"The 'EGIDIA"/GJZK was one of nine ships in the Anchor Line fleet when I joined her in Liverpool in May of 1959.  The 'EUCADIA",  "ELYSIA", "CALEDONIA", "CILICIA",  "CIRCASSIA" and the three "T" class ships - "TARANTIA",  "TAHSINIA" and 'TYRIA" made up the rest of the fleet.

The "C" and "E" class ships maintained passenger/cargo liner services to the Near East, Middle East, India and Pakistan while the "T" class ships provided a cargo only service from the Clyde to the U.S. eastern seaboard.

 

I joined the "EGIDIA" as a first trip cadet, one of the ship's four cadets, each at the various stages of a four-year apprenticeship then served.   We were berthed in two berth cabins on the boat deck at the after end of the deck officer's accommodation.  The cabins were small, each equivalent to a single cabin, but there was a wash hand basin and a settee, a locker for each occupant, four drawers and, of course, bunks, one above the other.

 

The one concession to the idea that cadets were supposed to be studying to become future officers was the single desk in each cadet cabin.  The fact that each cabin was for two cadets and that only one desk was provided seemed to have escaped the owner's notice!  Nonetheless, the standard of accommodation was adequate and probably above average for the era - I certainly knew worse in later years and with different companies.

 

The vessel had commenced loading her outward cargo before I joined, having already part-loaded in Glasgow.  The deck 'crowd' had all been signed from the Glasgow "pool",  the majority of them having sailed many times with Anchor Line ships on the Indian run or on the North Atlantic.  Both the bosun and the carpenter were company contract petty officers, as was the lamptrimmer.  This was not only the first, but also the last, time that I sailed on a ship that actually carried a lamptrimmer as part of the official compliment.  His main objective in life appeared to be to jealously guard the fo'c'sle paint locker as if he had personally purchased all the paint therein !

 

The engineer officers were Clydeside to a man as was the engine room crowd, of whom only the donkeyman was a "Company Man", having signed a company service contract with Anchor Line.

Four deck officers were carried in addition to the master.  The chief officer, second mate and third mate were all Scots whilst the fourth mate was English and one of the last refugees from national service that I came across in my time at sea.  He had opted to serve for a certain number of years in the Merchant Navy ( I believe it was a minimum of five) rather than do his two years "square bashing" in the armed services.

I've often wondered since if, despite his frequently stated desire to go ashore at the first opportunity, he actually made a career at sea.  Even as fourth mate, he had a second mate's ticket which would have been wasted effort if he had gone ashore exactly on the expiry of the required national service avoidance time.,

Captain William MacVicar. MBE, was "EGIDIA"' master, veteran of many wartime convoys and torpedoings and adventurings and brother of Angus, the well-known Scots author and broadcaster.  Captain MacVicar was third mate in Anchor Line's "BRITANNIA" during WW2 when she was sunk by a German raider somewhere off Africa.  He was in command of one of the ship's boats, which, even after twentyfive days at sea, managed to bring thirtynine survivors to safety.  He was a captain well respected by officers and crew and popular with the few passengers that we carried during the time I was on the ship.  As far as we cadets were concerned, he was the only captain I ever knew to take a visible interest in our progress.

Every day that the ship was at sea the four cadets mustered in the master's dayroom for half an hour of International Code flag recognition and visual morse practice.  Woe betide any cadet who consistently failed the flag test !

 

Captain MacVicar also took a close interest in each cadet's annual Merchant Navy Training Board exam which, for me, fell due during my time on "EGIDIA".  While this posed few problems for me, fresh as I was from nautical college with 6 months seniority, the other cadets had all joined the Merchant Navy straight from school and dreaded each exam as it fell due for them.  Most companies in those days, certainly Anchor Line, took a dim view of their cadets failing Training Board exams and often took sanctions against those who did, one of the favourite ones being"demotion" to a lesser class of ship.

 

Shortly after I joined, the ship made a "cold' move from Liverpool to Birkenhead where loading continued for the outward voyage and a handful of passengers joined, together with the mails.  From Birkenhead we eventually sailed coastwise to Swansea where our UK loading of cargo was completed.

 

The liner service provided by Anchor Line's "E" class vessels at that time began with a call at Marseilles to both load and discharge.  Following this brief call, the eastward voyage continued with a short break at Port Said to load stores, then transit the Suez Canal.

 

Our southbound convoy was halted in the canal cut to allow the northbound convoy uninterrupted passage on this occasion and I remember seeing the RMS "CILICIA", as part of that convoy, moving sedately over what appeared to be a sea of sand, because of intervening desert and dunes, no water could be seen from my viewpoint.

 

Our convoy moved on south in due course and we entered the Red Sea, full and away for Aden.  Then, and in later years, I never ceased to be amazed that, within a few hours of leaving Tewfiq astern, "EGIDIA" appeared to be alone within the visible horizon.  Only at the southern end of the Red Sea did other ships begin to appear, all converging on the run-in to Aden.

 

The ship moored to head and stern buoys at Aden during darkness hours and began taking on bunkers.  I turned-to at 0800 the next day and was astonished at the landscape that daylight revealed.  The barren rocks of Aden, indeed !

There was nothing green to be seen anywhere (other than the green part of the BP logo!)   Bare rock rose from the water's edge to the jagged mountains close beyond and formed a huge semi-circular barrier all the way around, virtually, from Little Aden to Aden itself.  The buildings of the town and the tall block of the Crescent Hotel stood out starkly against this incredible backdrop of desolate moonscape.

 

If nothing else, Aden was, however, the great ocean crossroads of the maritime world at that time and ships of all types and flags provided a constantly changing picture for the discerning ship lover.  Here could be seen the great ships of Orient Line,  Bibby Line,  British India,  Blue Funnel,  Blue Star,  Shaw savill,  Federal Steamship,  Maersk, Chandris and many, many others including tramps of Hogarth,  Lyle,  Reardon Smith and Bank Line. 

Ships trading to the Gulf, Pakistan, India, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand all stopped at Aden at one time or another although,  for the majority,  a stay of six to eight hours  to allow for bunkering was the extent of the visit and shore leave was rare.  The British pilots at Aden were busy men in those days !

Leaving Aden behind, we began the ocean transit phase of the voyage bound for Bombay, arriving just as that year's monsoon broke.

Our passengers had disembaked upon arrival and, almost as quickly, we discharged mail from the secure lockers in the upper 'tween decks,  the Royal Mail pennant proudly flying from the yardarm as we did so.

 

Two weeks later, the bulk of our cargo had been discharged and we made the short voyage north to Bedi, lying off-shore to work surf boats prior to sailing on to Karachi where we off-loaded the last of our outward cargo and began loading for home.

 

There was civil unrest in Pakistan at this time and armed military guards were posted by the authorities at the foot of the gangway.  From our berth alongside we could see military vehicles in the streets and soldiers constantly patrolled around the dock perimeter fence.

Needless to say, shore leave was banned for the entire ship's company.

 

From Karachi, the ship sailed directly back to Bombay where we completed loading and were homeward bound within a week, embarking a handful of passengers just prior to departure.

 

The homeward voyage saw us retrace our track to Aden from where we set course for the Red Sea and Port Sudan. 

Two Ben Line ships and an Ellerman City liner were already docked when we arrived so that, with ourselves alongside as well, the "Scottish Merchant Navy" had a full representation in this remote East African port.

 

In Port Sudan, the ship's own gear was used to load from barges alongside whilst dockside cranes loaded cargo from shoreside.  The labour force was made up of entirely "Fuzzie-wuzzies", so called because of their elaborate hair styles which were kept in place, so rumour had it, by plastered on dung !

The smell from the collective labour force in the scorching heat of the mid-day sun seemed to confirm the truth of this rumour !

 

No-one was sorry to leave the heat and smell of the Sudan behind as we set course for Suez, transitting the canal uneventfully and entering the Meditteranean in due course on the last part of the homeward voyage.

 

There was no call at Marseilles homeward bound, the final leg being an uninterrupted run from Port Said to Liverpool, the welcome sight of the Port Lynas light heralding the end of my first Anchor Line voyage.

 

Three months to the day, virtually, from leaving the Mersey outward bound for India, "EGIDIA" was back alongside Liverpool Docks with her crew paid off and raring to get 'up the line' to Glasgow."