The story of a Dutch freighter during the Second World War
16th of April. Abbekerk approaches Ceylon with her crew knowing from overheard radio signals that the Japanese have wreaked havoc and that it is not unlikely there are still enemy forces in the area. Everybody is on full alert. A...
23 april 1942. Colombo. In the port of Colombo we took in the much needed provisions. The Captain went ashore to visit the agent and Admiralty House to discuss the route to be followed to Abadan. Here he heard much...
3 May 1942. Abbekerk is still waiting for orders to leave Colombo. Meanwhile in England the corvette HMS Wallflower is getting a big overhaul after two years of intense convoy service. Her equipment is also modernised and that will prove...
14 May 1942. Abbekerk finally leaves Colombo setting course for the Persian Gulf. Because they unloaded some of the wheat cargo she is not as deep in the water any more. Without a problem 17 knots cruising speed is met...
22 May 1942. In the sweltering heat of the Persian Gulf Abbekerk slowly sails up the river Shatt-al-Arab (Arvand Rood). This large river finds its origin in the coming together of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and forms the divide...
28 May 1942. In Abadan finally the locomotives are unloaded. Third mate Visser looks at it with mixed feelings. First we unloaded the wooden beams and sleepers, and again inevitable some hit the locomotives while hauled out. Then we docked...
4 June 1942. Walter MacNab (1918-2015) is one of four DEMS gunners on Abbekerk. He and three colleagues man the two Lewis machine guns on the bridge. Being a Gunner was rather boring at times and we were poorly paid but...
11 June 1942. Without cargo, Abbekerk now sails at high speed down the African coast, destination Durban, unaware of the Japanese activities around Madagascar. The crew starting to get more worried about German submarines. It was a long distance to...
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...
3 July 1942. As Abbekerk leaves Durban, there had been no shore leave for the engine room staff, again. After Bunbury to Abadan (where I spent one evening ashore) then to Durban (no shore leave at all) and now to Trinidad....
Adriaan W Kik, who's memoirs are the inspiration and base of this website
Peter
