Warspite-Another story
*** Kenneth,this is a really wonderful heartwarming story and thank you for letting me know about your dad,it is true that we had such wonderful machinery and other famous things in the past but the real stories lie with the people who operated and maintained them,sometimes placed in circumstances that they could not comprehend.
Placed in a similar situation to yourself one day I sat down and recorded my fathers wartime career in the R.A.F and glad that I did,history is too easily forgotton and it is up to people like us to never let this happen by recording events like this,I wish you well for the future and above all you can be rest assured that your father was playing his part in an important time in our history,and by knowing about it you are also part of that history !
Hi Barry,
My name is Kenneth Cree 62 yrs. and I live in Rossville, Indiana. I was surfing the web and came upon your site. I don't have much information on the Warspite, but I have a story to tell you.
My father Virgil A. Cree passed away Nov. 24, 2004 and I'm setting here crying (4:00 A.M) thinking of the stories he told me. My dad was a wounderful man and a the best dad a boy could ever hope for. He was almost 93 when he died.
My Mom and Dad lived in Bremerton, Washington during the war. Dad worked in the Bremerton, Navy Yard as a heavy rigger. He told me about the WARSPITE. He said it came in for repairs. He said it had guards all around the ship. One story he told was about the time he was down in the ship and had do walk across a certain area and was stopped by a British sailor on guard.
He said the Saylor said. You will not go any past this area of Her Majesties ship. I guess they got in a little argument and to make a long store short, since they were repairing the ship they did get to move around on the ship.
Dad said he met a sailor that was very lonely and home sick. He invited the boy to come home with him to have super. Mom and dad didn't have much, they live in a little trailer, and got by during the war. Dad said it was the hardest he ever worked in his life and the longest was 70 hrs. straight. He said they were working night and day to get the ships back on the water after Pearl Harbor. Anyway Dad took him home and Mom fixed beans and cornbread. Dad said he really loved the meal and was so grateful to just be around a home for a change. When he took him back as they said good by and Dad wished him luck, he gave dad a hat band to remember him by and it had WARSPITE on it. I remember seeing it from time to time. I recall it was black with lettering on it. When dad died I looked for it, but never could find it. He told me this story again about a month before he pass away. I thought you would like to listen to it.
At the time it was just another thing dad was remembering about when he was young and strong. Now that he was gone I wish I would have paid more attention, because he did tell me the boys name that he took home for supper.
