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| Jack in New York 10 December 1943 |
The Atlantic Crossing
Jack: Finally on
December the 15th, 1943, we went to New York and boarded the Queen Elizabeth for our trip to Europe. We were some of the last ones to go on because it took ‘em two days to load the ship. There was a lot of troops on
there![1]
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| Squeezing into "standee" bunks [2] |
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| Alice might have read this in The Press Democrat. |
On the trip the ship zigzagged every seven minutes to keep
out of the range of U-boats (submarines).
We would go this way seven minutes, this way seven minutes, and this way
seven minutes, and that took a long time to get across, although we made it in
five days. Five days to go across.[5]
Anxiety and uncertainty about
the future were probably palpable on the ship. In addition, most passengers
were unfamiliar with ocean travel or with the ocean at all. Jack lived close
enough to the California coast to know the wide expanse of
ocean, but never had he been completely surrounded by water. The experience was
probably overwhelming for troops from landlocked states.
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| Boat drill on departure from New York[6] |
From the history of Jack’s squadron: “The trip was very rough and to most of the troops,
who had never been at sea, the waves appeared to engulf the whole ship; they
were so high. It wasn’t long before the majority of the passengers were
sea-sick and praying to die or be set ashore anywhere. Besides the rough seas,
the Queen Elizabeth . . . would change its course every 15 minutes. Consequently, the troops were exposed to a different
roll and pitch every quarter of an hour . . . The Queen, being an English ship,
was crewed by Englishmen, so the troops were fed good old English mutton (nice
and greasy), which was enough to make one sick all by itself.”[7]
First-Class Dining Room, Second-Rate Food
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| The first-class dining room offered six sittings for each of two meals a day[8] |
We paid $5.00 for what we thought was a roast chicken, and I
swear to gosh to this day that it was a roast seagull. The food was so lousy. It
was an English ship, and they gave us English rations, and they didn’t have
much, although when we landed I watched them unload hams and bacons and all
kinds of stuff that were going to somebody over there. I don’t know who it was
going to, but anyway I saw them unloading them, onto small boats.[9]
In five days’ time we landed in a place called Gourock,
Scotland, and we stayed on the ship two days because we were the last ones to
get on in New York. It took two days to unload the ship, and we were the last
ones to get off. We got off on the twenty-third of December [1943].[10]
The young G.I.s had no
idea what lay in store for them. Their eyes would be opened to foreign places,
foreign people, and foreign cultures. Their job was to contribute to the Allied
war effort, and in that capacity they could not imagine what the future held
for them. The unknown certainly weighed on their minds. Would they return home
safely to their loved ones? Would they even reach their destination, wherever
it was? The Queen Elizabeth anchored
in the Firth of Clyde, and a quick ferry ride to the docks at Gourock
positioned the troops for a train trip south into England. What happened on
that trip would have life-altering consequences for Jack.
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| The Firth of Clyde and Gourock, Scotland[11] |
[1]
Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar,
interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993; cassette tape recording and
transcription held by the author. Also, Jack J. Kellar, interview about his
first years after high school by Judy Kellar Fox, 12 April 1993; cassette tape
recording and transcription held by the author. Excerpts from both interviews
combined.
[2]
“The voyage, while short, will be extremely
difficult for all,” photograph of troops in “standees,” John Shepherd, “The
Cunard–White Star Liner ‘Queen Elizabeth,’ 1938–1972,” Liverpool Ships (http://www.liverpoolships.org/the_cunard_white_star_liner_queen_elizabeth.html : accessed 18 February 2018). Provenance of the
photograph is not given. Efforts to reach Mr. Shepherd have been unsuccessful.
[3]
“Five U-Boats Sunk as Pack of 20 Beaten Off,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa,
California), 12 December 1943, p. 1, cols. 6–7; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/265228722/
: accessed 28 March 2018).
[4]
“RMS Queen
Elizabeth,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth : accessed 12 February 2018) > “Second World War.”
Also, “The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939–1945,” American Battle Monuments Commission (https://www.abmc.gov/sites/default/files/interactive/interactive_files/AGB_Web/
: accessed 27 March 2018) > Americans in Great Britain > The Battle of
the Atlantic > Briefing: 22 May
1943–31 Dec 1943 > video clip.
[5]
Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar,
interview, December 1993. Also, Jack J. Kellar, interview, 12 April 1993.
[7]
Nick Marinelli, The History of the 363rd Fighter
Group, 380th Fighter Squadron, 381st Fighter Squadron,
382nd Fighter Squadron, 9th Air Force, ETO, IX Tactical
Air Command, 70th Fighter Wing until August 1, 1944, XIX Tactical
Air Command, 100th Fighter Wing until August 29, 1944, Reorganized
as the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 160th
Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 161st Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron, 162nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron after September 4,
1944, and attached to the XXIX Tactical Air Command (South Lynn, Mich.:
Nick Marinelli, 1992), 2-10.
[8]
Photograph of G.I.s in Queen Elizabeth’s restaurant, Shepherd, “The Cunard–White Star Liner
‘Queen Elizabeth,’ 1938–1972.”
[10]
Jack J. Kellar, “Autobiography,” 1998, excerpts;
two ninety-minute cassette tape recordings; held and partially transcribed by
the author.
[11]
Great Britain, map, Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps
: accessed 17 February 2018), directions for Firth of Clyde, UK, to Gourock,
Scotland, satellite view.
