gambling was destroyed here on this deck. It held over to any trip I took to Las Vegas or Reno after the war. To this day gambling doesn't interest me. I work too hard for the little I do have to gamble it away on some card or dice game. The ship was too fast to go in a convoy. It took us 5 days I think to get to Glasgow Scotland because we took a round about way to miss the submarines. I have always enjoyed ocean or boat travel. I never got sick. So the QE went alone and fast. After the war it caught fire in Hong Kong harbor and sank. Not like the Queen Mary which found a home in San Diego Harbor.
How do you feed 16,000 men on a ship? Don't expect gourmet. You eat twice a day. Instant eggs, There was lots of orange marmalade for breakfast. I cant remember what was for the second meal.
The only other outstanding thing to remember was the obvious access the officers had to the women. Nurses, Red Cross workers and the like. They did have their little play pen. The enlisted man could not get close. They kept them on a separate deck above. This held through the war and the occupation until they closed shop. Officers first. The also had their own bar where they could relax.
Democracy in the army didn't exist of course . In fact the treatment of the common soldier in the US army was worse than in some other countries military institutions. The 90 day wonders took full advantage of their authority. The special preferences the officers caused considerable resentment of course. At least it did for me. Resentment resulted in loss of respect by the enlisted man for the officer. It is said that the respect for the officers in the German army by soldiers was higher than in the American army. The German officer suffered the same dangers as his men. He didn't expect preferential treatment when it came to duty. Hitler was just as likely to shoot an officer as a private for not doing his duty. The Germans were strict. For both officer and enlisted man.
But back to the Queen Elizabeth. The officers in their play pen I could do nothing about so just enjoy the scenery. Any danger from subs was not much. The voyage still required precautions. By this time in the war the submarines were more or less under control. So we sailed merrily along.
The ship put out sort of a newspaper which I have a copy of.. They knew the war was just about ended by now and said so. There still wasn't any real information. Not even date. It had several legal size pages.The draft of the Queen Elizabeth was too deep to dock in Glasgow. It's regular port was Southampton where we got our first taste of the war. Where we had a chance to see the effects of the German bombing years before. Because the ship could not dock it had to offloaded by barge. If it took 3 days to load by a constant string of men walking up the gangplank how long did it take to offload by barge? In any case it was last on, first off. Another stroke of luck. I was on one of the first if not the first. I cant remember for sure. But I don't remember waiting long.
Next chapter landing and going to France.
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