I REMEMBER THAT VOYAGE LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. ONE OUTSTANDING ITEM WAS THE CONTINGENT OF ARMY NURSES THAT WERE ON BOARD. THEY WERE BILLETED IN THE SHIPS OFFICERS COUNTRY WHICH WAS OF COURSE OFF LIMITS TO THE REST OF THE PERSONNEL. IN ADDITION WE HAD A GROUP OF SOLDIERS THAT HAD JUST BEEN RELEASED FROM THE EAST COAST PROCESSING CENTER AT CAMP EDWARDS. THEY WERE KEPT IN A HOLD UNDER GUARD UNTIL WE WERE OUT TO SEA, THEN ALLOWED TO COME ON A FORWARD DECK FOR FRESH AIR AND EXERCISE. THE 709TH HAD THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GUARDING THIS GROUP AND INSURING THAT THEY DID NOT GET LOOSE AND RUN RAMPANT OVER THE SHIP. GETTING BACK TO THE NURSES....WE HAD A 24 HOUR GUARD IN THEIR QUARTERS AREA TO INSURE THAT THEY WERE NOT BOTHERED. THEY DID HAVE THE RUN OF THE SHIP DURING THE DAY WHEN THEIR SENIOR NURSE PERMITTED. WE DID HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ONE THO. SHE EVIDENTLY WANTED TO MAKE SOME OF THE SOLDIERS "HAPPY" AND SHE WAS FOUND SEVERAL TIMES IN THE GUN PIT WHICH YOU CAN SEE IN THE PICTURE AT THE AFT SECTION OF THE SHIP. IT WAS A GOOD CROSSING AND WE EVENTUALLY ARRIVED IN LIVERPOOL. THE NURSES WERE SHUTTLED OFF BY SOME MEDICAL BRASS AND THE PRISONERS WERE ESCORTED TO ANOTHER AREA BY SOME INTERIOR GUARD TYPES. THE 709TH PERSONNEL WERE LOADED ON A TRAIN AND EVENTUALLY ARRIVED AT TIDWORTH. YOU KNOW THE REST FROM THERE. THANKS FOR THE PICTURE AND THE MEMORIES IT IT BROUGHT BACK TO MIND. This is the memories of a former member of Company A, 709th MP BN , Francis MacDonald, who served in the States and in Europe and in Paris, France with the Battalion.