212791 Sgt. Eric Hendry Shaw Royal Air Force My father, Eric Shaw, was on the SS Anselm when it was sunk. He was a sergeant in the Royal Air Force, aged 20. He jumped off the ship as it was going down and after 20 minutes in the water he was picked up by British survey vessel HMS Challenger, and later transferred to HMS Cathay which took survivors to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Eric was based there until January 1943.
During his time in the RAF Eric kept a diary which includes a detailed and vivid account of the sinking of Anselm, including events leading up to the sea journey and also the following 18 months when he was in Sierra Leone. He does mention some of his pals from that time, but only by first name or nickname. He was artistically inclined, and his diary is illustrated with many drawings of the events, people and places he has written about.
I am the present custodian of the diary which is being kept as a family heirloom. I am in the process of transcribing it into MS Word format, and scanning the illustrations. When I have completed this, I will make it available to anyone who may be interested in having a copy.
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