Embarking for England

Just before Linton left New Zealand for England, he gave his mother a beautiful tea set. Roberta later gifted one cup and saucer to six women in the family. One of those women has passed hers onto me.

Above: The cup and saucer I inherited.

Linton left Wellington Harbor for England on 24th May 1942, on the 'Melbourne Star' ship. Roberta and Linton's Aunt Lorne, among others, saw him off that day. According to family legend, Roberta kept her eyes on him and waved and waved until a policeman caught her, as she was about to step off the end of the wharf.

The fact that several family members were there to see Linton off is amazing, because families were not told the exact day or time their children and husbands were leaving, in fear of espionage. Roberta had to stay a full week in Wellington, and must have constantly been going down to the wharf to check if Linton was leaving.

Linton's pilot friend Bill Abbott was on the same ship, the Melbourne Star, and as the ship pulled away he started singing 'I'll be loving you always,' and 'Now is the Hour.' According to his daughter, all the men on the ship joined in.

The ship Linton traveled to England on. The Melbourne Star was sunk later in the war by a German Submarine on April 2nd, 1943.

Above: Linton Jones, Joan Kennington, Roberta Jones. 1942.

Above: Linton's Mother and Brother, Roberta

and Innes Jones, 1942.

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