May 20, 1943
Saw large flights of planes. Started getting colder. Reached St. Johns, Newfoundland and anchored in harbor. Saw first iceberg, ships damaged by submarines, one with hole in bow that bum-boats could go through, and a Greek ship with a huge hole in the side.
While the remainder of this convoy moved on a bit further North, the Fairfax and a few others from convoy BW-25 anchored in St. Johns.
It looks like a ‘Bum Boat’ is a small vessel used to bring cargo and goods over from the shore. Some of the photos I saw looked like they could be up to the size of the small lobster boats we see here in New England.
‘Bum’ boat alongside at Freetown, West Africa
In 1943 and 1944, my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company. He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.
Next Entry – May 21, 1943