Now this screening would not have come about if it had not been for the support of a scientist Paul Reed, who had attended with his father, an earlier screening of the film in February in Washington DC. Unbeknown to me Paul’s father had been on Convoy RA64 and had served on one of the American Liberty ships that carried the refugees to Scotland. Paul was so taken by the film and the story that he became the mentor and my supportive colleague stateside; the outcome was the screening on 19th September. Thank goodness for loyal friends.

The Merchant Marine and American Liberty Ships are an integral part of the story. I was delighted when Spud Campbell and Chuck Reed, who featured in the film, and are survivors of the SS Henry Bacon, travelled from their East Coast homes specially for the screening. The ‘Bacon’ carried 19 refugees to safely despite being torpedoed and subsequently sunk. It was the first time Spud and Chuck had seen ‘Through Hell and High Water’ on the big screen and their presence only served to heighten the importance of the occasion and we celebrated this in style.

What has come out of attending the screening for me, apart from seeing some of my favourite people, are good and positive things. We had a front page article in the Seattle Times and two further articles in the local Nordic journals. PBS have been in touch asking to see the film, King TV a local news channel are transmitting a six minute item about the film in November. (Cont. next page)