Nathan J. Fullmer, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Luke Kelly, August 11, 2001: Saving the legacy tape no. 282

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athan J. ullm r docked at outh ampton ngland D cember 1 t 19 4. All of us had work dutie on board· nothing seriou . a o but not bad. After we got out of the harbor there was-I used to say a hundr d h·p convoy. I looked through some of these documents last night anticipating th int rvi w and it wasn't quite that big. But it was a big convoy with destroyers around and there was a big aircraft carrier right behind us. We had Thanksgiving dinner on that ship in the middle of the Atlantic and we ate out of stainless steel compartmental trays. By the time we got the mashed potatoes, and the gravy, and the turkey, and the cranberry sauce, and then the dessert all dumped on top of that it was quite a mess. Some of it got down, but some of it came up. We had anticipated that we would land in France at Le Havre. But Le Havre had been badly damaged, and it was crowded with supply ships going in following the D-day invasion. So we got diverted to England. We got to South Hampton in the Southern part of England, and were in a camp there for-you've heard about the Winchester Cathedral? We were very near Winchester. I never did see the cathedral, but I did learn the song. The housing facilities were very limited. Quonset huts with a soft coal stove which never did succeed in drying out the moisture in the air. There was a limited rifle range there, and we were allowed-! don't know, three, or four, or five cartridges to zero in our new rifles. Okay. So that was done. And then, after that had been completed, the order comes down that we've got to tum in all the rifles because there's going to be a modification on them. 7