Luck Was My Companion

Book excerpt: In this autobiography, LUCK WAS MY COMPANION, Rowland C. Marshall, who travelled throughout the globe visiting countries most people only dream about, tells of his many experiences in time of peace and war. He describes his early childhood and a career in the Merchant Service, including the seamy side, and his misfortunes with Malaria. The war year of 1942 saw him aboard an ill-fated merchant ship loaded with food, medical supplies and high explosives, bound for the beleaguered Island of Malta, whose people were starving. Facing almost certain death, he lived to fight on, unlike his shipmates, many of whom perished. By September of 1943 he was back in the thick of it, ferrying troops between Alexandria and Toranto during the invasion of Italy. Then on June 6, 1944, Liberation Day for Europe, he served aboard one of many hospital ships, ferrying wounded American soldiers from Omaha Beach. The author hopes some of his recounting will make you laugh or maybe at times shed a tear, as he did while writing his story. To this day he often looks back at the strange twists and turns that occurred throughout his life, to say, 'Luck has been my constant companion.'