06-01 Robert Lost

The family was off to visit the grandparents in Belfast Ireland and passage was booked on Queen Elizabeth, the troop ship that had been converted back as a passenger liner after WWII. It was March 1947.
I had to get permission from my teachers, and they gave me lessons to learn while away. Dad sent a huge trunk of can goods a month before we left home. The day after we reached Belfast, they arrived.
We left from New York. All of us were in a cabin that had slept six soldiers in hammocks. The QE could outrun any submarine and transported safely over 30,000 soldiers each way during the war.
Everything was wonderful for about a day, then we hit a huge storm with 90-foot waves and had to head down to Portugal to end-run the horrible weather. Everyone was deadly seasick.
Dad was standing by us during the night while we were all puking into an enormous china pot. The pot was sitting at the end of Robert's crib. The ship lurched abruptly during the night, which sent the bowl and its steamy contents flying. Poor Dad. He had sea legs from previous visits and was everyone's nurse.
After about three days, we all adjusted to the pitching and tossing of the giant ship. The tablecloths in the dining room were all wetted down so the dishes would not slide. And we all held on to ropes when walking about up top. Mother can be seen in the photo holding on during the rough weather.
We landed in Southampton and took a train to London where we made a connection at Euston Station to travel north to Liverpool. And this is where we lost Robert. When walking down one of the passages with trains coming and going on both sides of us, Robert walked on to a troop train when no one was looking.
And walking back mother looked at us and said, “Where’s Robert?". It was panic time! We alerted the station police and started to look along the rails to see if Robert's body was on the tracks. After about 20 minutes, there was an announcement on the loudspeaker that Robert Bulloch had been found on a troop train heading to Coventry and that it would make a special stop in Rugby.
Then they announced that our train heading for Liverpool would also make the same stop at Rugby to pick up Robert. I remember mother and Dad and Ian and I on our knees in the cabin, giving thanks for his safety. We should have been thanking the amazing British railway system and the wonderful people who found Robert.
When we picked Robert up, he was in the arms of a large matron who was giving him a cup of tea, something we were not allowed to drink. And the soldiers had stuffed Robert's pockets with chocolate bars (which were rationed at the time).
That night we went on board a ship to take us across the channel to Belfast, but the two rooms that dad had booked for us were given away. Dad was furious. I remember mother sleeping on the floor and using a sweater as a pillow.
When we arrived in Belfast, we were shown the story on the front page of the Belfast Telegraph about Robert stepping onto a troop train at Euston station.
In the photo, Dad is seen in front of his parent's home on Maryville Park holding onto Robert. Love the two cameras he always had with him, one for colour and one for black and white.
After the scare Robert gave the family, I was designated to watch out for him. Every day I could hear mother say, "Where's Robert?" Love the photo of Robert at the Giant's Causeway. He was the cutest of all the four boys and seriously wired.