By Joe ‘The Cat Man’
It was February 1943 and while a merchant seaman I was on my way to my ship – The SS Fort-a-la-Corne – in the blackout after an evening ashore in Newport, South Wales.
It was pitch dark, I heard a “meow” so I stopped and felt something around my ankles.
I bent down and sure enough it was a cat! After stroking and talking to it I moved on up the gangway and along the alleyway to my cabin, put on the light and there at my feet was this cat.
Right away he jumped on my bunk – how he knew it was my bunk out of the four God knows anyway I went to the pantry and found a tin of bully beef and watched him dine.
From then on he slept on my bunk and took over the ship so we named him “Skipper”, he quickly made friends with the crew who all loved him.
We carried war materials to North Africa but he made no attempt to go ashore which was sad really because 81 years ago, after one such trip, on 30 March 1943, we were on our way home when a German U-boat, the Gunter Jahn, fired two torpedoes at us, hitting us amidships.
Everyone abandoned ship and we pulled as many as we could see into the lifeboat but it was dark and there was no sign of Skipper so like a good Skipper he went down with his ship and I lost a very good friend.
Thankfully, the master, 43 crew members and ten gunners from the Fort a la Corne were eventually picked up by a British escort vessel and we were landed at Gibraltar.
I think that is what made me dedicated to rescuing sick and abandoned cats.
That’s why they call me ….. Joe, The Cat Man!
