In 1942 during the Second World War, the luxury trans-Atlantic cruise ship, the Ile-de-France, on loan to the British Admiralty, was deployed to South Africa where she was refitted as a troop carrier in Port Elizabeth before continuing her voyage to fetch POWs back from North Africa. She docked in Durban and here Dad is filming her arrival with the Bluff in the background, an historic moment, being the largest vessel to have entered the Port of Durban at that time. The tug, the William Hoy could well have been used in docking the French-owned ship, seen here flying the French ensign and with troops crowding her decks. The Ile-de-France continued military operations for 5 years before being returned to France to be changed back to a cruise liner sailing between Europe and America once again.
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