Page 717 - Reading Mercury

Wokingham, secretary; the Mayor, Mr. Wright, Mrs. Thorne, Mr. Gibson, Mrs. Beale,
Mrs Clarke and Mrs. Elton. It was agreed to ask Cllr. Lawrence, Mr. Harold Lee and
Mrs. Lush to join. People interested should see any of these people.

FROM THE H.M.S. GARTH
Just Before Christmas, the Mayor of Wokingham sent this telegram:” The Officer
Commanding, H.M.S. Garth, the resident schoolchildren of Wokingham Borough and
Wokingham Rural District send you all on Garth their best wishes for Christmas and a
safe return in the New Year—Mayor of Wokingham.”
Now the Mayor has received this message, “All on board H.M.S. Garth send the
townspeople of Wokingham warm greetings for Christmas and best wishes for the
New Year.”
The Mayor says, “We feel sure the townspeople will be glad to know that greetings
have been exchanged with H.M.S. Garth, which they were able to adopt owing to
their successful Warship Week.”

th
Sat 30 Jan
IN OPEN BOAT FOR 22 DAYS
Wokingham Man’s Dramatic Story
Sun-tanned Merchant Seaman, John George Carlin, of Wokingham, is back home.
Twenty-two days of the time he has been away he has spent in an open boat, in mid-
Atlantic, with eighteen other men. His ship was torpedoed just north of the Equator,
and the crew escaped in two lifeboats.. The second lifeboat has not been seen or heard
of since. Its twenty men are feared lost. The nineteen men in Carlin’s boat were
miraculously saved when a patrolling Sunderland flying boat was seen and signalled
The story is dramatically told in the log of John Carlin who was at the Royal
Merchant Navy School, Bear Wood, and is the son of Mrs. Carlin, 264 London Road,
Wokingham; his father lost his life in 1926, when he was washed overboard from his
vessel.
The log relates how day after day distress signals were sent out by wireless from the
two boats, but of no avail. On the first day course was set for a West African port, but
next day the wind had changed and they had to alter course to the north.
On the eighth day there came a rain squall, and the two boats lost sight of each
other. Carlin’s vessel passed floating tree trunks, bananas and flowers. The men hoped
these were signs of nearby land. Next day the sea was rough, and no land was sighted.
Carlin wrote in the log: “I guess we will just have to make for the African coast if
possible and get within reach of convoy patrols and aircraft.
On the twelfth day: “We find out that by giving ourselves a quick dip in the sea we
are refreshed and made less thirsty, although we keep our mouths closed.” Next day
Carlin caught a small fish which he had been trying to catch for nearly a week. “Not
much flesh on it, though,” he wrote.
And so time passed. The men were in excellent spirits, but weak through exposure.
On the twentieth day there was rain at last. They caught four to five gallons in the
sails. Carlin wrote, “This rain is really a blessing, for we are on our last beaker of
water. Everyone thinks it is a sign our luck has changed.” They were right.
Says the log: “Twenty-second day—G. Smith, fireman, sights Sunderland aircraft
astern. We quickly drop smoke flares and he sights us. This is so unexpected and so
glorious a sight it brings tears to all our eyes.” Later the aircraft dropped a message in
a container: “If any more boats or survivors lower sail and raise it again. Wish I could
do more. Best of luck. Remain in Present position. Ship on way.”

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