Mount Vernon (AP 22) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 42 text:

Invaluable to the purchasers. It was possible, after the usual haggling with the drivers, to make a tour out past the nriodern Allied airfield into Arab City, a town centuries old, where the Camel was the motive power for running the machinery that pumped water, ground meal, and turned windlasses. One of the men met a British Flyer, and had an air view of the area. He came down shaking at the knees, having had a few pot shots come his way while over Vichy French territory. The last night in port Aden an incredibly large moon slipped up over the horizon. A ship was in the process of coaling. Natives carrying baskets of coal on their heads chanted as they worked. Softly their voices floated over the water. Through the Red Sea there was only one subject for scuttlebutt: Through the Suez Canal, and back home? Mail had not been received for two months, and news from the States was scarce. Didn ' t the British show surprise when they saw the Mount Vernon in Aden? Hadn ' t re- por ts been broadcast the Japs had sunk the Mighty Mount? But the ship stopped just at the south tip of the Canal and embarked troops. There was no chance to get ashore, but the shore came to the ship. Native vendors came with cheap trinkets, mostly leather goods to

Page 41 text:

■STiiiiiill SHOmCtRSOTTlf FOtiOVKi I SERVICES TO connEAORxn; PBn5« TROOPS WEPF OfflfD 111 WdTs FOR THi FIRST Tiw, iirmirww ilUGADE HEAOQUARTTR I .|A| I IPRPS OF HOYAl , OYAL COHPS iHEROYAINORFluiN hi(.)a ini IHfCAAVBKir iiUl 1 !-( VALARMYCH M ' IMNSIIITU YAl ARM ;,L.UVn I . Ml. ' ! YAL mm wm. YAL ARMY IIWIIINXN ;P5 — FMDN INlFl.l.Hii: fnioi ; III Mil n«; ' llAUimiAIIWtt- ' ilHUAnillE

Page 43 text:

barter with the Yanks . The favorite method of trade was to see the article, haggle for the price, send a bucket over and get the article, then send the money over. Woe to the merchant that cheated! There was a twaand one-half inch hose in readiness with pressure to turn the dealer ' s boat over. The ship looked with great respect when the towering Aussies came aboard. After several years of bearing the brunt of the fighting in the Mediterranean area, the boys were finally enroute home. The several thousand Diggers were soon taken to heart by the Yanks. Most of them towered head and shoulders over the crew. And soon officers and men of both nations were bartering for souvenirs from both the States and the Holy Land. The Aussies attached themselves to the sailor or a group of sailors they liked and followed them about like St. Bernards. Down through the Red Sea the ship made her way again, only to be stopped by a plane out of Aden. Orders were to turn back. Scuttlebutt raged again among both the Aussies and ' the crew. Upon returning to Aden, however, the orders were discovered to be a mistake. The next port was Columbo, Ceylon, one of the most famous jewel markets of the world. The crew were soon proudly showing their pur-