8th December, 1946 - Underway, Ron witnesses a lunar eclipse and is frustrated by poor "blanket" etiquette on board ship.

Sunday, 8^th December, 1946

After a sound night's rest I was awakened at seven by the Deck Sargeant’s cheery voice shouting “Wakey, wakey, rise & shine!” or words to that effect.

I half rolled, half fell, out of the hammock and pulled on that part of my uniform I discarded.  I folded my blankets and hid them from ‘borrowers’ and packed my hammock away.  Then I took my washing kit and queued up outside the ablutions.  Shaving was difficult with cold water but it seems we will get used to it.

Source: wikipedia..

Nothing exciting happened today.  A church service was conducted by and Air Force Padré this morning.  The sea was a little choppy in the early part of the day but was very calm at noon with bright sunshine.  In the afternoon we passed an Island which I think was Corsica.  Just before retiring we saw two lighthouses which we supposed were on Sardinia.

A cinema show was held on deck but was not very successful as only one projector was used.  The troops voiced their disapproval everytime a reel was changed.

At about 6.50pm “Egyptian Time” a total eclipse of the moon occurred.  This we saw very well.  A “running commentary” was given by one of the ship’s company who opened with “A total eclipse of the moon is about to commence, it will begin in the bottom left hand corner.”

My blankets were missing when I retired tonight.  I soon found mine but someone else’s were missing then.  This stupid state of affairs is gone through every night and sometimes during the night.