On the day the Queen was due to officially name the spectacular £550m Queen Mary 2 in Southampton, the Daily Echo continues its collection of memories from people who worked and sailed aboard the first ship to bear the royal name...

THE PASSENGER:

A grandfather who was on the maiden voyage of Queen Mary wants to donate his collection of rare artefacts to a Hampshire museum.

Peter Bennett, 82, completed the journey across the Atlantic aboard the ship in 1936 when he was just 15.

Mr Bennett has a variety of items from the voyage, including certificates, pictures and handouts, some signed by the ship's captain.

He is the only surviving person in the UK to hold a special 50-year commemorative trophy, which was handed to him after he completed a special VIP trip on Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1986.

Mr Bennett, who is registered blind, feels the time is right for the items to be passed on as he believes the launch of the new Queen Mary 2 will mark the start of a new era.

The father of four and grandparent of two said: "I would like to see these memorabilia go into some public record somewhere. I think that it is important that it is recorded in modern history.

"The new QM2 is US-owned and built in France. It doesn't hold a lot of interest to me - it is not my generation. I think QM2 is for other generations. It is quite a different ship to the old Queen Mary."

Mr Bennett travelled on the ship with his father to visit relatives in Canada.

He said: "To me it was a fascinating trip. In those days, the class system in this country was very strong. On the maiden voyage, the whole ship was open for everyone to wander around.

Mr Bennett, from Winklebury, Basingstoke, added: "I am quite happy for my collection to go for others to enjoy. Some of it is very old and really needs to be dealt with by someone who knows how to handle it or it will deteriorate."

Julia Herron, of Hampshire County Council's recreation and heritage department, said the museum service would be happy to look at Mr Bennett's artefacts. She added that they could end up in an area of Hampshire, such as Southampton, for others to enjoy.

THE TERMINALS SUPERVISIOR:

DID you hear the one about the car that ended up beneath Queen Mary?

Former ship's fish cook John Walker started in the kitchens on board Queen Mary but went ashore after the Second World War, working his way up to supervisor at the Ocean Terminal

He recalled the extraordinary incident that took place in 1949.

Mr Walker, 80, said: "We were unloading cars from Queen Mary and the last one that came out was always a significant event.

"On this occasion the last one that came out was dropped over the side of the dock and ended up underneath the ship. It was a big American car."

Mr Walker, of Dunnings Lane, North Baddesley, was one of more than 70 former Queen Mary crew members who held a reunion at the Cowherds Inn in The Common on Monday.

He also moved to dispel what he said was the myth that Queen Mary never sailed in convoy because she was too quick.

Mr Walker produced a cutting from a Scottish newspaper which recalled an event in 1943 when she joined a four-ship convoy with the Aquitania, the Ile de France and the Nieuw Amsterdam

It read: "These four mammoth vessels were on a hush-hush mission taking Australian troops home from the Middle East to help defend Australia against a possible invasion by the Japanese."

THE WAITER:

FORMER Queen Mary commis waiter Gerry Barnes served in the liner's first class dining room during the 1950s and recalls many of the famous people from that era.

Film stars Alan Ladd and Victor Mature, as well as Walt Disney, were just some of the many famous passengers who travelled across the Atlantic during the ship's post-war years.

Mr Barnes, 65, from Swincombe Rise in West End, Southampton, also remembers Britain's famous war leader Winston Churchill taking a trip to New York.

But his fondest memory is of when the Queen Mother stayed on board.

He said: "The ship was packed because she was travelling. Directly she came into the restaurant, everyone stood up."

THE STEWARD:

ALAN Jones's most abiding memory of his time on board Queen Mary was an incident that took place in New York.

As a first class steward from 1960 to 1962, Mr Jones earned his rating aboard Queen Mary and was witness to the tugboat strike in the Big Apple.

Mr Jones, of Shamrock Quay, Southampton, now works maintaining yachts but says that watching the then Queen Mary captain John Treasure-Jones bring in the ship single-handed while battling striking tugboats was one of the most impressive things that he had ever seen.

"It was the one thing that stuck in my memory," said the 57-year-old.

"Captain Treasure-Jones brought that boat in without any tugs.

"He turned it 45 degrees and all the tugs came out and tried to push us off before the police were called."

Mr Jones was one of many former Queen Mary crew members who met for an emotional reunion at the Cowherds Inn, Southamp-ton, at the weekend, and says he is impressed by the ship's successor, Queen Mary 2.

He added: "I like the look of it, the size. She's a lovely ship.

"She's a bit different from the old one."