15 Zigzagging through Harm's Way

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]

Squeezing into "standee" bunks [2]

Alice might have read this in
The Press Democrat.

Jack joined some 12,000 to 15,000 other men on a ship headed across the Atlantic. By the time of their crossing about a thousand Allied ships were in the Atlantic daily. Surely all passengers were aware that German U-boat (submarine) activity had stepped up in the Atlantic, aiming to thwart American aid for an expected invasion of Europe. Troop carriers traveled in convoys for protection. In so-called “wolf packs” U-boats attacked convoys carrying men and materiel, sometimes causing devastating losses. Tacitly acknowledging the peril, the hometown news focused on U.S. damage of U-boats and their bases.[3] The Queen Elizabeth, a brand new cruise ship fitted as a troop carrier, had a great advantage: it was fast, considering its size, and could outrun submarines. It was one of some fifteen percent of ships that did not need to travel in a convoy.[4] Jack was aware of another tactic aimed at thwarting a German sub attack:

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.

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

The first-class dining room offered six sittings
for each of two meals a day[8]

 Jack agreed about the food: The food was lousy on the ship. I remember one night an elevator came down, and the door opened, and it was full of loose potatoes, just raw potatoes. In about, I’d say, five minutes, at the most, that elevator was empty, absolutely empty. There was potato peelings all over the ship, where a few guys got ‘em and ate ‘em.

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]

Safe Arrival in Scotland

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.

The Firth of Clyde and Gourock, Scotland[11]

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[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.

[6] Photograph of boat drill, Shepherd, “The Cunard–White Star Liner ‘Queen Elizabeth,’ 1938–1972.”

[7] Nick Marinelli, The History of the 363^rd Fighter Group, 380^th Fighter Squadron, 381^st Fighter Squadron, 382^nd Fighter Squadron, 9^th Air Force, ETO, IX Tactical Air Command, 70^th Fighter Wing until August 1, 1944, XIX Tactical Air Command, 100^th Fighter Wing until August 29, 1944, Reorganized as the 363^rd Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 160^th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 161^st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 162^nd 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.”

[9] Jack J. Kellar, interview, 12 April 1993.

[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.