During one spell in the Pacific our ship, the light cruiser ‘Argonaut’ was at the rear of the Fleet which include two Aircraft Carriers. A Japanese ‘suicide bomber’ had crashed onto one of the carriers and, from our place on the afterdeck, I and two shipmates could see the tiny figures of crew members on the carrier scurrying about dealing with the fire. Suddenly one of my comrades shouted; “Look! There!” and pointed to the sky behind our ship. We saw three Japanese planes heading towards land and each one was jettisoning bombs into the sea. One shipmate said; “They’re not Kamikazes.” and the other replied; “No, and they’re not bleedin’ daft either!”

Jim Anrison – Posted 01/02/04