211583 AB. Andrew Tully Royal Navy HMS Penelope from:3 Dronley Place, Beechwood, Dundee, Scotland My father, A/B Andrew Tully, was on HMS Penelope during the big actions in Malta in 1941. My sister had been born in December 1941 and my mother used to tell us that my father had purchased a christening shawl for her in Malta. During the attacks on the ship, when Penelope was in dry dock, my father would shove the christening shawl inside his jumper while he ran to his action station. We still have the book "Our Penelope" in our family. I remember my father telling us that when Penelope eventually made it to Brooklyn Navy yard, the ship's company was taken to a place called the Stage Door Canteen in Manhattan to see a show. In the 1990's, when walking through Manhattan, I actually walked past a small doorway on which a sign said "site of the Stage Door Canteen."
|