Singapore for refit.  Stores, doors, hatches and the three gun mountings were removed and the dockyard workers invaded the ship. The ship’s company were accommodated ashore in HMS Terror. Tropical routine was worked which meant the crew finished at 1200.

From Frank Thomas.

One evening I had dropped off the Captain by the Wireless Station and started back down the hill. It was a soft sort of evening and I thought how nice it would be if I was ashore instead of working. Then another thought came to me, “I was ashore and I had transport!” “Why should I go straight back to the ship?” So I didn’t! I knew a very nice girl who lived out at Shan Ki Wan, near the end of the tram line. Her name was Margaret Periera and she was 19. Like almost all Eurasian women she was pretty. Her father was Portuguese and her mother Chinese. So I went to their home. She was surprised to see me as she knew I was on duty that evening, but when I asked her if she would like to come out with me she fetched her bag and gloves and we started out. We had only been moving for about a minute or so when, on passing a side street, I glimpsed another jeep. It was the Jaunty and his bunch of crushers. They quickly caught up with us and pulled me over. Now I was in trouble! The Jaunty asked me what ship I was from. As if he didn’t already know. No other ship had a motor vehicle and I had a tally on my cap. Then he asked who my passenger was. “Officer’s lady”, I said. He looked at me and I knew he didn’t believe me. But, he wasn’t certain – Only about 99.5%. I knew I was in deep —-. Then he asked where I was taking the lady. “Repulse Bay”. I said. Then, I leaned towards him and said quietly, “Bit of a party, I think”. I will never know whether the Jaunty believed me or whether he perhaps thought I deserved to get away with it, but he just told me to carry on. I was considerably shaken by how close I had come to disaster and I did not keep Margaret out for too long, She knew without the need for me to tell her that I wouldn’t be taking her out in the ship’s jeep again! It was shortly after that that another AB was given the job of driving the Captain. I hope that he enjoyed it more than I did.