Post by Administrator on Feb 20, 2020 18:43:53 GMT
SAWOKLA
In their wake they left Columbo,
Jute and linen down below,
They were sailing on for Cape Town,
Not expecting any show.
Then that fateful Sunday evening,
With the Chief Mate sick below,
The Second Mate heard one bell struck,
But still they did not know,
With a jarring crash the salvo hit,
And the Second still below,
Haze and blaze and acrid fume,
Men running to and fro.
It was the German Raider MICHEL,
Whose torpedo struck below,
Whose 5.9s tore up her bridge,
And set her decks aglow.
There were many ships much like her,
Ask the merchantmen they know,
But, don't forget SAWOKLA,
Coral shrouded down below.
Ian A. Millar
In memory of my old friend Dennis A. Roland. Second Officer
of the SAWOKLA and survivor of the River Kwai Railroad Project.
In their wake they left Columbo,
Jute and linen down below,
They were sailing on for Cape Town,
Not expecting any show.
Then that fateful Sunday evening,
With the Chief Mate sick below,
The Second Mate heard one bell struck,
But still they did not know,
With a jarring crash the salvo hit,
And the Second still below,
Haze and blaze and acrid fume,
Men running to and fro.
It was the German Raider MICHEL,
Whose torpedo struck below,
Whose 5.9s tore up her bridge,
And set her decks aglow.
There were many ships much like her,
Ask the merchantmen they know,
But, don't forget SAWOKLA,
Coral shrouded down below.
Ian A. Millar
In memory of my old friend Dennis A. Roland. Second Officer
of the SAWOKLA and survivor of the River Kwai Railroad Project.