MacDonald, Archie

July 15th, 2006 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | 3 Comments »

Archie Macdonald

Archie MacDonald always wanted to go to sea. Born in 1917 in Greenock, Scotland, he was the youngest son of a boat builder. His elder brother John was indentured and an engineer apprentice so unfortunately when Archie became old enough to go, there was not the money to buy an apprenticeship. He was set in his direction of career and so sailed on deck with a view to progressing to an officers position in due course. His first experience at sea being on the sailing vessel Sir Thomas Lipton. This was in 1933 and having moved through the ranks to become a master, he found himself involved in the second world war. I would like to relate details of his exploits and experiences during this period but being a very private man he rarely talked of it. This seems to be the norm for so many who found themselves serving in the services at this time. It is only since his death in February that I have been doing some research and have found out more information. Until this, the only mention was when I was watching the legendary film about the San Demetrio, an Eagle oil tanker attacked by a surface raider which having being abandoned was later re-boarded and made her way back to Scotland. He commented, “ I was on the sister ship”. He was off the beaches on D+2 on a tanker, either the Empire Lundy or Settler, he commented, every time the deck gun went off the galley filled with soot.

After the war he served with Eagle Oil, a company, I believe, that looked after the crews and were renowned for their good food. He continued with them until when he met his wife to be and began to look for a position ashore, finishing his seagoing career as Master of the Helmsley 1, a coastal tanker.

He became a Trinity House Pilot in Barrow in Furness in 1951. At this time it was a thriving port with a busy iron ore and shipbuilding trade, with Vickers Armstrong constructing merchant and warships. At the time there were ten pilots who also served the port of Heysham across the bay. He continued to work in Barrow and Heysham, becoming the dedicated Vickers pilot, meaning that he attended to all launches and movements of these ships. Over the years he has stood on many well known vessels as they made there first entry into the water. The British Admiral for BP, the largest tanker of its type at the time, submarines such as the Dreadnought, cruise ships and later on HMS Invincible.

As Barrows trade slowed, pilots retired and were not replaced. In the later part of his career there would be three. By this time pilot MacDonald was also the dedicated pilot for British Nuclear Fuels. At retirement in 1988 he remained as the dock pilot and continued this until 1990. His retirement may not have been so well received at the local golf club where he could now spend more time and supplemented his pension with regular 5p birdies..

Golf remained a large part of his life, he played until just a year prior to his passing.

Since his death I have been sifting through the large amount of boxed paperwork that he had kept. All the monthly pilotage returns since the early sixties until his retirement were stored. Pictures of ships he had piloted and sailed on and many books on piloting and shipping companies, some of which I have been glad to pass on. I even found his second world war watch duffle coat. There was also, carefully folded up in an old wallet, a cutting from a Gourock newspaper. This told of the return of Captain Archie MacDonald for a period of leave having had his ship sunk from under him, he had never mentioned this to anyone.

Archie MacDonald was a dedicated and well respected pilot, I worked with him numerous times as a pilot boat coxswain and captain of small tugs in Barrow whilst I was on leave. I have been approached several times over the years asking if I would like to apply for the position of pilot in Barrow. In recognition of his skill, patience and understanding and perhaps to the relief of many shipmasters, I have decided to stay at the other end of the tow rope, I could not follow in my fathers footsteps.

Martin MacDonald