CALM BEFORE THE STORM
The Cruise Of Naromis GA Jones Golden Duck €12.59 ★★★★★
The author Julia Jones was clearing out her attic when she came across a bundle of faded old papers and photographs that had belonged to her late father, who died in 1983.
George Jones had been a passionate sailor all his life and the papers included a description of a voyage to the Baltic Sea he undertook at the age of 21.
What’s remarkable about the voyage was that it took place in August 1939, on the eve of World War II, meaning that Jones and his four crewmates must have been among the very last people to catch a glimpse of a Europe that was still at peace. They travelled from England in a motorcruiser called the Naromis and, after brief stops in Belgium and Holland, entered the Kiel Canal, the Germanbuilt waterway that connects the North Sea to the Baltic.
All around they could see signs of military activity, from the humourless young submariners training on U-boats to the big capital ships that would soon be at war.
At one stage they had to take evasive action when they strayed onto a gun range.
It’s very surprising, in retrospect, that the five sailors weren’t treated with more suspicion, particularly as Jones was taking photographs that in time were passed on to the British government.
When they came ashore they found the locals to be friendly and spent an evening happily drinking beer and ogling girls. Their welcome was even warmer when they got to Denmark. A shopkeeper at first refused to serve them because it was late, but on realising they were English he roused his neighbours and they all fed the visitors. The goodwill that they encountered that night was far from being a one-off. A charming book that captures a final moment of ordinariness in a world about to be consumed in flames.