Crossing the Channel

Jim Lindsay writes: I looked in my diary and there is almost nothing about the ferry crossing itself, apart from a feeling of vague apprehension. We had been so busy with the preparations over the last few days that we had had very little time to think. We had done some last-minute shopping in Dover - Jim Moyes and I bought a football that lasted until Kavalla, where it went out to sea - but then there were no more preparations to make and we had time to wonder what the Big Adventure was going to be like and whether we would survive it. I suppose I ate something and looked over the rail. And then of course we got to Zeebrugge and it was total chaos, with confusion over the order the contingents set out, terrible radio communication, a change of navigator, arguments about where we should stop to shop, and our first breakdown, all within an hour. Normal Comex, of course, so we settled down to it.

Gordon's comments

Crossing to Zeebrugge by Liz Y

It was the morning of 15th July, and 500 Comexers were gathered quayside at Dover. Cuddles and the Comex fleet were spruced and ready for the long dusty road ahead. Amid an atmosphere of general excitement, reporters and well-wishers milled about on the docks and waited to see us off. On the roof of each coach, flanked by little flags of India and the UK, fluttered the green pennant of Comex. Aloft over Cuddles, the Lion Rampant waved a cheery paw. Patiently berthed alongside was the Townsend-Thoresen ferryboat, MS Free Enterprise IV, equally smart and freshly launched in the spring.

First of all were the customs formalities. Then the twenty identical small coaches were driven on board and throngs of eager Comexers forged their way to the upper decks. At midday, FE IV set sale to the haunting sounds of the bagpipes, as Brian ceremonially piped Comex 3 out of port. A massive flag, diligently stitched together by a supporter from the English-Speaking Union, was hoisted above the ship. With its motif of 20 chakras, it became known as "The Flag of the Twenty Wheels".

An image of a chakra adorned both sides of each coach. Each chakra had twenty-four spokes, symbols for patience, self-sacrifice, courage, love, spiritual knowledge, peace and other ideal principles for life, and also a symbol for the hours of the day and the wheel of time. An image of the ancient Lion Capital of Ashoka, with chakras in relief on its base, was chosen as the state emblem of India in 1947.

We crowded to the stern and watched as the white cliffs of Dover faded from view. Among others on board were the Director of Duple Group Sales and representatives from Vauxhall and Arlington Motors, who had provided training for mechanics and driving crew. The sea was calm, the sky was blue, there were lounges, buffets, restaurants and bars. A light breeze played on the open decks. Four leisurely hours at sea and easily the easiest part of our journey, what more could we ask! We chatted and gazed at the horizon and anticipated the months ahead. We were keen and adventurous and adaptable, which we hoped would serve us well for the challenges to come.

We neared Zeebrugge about 4 pm. Cuddles boldly rolled off the ferry with Don C at the wheel and so began our journey across the vast landmass of Europe and Asia on our way to Delhi and the world of the East.

As a postscript, MS Free Enterprise IV worked the Dover-Zeebrugge route until 1976. Later it ploughed the Irish Sea and then the Baltic. Owners and names changed over time. Its career led to the Red Sea, where it was called Taj Al Salam. In a twist of fate our ferryboat retired to India in 2006, to end its days on the shores of Alang. Ironically it took us six weeks to get to India on the Old Silk Road and FE IV thirty-seven years by sea.