A number of people have played important roles in helping to bring my story to the surface over the last 10 years. In particular I thank Professor Peter Liddle, for his encouragement and gentle insistence; Nicholas and Eveleen Kerr, for expanding on my brief original account; Lynn Riley, for her enthusiasm and encouragement; Eric Wisgard, for reading early drafts of the manuscript with a journalist’s eye and making valued suggestions on structure and style; fellow survivors Harold Gibson and Ron Croxton in England and Tony Large in Tasmania, for their correspondence and recollections; and the late Reverend Frederick Grossmith, for his masterly research and writing on the Laconia sinking.
Thanks are also due to Don and Josie Maddern, who put me in touch with Captain John Fisher, who in turn enabled me to connect with Tony Large; to Nigel Turner in London, for his revealing video production; to Chris Gibb, for her checking of the manuscript, candid comments and constant encouragement; and to Dennis Taylor, for his thoughtful appraisal. Also, my grateful and heartfelt thanks to David Gibb, for his hours of patient listening, questioning and writing, without which this book would not have been possible. I extend, too, my thanks and appreciation to Ryan Paine and Michael Bollen at Wakefield Press, for their belief in the value of my story and their insightful editing. Finally, and especially, thanks to all the members of the McLoughlin family who, in countless and wonderful ways, have helped this survivor of war to survive the peace.
J.M.