Durban. Blackout and cockroaches
18 June 1942. ‘And yet again back in Durban’ Adriaan Kik writes in his memoires. But Durban has changed dramatically compared to 7 months earlier when it appeared to be a city in peacetime. It changed because of the fear for a Japanese invasion and because only days ago a Japanese fighter flew over Durban. This is the one plane from the submarine I 10 and the only plane for hundreds of miles around, but that was not known at that time. Fear was in the air.
Therefore a blackout is implemented which forbids all lights up till 20 km inland after sun down. In England blackouts are the norm but over here it takes a bit of getting used to. In fact it is a good development for the crews of the merchant navy ships. Against a well lit coast the ships stand out and are an easy prey for submarines. Not a big problem at the sparsely populated and lit African coast but at the densely populated east coast of the USA it is the cause of a massacre of unprecedented magnitude. We will come back to this.
Aboard Abbekerk repairs are made, supplies loaded and again they are facing a returning problem: cockroaches.
The ship was infested with cockroaches. They were everywhere, and everything that was edible or potable had to stay closed. We used cans of condensed milk, but had to keep a thumb on the opening all the time, because in a blink of an eye a cockroach crawled in. They were in the vegetables, in bread, in everything!
Fighting such a infestation usually consisted of several “disinfections” over a longer period of time. Unfortunately, we were never long enough in a port to carry out an entire fight. The last one in Bunbury was only half way when we left. And in the case of cockroaches: half did not work. It did not work at all.
Gunner Walter MacNab
Walter MacNab and his colleagues enjoying Durban.
(Source: Walter MacNab)
About the picture on the right:
I came across this in a box of old photographs. It was taken in Durban in December 1941 on the outward bound trip of the MV Abbekerk to Singapore. The names of the gunners reading from right to left are George Boneham, Robert Delany and Walter Macnab.
Gunner Walter MacNab
After some repairs and taking in food, diesel and water we were ready to leave. A long three week voyage to Trinidad ahead.
Assistent engineer Adriaan Kik
Peter
