Another Encounter with History for Tina....

In 1981 I was Harbour Master in Castletownbere in West Cork, Ireland. This is where Tina had another encounter with a major event in history. Yesterday was the 66th anniversary of the Allied Victory in Japan, VJ Day, and we recalled how that happened.
We were all very busy, I had a burgeoning port to operate supporting the needs of the Irish Fishing industry, I was also teaching navigation at the college. Tina was a very busy person too, we had Velia just starting school, Gerard starting his working career, we had Spanish officials to entertain, she started a shipping agency, all those kind of things. But for all that Tina was most annoyed that everything in this remote Irish port and community did everything for men and boys but nothing, absolutely nothing, for girls. Tina saw this as a challenge and decided to do something. She gained the support of two like minded women including a fine young woman, Adrienne MacCarthy. Unbeknownst to Tina, this young woman was the daughter of Air Commodore Aidan MacCarthy. Here is a short summary of his story :

"Dr. Aidan MacCarthy [1914 – 1992] served in the RAF and reached the rank of Air Commodore. He was awarded the George Medal for rescuing the crew of a crashed burning aircraft. He was at Dunkirk where he attended wounded Allied soldiers while under fire from German aircraft.

He was later captured by the Japanese in Sumatra and thence taken to Japan.

He was in charge of a working party in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped on that city on August 9, 1945. The prisoners had previously been warned, by secret radio, to take cover at a particular time of day without being given any further details. When the war ended, when some Australian ex-prisoners were attempting to lynch their Japanese captors, MacCarthy locked the Japanese guards in a cell and threw the key into the sea.

He was the senior Allied serviceman in Japan at the Japanese surrender. Japan presented its surrender, initially, before Gen. MacArthur and his party arrived in Tokyo Bay several days after the end of the war."

This was a great surprise to Tina and I , he was such a nice quiet person, I met him a couple of times but Tina was involved with Adrienne so saw much more of this truly remarkable man.

As you can see from the press cutting within this blog Tina was successful and they launched the Brownies in Castletownbere, she cocked a snoot at the Catholic Church too by making it inter-denominational . This was another brush with history for Tina and indeed we have the book and sometimes reflect on this - we must not forget.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

George Clayton - Woodside Farm, South Ferriby.

Image
Often when I take Bryn for his morning walk on the bank of the Humber I meet George who is a yeoman farmer of Lincolnshire. He talks of the land, farming, the seasons of the year, and other things of nature. I talk of ships, the sea, and far away places. George was born in 1920 and went to work when he was 14 as a wagoner caring for 5 horses and all their gear. he was paid 12 shillings and 6 pence per week - it was a man's job! he worked for this landowner all his life and that man left him a farm and some land out of his estate when he died. George's son now works for that estate farming and the like - a great story. George didn't go to war for two reasons - he had a weak heart and he was in agriculture. As he said the heart never did bother him and working from 6 am to 6pm daily is good for you! he retired when he was 75 years old but still works his garden etc. Interestingly he is as bright as a button, really switched on, and very fit for a man 85 years old. He eats e...
Read more

AN ISLAND NATION

Image
AN ISLAND NATION Island Nation or EU satellite state? Last night Jeremy Paxman, on the 19th May 2016, presented an objective view of the European Union. It is clear that the EU intends becoming a federal state and that the United Kingdom would become subsumed into that bureaucratic nightmare. I give you an alternative - the open sea  and the Commonwealth. We are an island nation off Europe but not part of Europe.The Commonwealth needs us and we most certainly need them - they are the World. It is not a pipe dream, the building blocks are still there - just - and it is predicated on the following :- “The Charter brings together the values and aspirations which unite the Commonwealth - democracy, human rights and the rule of law - in a single, accessible document. The Charter expresses the commitment of member states to the development of free and democratic societies and the promotion of peace and prosperity to improve the lives of all peoples of the Commonwealth. The...
Read more

1957 Christmas Vancouver BC

Image
I have heard from Davy Makin and Vic Pitcher this Christmas season. They are old shipmates and I spent Christmas with them in Vancouver BC sixty-one[61] years ago in 1957. Actually I have known David for  71 years because he too came from Bath and we were Catholic children being educated by Nuns of the French order La Sainte Union when we met. Earlier that year [1957], in May, we had joined the tramp-ship “Bradford City” in London. [ If any of you have seen the TV drama called “Call the Midwife” we were moored where you see a two funnel ship in the opening scenes.] I had been promoted to Third Mate, I was 19 years of age, David Makin [same age] was the Senior Apprentice, and Victor Pitcher [17] an Apprentice. My best friend [God love his soul] also 19 years old, and my shipmate on the “Fresno City,” joined the “Queen City” as Third Mate in London at the same time. His ship was crewed with Lascars [Indian Seamen].  We sailed away around the world as usual. I say usual...
Read more