The Black Pit...and Beyond

Burnstown ON: General Store Publishing House. Near Fine. 2000. First Edition. Paperback. 1894263197 . Signed by Author; Only slight wear. ; Signed and inscribed by author 'Mumford' on title page. ; Trade PB; 8.90 X 5.90 X 0.50 inches; 138 pages; "J. Gordon Mumford was born outside London and trained as a radio operator for the British Merchant Navy in 1942. He first went to sea in 1942 on a Danish collier which met an untimely end which we read about in occasional flashbacks. We first meet 17-year old Mumford on the SS SCOTTISH HEATHER which sailed in convoy ONS 154 from England bound for New York. The 'Black Pit' referred to by the title is what is also known as the 'Air Gap' -- the part of the North Atlantic beyond reach of Allied aircraft where German U-boats waited like hungry wolves for defenseless sheep. There is an unusual twist to the adventures that befall Mumford and his fellow SCOTTISH HEATHER crew after they are torpedoed. His next ship, the EMPIRE HARMONY spent 18 months in the Mediterannean shuttling from port to port -- wherever her heavy-lift cranes were needed to unload Sherman tanks or other heavy equipment. At times the ship is just behind the front lines, under heavy attack, at times the crew enjoys shore leave in friendly territory, and we experience a young man's impressions of the world. Unlike some memoirs whose authors hide their youthful feelings, Mumford is not afraid to talk about his confusion regarding sex when he is approached by the ever-present prostitutes, in view of his mother's admonition to 'save himself for marriage.' The EMPIRE PATH takes Mumford up the Scheldt River to Antwerp where they are under frequent attack by V2 rockets. " .