225579 LSA. Anthony Charles "Lofty" Hobday Royal Navy Stores HMS Artifex from:Ramsgate, Kent I joined HMS Artifex (a Fleet repair ship) from HMS Golden Hind (shore establishment at Sydney, Australia). Prior to that I had been transported from the UK to Sydney (via the Panama Canal) on the troopship Athlone Castle. HMS Artifex then journeyed to Manus Island (in the Admiralty Island group) where repairs were carried out to damaged RN vessels, which of course was her main function, and did occasional return trips to Australia. The ship then moved on to Leyte in the Philippine Islands and eventually, at the end of the war, to Hong Kong where we helped to get the hospital back into use. Eventually we returned to the UK via Australia, the Indian Ocean, Ceylon, India, Egypt, and Gibraltar. After a few more months I was demobilized. During the two years I was overseas I enjoyed two short periods of leave, travelling to Gladstone, Queensland, and Ballina, New South Wales, staying with Australian families.
|