History on this day Wed March 6 1957.
HMS Ceylon and crew carrying the flag officer Admiral Varyl Begg the representative
of the Queen , gave away the West African colony the Gold Coast and a couple of other
adjacent territories, which formed the new country of Ghana , under the political
leadership of Kwame Nkrumah.
Vest at the time came within spitting distance of this great leader.
Much jollity and shouts of "Freedom"filled the air.
It rained that evening; My white uniform was a total mess after the boozy celebrations with
ex pats from the the United Africa Co whose hostel I stayed at overnight.
Woke at six am on hearing a crash of a bicycle coming down the stairs, a still tipsy Reg
Harris a well known cyclist selling Raleigh bikes to the locals, had to be replaced by
a similar looking person ,
The house boy as he was called told me my washed uniform was not dry and there was
little hope of me wearing it to get back to the ship..
I rang the ship on a crackling ship to shore phone and was told to get back by the
following morning.
My original explanation was misinterpreted, and by the time it reached the Captains
ears it had been passed around a fair bit.
"He is drunk and naked in a police cell and has lost his uniform." Some yarns are hard
to live down but are great memories. Most of mine are historical.
From my memoirs.... Vest..... Back soon.Today in history
This was first published in my March 6 2007 post, much more info there than here.
of the Queen , gave away the West African colony the Gold Coast and a couple of other
adjacent territories, which formed the new country of Ghana , under the political
leadership of Kwame Nkrumah.
Vest at the time came within spitting distance of this great leader.
Much jollity and shouts of "Freedom"filled the air.
It rained that evening; My white uniform was a total mess after the boozy celebrations with
ex pats from the the United Africa Co whose hostel I stayed at overnight.
Woke at six am on hearing a crash of a bicycle coming down the stairs, a still tipsy Reg
Harris a well known cyclist selling Raleigh bikes to the locals, had to be replaced by
a similar looking person ,
The house boy as he was called told me my washed uniform was not dry and there was
little hope of me wearing it to get back to the ship..
I rang the ship on a crackling ship to shore phone and was told to get back by the
following morning.
My original explanation was misinterpreted, and by the time it reached the Captains
ears it had been passed around a fair bit.
"He is drunk and naked in a police cell and has lost his uniform." Some yarns are hard
to live down but are great memories. Most of mine are historical.
From my memoirs.... Vest..... Back soon.Today in history
This was first published in my March 6 2007 post, much more info there than here.
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