company of heroes tales of valor hero unit

In all, the ship sustained more than 50 hits. Explosions rocked the ship, with the bridge, wheelhouse and low power room hit first. But, on the morning of April 20, the Amethyst was still about 60 miles from the city when communist fire resumed from the north shore.

Mao’s PLA held the Yangtze’s north side and the nationalists controlled the south bank.īecause Britain had not taken a side in the Chinese conflict, no trouble was expected, and British officials believed the Amethyst could reach Nanking before the cease-fire ended. China was in the midst of a bloody civil war between the communist insurgents of Mao Tse Tung’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the ruling nationalist (or Kuomintang) Party of Chiang Kai-shek, and the Consort was long overdue for relief, having guarded the British Embassy for some time in case Mao’s army took the city and forced an embassy evacuation.Ī cease-fire agreement between the two sides was due to expire at midnight on April 21, with the communists demanding that the nationalists agree to their terms or else fighting would resume. In April 1949, the Amethyst was ordered to sail up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Nanking, then relieve the HMS Consort of her duties. So George tucked Simon inside his jacket, smuggled him aboard the Amethyst, and hid the tomcat in his cabin. The rodent infestation posed risks to onboard foodstuffs-and to the crew’s overall health. Seventeen-year-old Ordinary Seaman George Hickinbottom decided a cat was just what the ship needed to get rid of its rats. Thought to be about a year old, the scrawny black and white tomcat was scrounging for food when a British sailor spotted him. Simon was discovered in March 1948 poking around the docks of Stonecutters Island in Hong Kong.

Company of heroes tales of valor hero unit