World War II and my father - a Surgeon Lieutenant Commander, was posted somewhere in the Pacific Ocean quite possibly aboard the HMAS Canberra - I am unsure of the exact ship the below incident occured on - however after looking at his service records I am led to believe it may have ocurred onboard the HMAS Canberra ....because both the story and the date of his promotion to a more senior rank are almost in accord.

and so the story goes.......Seems my father was sitting at dinner opposite the Captain of the ship when said Captain started - once more - bullying one of his naval officers quite unmercifully. He went on and on and on until my father could bear it no more and asked the ship's Captain to desist. He declined and said the usual - that it was his ship, he could speak as he saw fit etc. etc.after all he was the Captain and his word was law and that quite apart from anything else he was the most senior officer aboard and that no one outranked him. So on this basis he apparently felt quite free and able to demean anyone as he saw fit.

Well unbeknown to this somewhat pompous individual, my father had received only the night before his new orders via telegram from the Australian Naval Headquarters, advising him that he had been duly promoted. This had the effect of making him senior to the ship's captain. The fact was that he hadn't got around to telling anyone of his new promotionm so no one onboard was aware that he had in fact, risen in the ranks.

The ritual humiliation and bullying at the Captain's table continued, so quietly he left the dining room and went down to his cabin where - not having the required gold braid to sew onto his sleeves - he constructed a look-alike golden,braided band from the gold paper liners from his cigarette pack. He hurriedly sewed those golden pieces of paper braid onto the sleeves of his naval uniform and then returned to the dining room. The addition of this additonal full stripe advertised his promotion to those who took the time to look and register.

After my father returned to the dining room he resumed his seat at the table directly opposite the ship's captain. resting his arms within the Captain's eye view - arms that were encased in the sleeves of his naval jacket bearing the newly sewn on gold stripe. ....

"Sir?" was the immediate response......

copyright: a.a.gallagher.

April 2009

allrights reserved

for further tales of my father's war please go to ....

http://hubpages.com/hub/Australia-The-Bombing-of-Darwin--a-Family-Story

http://hubpages.com/hub/My-Dad---The-Hero