My Father's Three Voyages

In June 1940, a 24-year-old merchant seaman, Maurice Dunbar, sailed into Liverpool from New Zealand on a ship bearing frozen meat. He was the refrigeration engineer, responsible for keeping the meat frozen. He then sailed back to New Zealand, followed by two more voyages to Britain—always in peril of being killed by U-boats. After that, his nerves were shot, and he signed off. This made him liable for call-up to the New Zealand Army, but the medical board found that he was unfit. He had done his bit.