Sharing my letter to the Editor which has appeared in the latest issue of old africa magazine.
Mervyn ISSUE No.109 October-November 2023 OLD AFRICA 6 would be of interest for pilots, students or even passengers. Dr Anahied Gafar, Khartoum. Sudan Dear Editor, As you must know by now, everything stops with me whenever a copy of Old Africa turns up. Today is such a day! I was delighted to read the article, “To East Africa by Sea” by Michael Sparrow. What caught my eyes even more, was the photo of the B.I. liner, the AMRA on which I travelled from Bombay to Mombasa in 1947. It revived so many near-lost memories. Most of the Goan Civil Servants from East Africa, (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika) were entitled to overseas leave with FREE second class passages for themselves and their families to either Bombay or Goa (where most of us headed to). Travelling on the AMRA was more like a ‘HOME FROM HOME’ as both the Purser and Assistant Purser were Goans - so too were most of the cabin boys. The fact that I loved singing and dancing made me a rather popular passenger on the voyage. I am lucky in that I don’t suffer from seasickness. I enjoyed the voyage immensely and did full justice to the food and drink. Since I entertained the passengers with my singing, I was never short of a drink either. My cup was forever overflowing! Later on after my marriage and subsequent promotion, I was entitled to First Class Passages for my entire family and myself. I can still recall the stops at Mahe in the Seychelles where we were allowed to disembark and tour the town and buy the assortment of curios that were available. It is only during the conflict between India and Portugal that our ship was not allowed to land in Marmagoa and instead, we had to go all the way via Karachi but were not allowed to disembark, so I saw very little of Karachi except for the port! My wife and children enjoyed the voyages immensely and the kids were always fussed over by the captain and some of his staff. Travelling by sea also brings back sad memories for me personally since it was on such a voyage during World War II, that I lost my entire family (Dad, step-Mum and three very young children - two girls aged three years and three months respectively and a boy just one year old - a devastating blow for us all as my two brothers and I were still at school in British India and became orphans overnight. Thanks to a kindly maternal grandfather, we were all supported until we’d finished our schooling. It is sad that the tragic case of the sinking of the SS TILAWA seems to have been almost forgotten altogether. Thanks to a friend, Emile Solanki from Toronto and his father Kash, from Leicester, we are determined to keep the memory of the TILAWA alive. Towards this end, a commemoration was held in Bombay in November last year, which sadly I was unable to attend and at which the Chief Guest was the Deputy British High Commissioner in Bombay, who, at the conclusion of his speech, read out a poem I’d composed as a 14-year old schoolboy to mark the sad loss of my entire family. I very much hope that the story of the SS TILAWA will be kept alive, if only to honour the memory of my late family and many others who perished when two Japanese torpedoes were fired at this passenger ship in November 1942. Here in London, we are hoping to hold a similar commemoration at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich on the very day in November this year. Mervyn Maciel, Sutton, Surrey The following poem was composed by Mervyn Maciel in 1944 on the second anniversary of his family’s tragic death in the torpedoed SS TILAWA. MEMORIAM by Mervyn Maciel My mother was snatched at too early an age My father soon followed that same old stage, And left us three brothers quite helpless and alone, To bear the yoke that they had borne. My mother’s death took place at home Where all of us did weep and mourn; But my father’s was a death at sea, It tore our hearts and orphaned three! My Dad with step-mum and children three, Was sailing to Africa full of glee; He smilingly said, “I’ll come
