Newsletter 3/2003 – july (The photographs are all shown on the ‘reunions’ page of the Website)
A See ‘REUNIONS’ GRAND OLD LADY OF WORLD WAR II
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- Navigate this page:
- ANOTHER OLD LADY
- MY DIARY
- A PART OF A LIFE 1935 - 1947
- Watch for Part Two in the next newsletter
- Moral: You dont have to be a brain to be a Supervisor - only a Bum
- FILMING OF "THE YANGTSE INCIDENT"
- Some thoughts on old age
- Never Anger Your Nurse
- Subject: Male Rules
A See ‘REUNIONS’ GRAND OLD LADY OF WORLD WAR II On a recent visit to me, here in Empuriabrava, my American based family and I decided on a trip to La Bisbal to look at Pots! After a pleasant afternoon wandering in the midst of every flower pot, dish and plate known to man, we wended our weary way home via the L'Escala to Figuares road, which Dear Reader, as you probably know is undergoing construction. At a very congested and consequently slow part of the journey we were passing what appeared to be a Scrap Yard for mortally wounded cars, lorries and boats, when my brother Robert, shouted excitedly "Stop the Car - I've got to look at a Boat". Naturally I did has he commanded as I thought he had gone berserk and we were possibly at some risk! However, it appeared he had discovered to his amazement, a wonderful old lady lying on her side in a very sorry state. She turned out to be, even to the uninitiated, an RAF High Speed Launch from World War II. These vessels were used by the RAF to search for and rescue pilots and aircrew forced to ditch in the Channel. Miraculously she appeared to he in her original colours together with her registration number HSL 2548. My brother being retired Naval personnel who served for many years was very excited to find such a rarity, and took many photographs of her and unfortunately at this time discovered some severe damage to her starboard side. On his return to the U S A, where he now lives with his American Wife Marilyn, he contacted the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich to find out if Maritime Heritage would have any interest in her and to his delight they were. The following is part of the reply from Stephen Riley, The Director of Maritime Heritage, at the National Maritime Museum, at Greenwich. "Thanks for your note and photos which arrived safely - in the meantime a colleague here tells me ... HSL2548 - High Speed Launch - is a 63ft "whaleback" built by the British Power Boat Co at Hythe in the period 1941-1942 as their yard number 1953. We have no further details as yet about her career or how she might have found her way to Spain. From the photographs she looks as though she has been in a collision starboard side midships? She's typically double diagonal construction - notoriously expensive to maintain and repair, which may account for why she is where you found her - possibly too expensive to repair? We may be able to put something out on our National Historic Ships Web site asking for any information it's surprising what you can find out! The Website number is (www.nmm.ac.uk) The National Register already includes High Speed Launch 102, built at Marchwood in 1936''. Of course, if any of you dear readers have any knowledge of her history or how she came to be here in Spain, my brother and I would he most grateful if you would contact me Joan Usherwood on 972 45 19 34 (Email Usherwood @terra.es) __________________________________________________________________________________ ANOTHER OLD LADY George Toomey sent in a copy of the Mail on Sunday for 22nd June and some of you may therefore have seen the article to which I am referring. It is about a proposal to bring back HMS Vengeance from Brazil to whom whe was sold many years ago. The proposal is the brainchild (?) of a Mr. John Woodward, the owner of the Fantasy Island amusement park at Ingoldmells, near Skegness and he wants to turn the Vengeance into a seaside tourist attraction. The Vengeance is currently lying in Rio de Janeiro and will be scrapped unless the £2.5 million purchase price is found. As you can imagine, views of those who served in the ship do not support this idea, although they would like to see her brought back and preserved. To be honest I personally don't have a view. She wasn't completed until January 1945 and has no great wartime history. Although I didn't serve in a carrier, my visits aboard them didn't endear me to them. However, your views may be entirely different. We all know about the difficulties experienced by those experienced by those involved in saving HMS Cavalier and she was already in UK! The Chairman of the Vengeance Association says that they would support Mr. Woodward's plan if it was the only alternative to her being scrapped. If you want to join the campaign to save Vengeance, write to HMS Vengeance, c/o Eastlea, Main Road, Burton Agnes, E. Yorks. YO25 4NA. __________________________________________________________________________________ In the last newsletter in part 2 of Alf Price's childhood diary we read of he and his mother's journey to and their stay in Alexandria. With the Cossack having returned to the UK, Alf and his mother followed hoping to catch up with his father Petty Officer Charles Price. Now read on MY DIARY The Childhood Memories of Alfred Price 1938 - 1941 (continued) Our house in Portsmouth was occupied by the same people we had left there when we went abroad. The time seemed to have gone so quickly because it is now November 1939 and I am still wondering when I am going to see my Dad. Neither Mum or I had seen a barrage balloon until we went to Greenwich and I asked Grandma what they were up in the sky. There were so many of them it was a marvellous sight to me. I had to keep looking at them and I was lucky in being able to see one close to me when we went to Waterloo Station to get the train to Portsmouth. I did think they were wonderful and wished I was older so that I could join the service, although I always seemed to be going somewhere with Mum and I wondered where we should go next. Well I soon found out. We had friends living in Southsea so we went there to live for a little while and it was only a week after we had arrived in England that we found a house and had our furniture out of store and the house furnished ready to welcome my Dad who had written to say he would be coming to Portsmouth and could stay for a few days. Oh Boy was I excited. I had to tell him about not coming back to tea and the concert in Alexandria, how we had waited dinner too and then heard on the wireless that his Flotilla had gone to Scottish waters, and that we had come home as soon as we could get a ship. Well Dad came and we all went to London again so that Dad could go and see both my Grandma's before he went back to his ship. Of course I would have liked it better if we had all stayed in Portsmouth, just Dad and Mum and Me, but as we always had to share Dad with other people, well we had to do it again, so we all made the best of the time we had him with us and then he went back to his ship H.M.S. COSSACK. Dad told me his ship was doing escort work, convoying ships with food for us from Norway and Denmark. Mum got me a billet with some friends of hers and Dads so I was alright and Mum and Dad could come and see me sometimes. It was nice for me because I knew the people too. It was better than I thought it was going to be. I thought I would have to go with my school, but as the school had gone while I was abroad we were allowed to get our own billet. I lived with my Auntie May at Ragged Hall Lane near St. Albans, the City where my Dad and Mum went to school, so I too went to school there. Mum went to Scotland to see Dad and then after Xmas she came to see me and while she was in St. Albans our luggage arrived from Malta, that we thought we had lost. It seemed too much to expect to get our clothes sent on by friends in wartime, but they came safely and we were very glad of them. There were all our souvenirs as well. Then we heard on the wireless that Dads ship was expected at Leith that day with 300 English prisoners whom they had rescued off the German ship Altmark. So that night Mum went to Edinburgh because she knew that if the ship was able to come into harbour, it was also able to go out again and that Dad would not be able to write and tell us all about the rescue, so of course I too was anxious to know if Dad had been on board with the Germans too. I have since found out that he was there. My Auntie May was ill soon after that so I had to be found another billet. Mum came back again from Edinburgh and made arrangements for me to stay with my Dads Cousin at Sandridge three miles from St. Albans so I was still able to be with my school friends when I want to but I had to go to a different school. It was called the Heath school and I liked it there much better than Mount Pleasant where I went when I lived in Ragged Hall Lane. My Auntie Doris at Sandridge had a dog called Ruff and we soon became friends. I went on picnics and of course Ruff came too. My Auntie used to go out with her friends most evenings and weekends. Uncle Bill had an aviary for Budgerigars. Sometimes Uncle lets me feed them. We had a hen and chicks and I helped build a chicken run. We often go for walks and one Sunday we went for a walk across the fields to Markyate, a village between St. Albans and Luton. One of my school chums lives there too so I went to see him. His name is Jimmy Dockrey. He has an electric train set with four passenger carriages, six luggage vans and two stations with lights on too. The train is worked by a lever on a box. When the lever is moved to the right it goes faster and to the left slower. Jimmy showed me how to work the train and his Father asked me to stay with them for the weekend, which I did. On Saturday morning Jimmy and I went with Mr Dockrey and twenty other men rabbit hunting in a large wood. Several men had guns and there were six boys so we had sticks to hit any rabbit that came our way. Just as I was climbing over a pile of wood I heard a rustle underneath me so I waited for the rabbit to come out. As it come I hit it on the head and killed it. We caught fifty two that day and Jimmys Dad gave me a rabbit to take home to Sandridge when I went. On Sunday morning Jim and I went up a hill across the fields at the back of his house. There we saw a searchlight, A.A. Gun and a sound detector. There were some Air Force men there too and I was very interested. I was getting used to living at Sandridge but I did wish sometimes that I could be with my Mum and Dad in Scotland. Then one Day Mum wrote and said they were both coming to stay with me at Sandridge for ten days and we did have a nice time. Then both Dad and Mum went to Southampton as Dad had to rejoin his ship there, but they did not stay at Southampton very long as Dad left the ship and went back to his depot at Portsmouth. So Mum went there too and promised to come for me if Dad stayed at the depot long enough to make it worth while. Dad said I could come back to Portsmouth if I liked and I wanted to. So I went back and we went to live in our own house as the tenants had been evacuated owing to a bomb having dropped at the bottom of our garden. There is an air raid shelter in the garden and we found we had to spend most part of the day and all night in the shelter. Dad made an entrance to the shelter with sandbags and a little passage to keep the entrance sheltered too. I helped Dad to fill the bags and we also put sand on top of the shelter and banged it down hard to make it strong. Dad made bunks for us all but we had so many raids and my school was bombed too so I had to be evacuated again. This time I did not go far, only to the Camp at Petersfield where the Portsmouth schools had gone. As my parents were living in Portsmouth I was allowed to go home some weekends and my parents were allowed to come and see me on Sundays at the camp. The camp consisted of nine wooden buildings, five of them were dormitories, there was a dining hall, a wash place for boys and one for the girls, also class rooms. They were all centrally heated. There is also a hall where we play games and have concerts and singing lessons, and we also use it for a Gymnasium. There is a library there too. Sundays we go to a Church in a little village nearby called Sheet. I stayed at the Camp for six weeks. Then my Dad was sent to Scotland again and this time Dad went to Greenock aboard H.M.S. MANISTEE but it was not a destroyer like H.M.S. COSSACK. It was an auxiliary vessel. I wondered what that would be like and enjoyed the train ride. I like going places. We went from Portsmouth via London and Glasgow and we were fourteen hours on the way. The train was full of soldiers and it was New Years day when we arrived at Greenock and Dad was very pleased we had come to see him. He said that he did not like us staying at Portsmouth after he had gone. It was very difficult to get accommodation at Greenock. It had not been used as a Naval base for many years and there were very few new houses so of course there was very little room for the extra Naval families. We stayed for a week at a boarding house on the main road near the dockyard and Dads ship went away and we were able to see the ship from the Promenade. It was a big ship with two masts but it did not look smart like H.M.S. COSSACK did although when it went away it looked the biggest that had been at Greenock to me. When it had gone Mum decided we should go back to Portsmouth until Dad came back again. So we left Scotland before I had seen much of it. We left Glasgow at nine thirty at night and the train stopped at Crewe and again at Rugby. We broke our journey at Rugby and went to see my Auntie Madge. Mum had not seen her for nearly six years and I was glad we went there because I had boys to play with as there were three, Keith aged thirteen, Buddy aged nine and Laurie aged seven. As I had not had much sleep in the train and we had arrived very early in the morning at Rugby, I had to go to bed while my cousins went to school, but I was up on time to go and meet them from school at dinner time. As there was plenty of snow on the ground we had a snowball fight before we all went in for dinner. They all went to school again in the afternoon so I cleared the snow away from the door and then went to meet the boys again. After tea we took a sledge out and played for a long time as there was a full moon and our Mothers were wondering where we were. I did enjoy myself. We left Rugby at eleven thirty and arrived at Portsmouth at five twenty the next day. We wanted to get some things from our home to take back to Scotland. It was January the tenth. I must mention the date because it will always be one of the most exciting times of my life. We were home from the station in about ten minutes and soon had a nice fire going and the tea made but before Mum would have tea she got the blankets out to air ready for the shelter, and the storm lamp and stove to warm the air in the shelter in case we should have to spend the night there. Well we had only just made things ready when all the lights suddenly went out and we heard a terrifying explosion, followed by guns, the big Naval guns. So of course Mum rushed me off down the shelter with a case. She came too but did not stay long with me. I could hear fires burning but Mum would not let me come out and have a look and she did not come back for a long time. But I could hear her and guessed there were incendiary bombs dropping in our garden so I just waited for Mum to come for me. I had some comics with me that I had bought to read in the train so I was alright. After a long while Mum came in the shelter and said I could come with her down the road to see where the big fires were and of course I went. Well those fires lasted four days and nights. The Church only a hundred yards away from our house was alight also the Co-op bakery and the main stores. Also the big drapers and all the big shops in the Commercial Rd including the Guildhall so we did have some excitement. Mum was very glad that Dads ship was not in Portsmouth dockyard that night. She also hoped that Dad would not hear about the raid on Portsmouth while he was at sea because he knew we had gone to get some more things to take back to Scotland for him before he returned to the Clyde. We had been in Portsmouth a week when Mum had a letter from Greenock offering us accommodation if we wanted it in Greenock and as Dad was to return to that Port Mum did accept and we were soon on our way back to Scotland. We stayed at the home of the Chaplain of the Port and were made very comfortable. There were two little children but they were both very young and girls. One was called Cicelia and the other Margaret. I went to Finnert school and liked it very much. It was not far from where we lived and we could walk along the seafront and see my Dads ship when it did come in. We were not able to write and tell my Dad we were back in Scotland so we were very anxious to see his ship. I used to go every morning and afternoon along the seafront and then one morning it was there! We had waited a whole month and then it came in at night. So at four o'clock that evening Mum and I went to the dockyard to meet my Dad. Mum had asked the Padre to send a message to Dad just to let him know we were safe at Greenock. We were afraid he would hear about the raids on Portsmouth but when Dad came he had been out East and had a very bad cold. There was snow on the ground and Mum sent for the Naval Doctor who said Dad had to stay in bed for a week as he had the Flu. It was a change to have Dad home all day. I hurried home from school each day and sat with him talking and playing Ludo and Lexicon. Then at the end of the week Dad went out with us and the next day he had to go aboard as the ship was ready to sail at any time and it did sail away before he could see us again. Dad had told us he would probably be away about two months and would not be able to write to us and we would be unable to write to him as the ship would not call anywhere. So we just had to wait for the ship to come back. Every day we both went along the Promenade and seemed to expect the ship to be there. It had been gone three weeks when Mum received a telegram from the Admiralty to say that H.M.S. MANISTEE which was the ship my Dad had gone on had been sunk and Dad was presumed killed while on active service. Mum did not tell me about it until the next morning, as it was my bedtime when the telegram came, and then Mum only said the ship had been sunk. But I knew she had not told me what was in the telegram and that she was upset. Then Mum said we must go back to Portsmouth to get news of Dad. Neither of us wanted to go as we were looking forward to spending the summer in Scotland. Mum told me not to be surprised if our house was gone too so we were pleasantly surprised to find that we only had a few windows broken but our friends advised us not to sleep in the town if we had anywhere else to go. We did have a friend at Porchester six miles from Portsmouth so we started off at half past three to get there in case it would not be convenient to stay there as we had not seen her for a long time. When we got to the bus stop to wait for the Porchester bus we found a long queue waiting and so we had to wait over an hour. It seemed that although some people came in to their homes in the day-time they did not spend the night there. We were lucky to find Mrs Taylor at home and she was very pleased to have us stay with her. There was a terrible lot of gun firing all night and the planes seemed to be dropping bombs all round and on Portsmouth, and when we went into the town the next morning we saw the damage that had been done during the night. When Mum went to the R.N. Barracks for news of Dad she told me the welfare people had advised us not to stay in Portsmouth but to go and live somewhere in the country if possible. That day by post we had a letter from friends in Harpenden asking us to come and stay there for a time until we could get accommodation to move our furniture from Portsmouth. So we did pack up our things and leave them ready to move and we went to Harpenden in Hertfordshire. We had not heard any definite new of my Dad so we tried to get rooms but found it impossible to get any accommodation at all so we went back to Portsmouth after getting the promise of one room to store some of our things. Mum said it was best after all to get what we could from our own place into a safe area, so we had to sleep in Portsmouth for a few nights and we did not take our clothes off at all for the first day. We had eight warnings and the guns in the dockyard were going all night. The next morning Mum said that she thought it would be safe to go to bed for a few hours but we still did not get undressed and then before it was daylight the siren went again and we had to get up again. We went on like that for a week and then on Good Friday night we had an awful raid and Mum fixed up to get our furniture moved to Harpenden the following Thursday. We saw the furniture go and then locked up the house and caught the next train ourselves and arrived in Harpenden just ten minutes after the van had arrived there after its ninety eight miles. That night I did enjoy getting undressed and going to bed and I did sleep too. I did not wake up until nine o'clock the next morning. We were staying with friends at a place called Klondyke which really consisted of twelve houses. We had some of our furniture in one house and the rest stored in another and the houses belonged to the Lady I was staying with, whom my Mum had worked for over eighteen years, before being married; Harpenden being only five miles from where I was billeted while my parents were in Scotland last year. We had not heard any news of my Dad while we were at Portsmouth and the first day at Harpenden the postman brought the official document from the Admiralty to say that my Dad must have been lost at sea, and that was when my Mum told me the bad news too. But we do hope for news still as we cannot believe that my Dad could have been lost after all the years at sea and with his experiences especially aboard H.M.S. COSSACK. Now that I am writing this diary I am myself wondering when I shall see my Dad and where I shall be when he does come back to us and we three can go and live a real life together like other boys have always done. We have never lived in our own home together for long at a time because my Dad has always been a Sailor and I am very proud of him. ALFRED PRICE 22-6-41 ___________________________________________________________________________________ Alf Price's story, written as a child and not altered in any way to correct grammar, etc., is I think remarkable. Mrs. Price, his mother, showed an indominitable spirit in following her husband to Malta and then Alexandria at a time when few had travelled abroad and no help was provided to her from service sources. I feel very privileged to have read it and I hope that you feel the same way.
by Victor John Bunyan Durey CHAPTER ONE It all started on the last Monday in May during the year 1935 - the twenty-seventh day of the month. Looking back along the street towards number 27 Lethbridge Road I saw my mother standing at the door waving and at the same time holding the hem of her pinafore to her eye. A tear perhaps? I'm sure it was. Dressed in a brown check suit of sorts and probably wearing the only shirt I possessed and carrying a brown-paper wrapped parcel under one arm, I was off. Off for my first day's duty in the Royal Navy - the King's Navee! I was then a few weeks into my sixteenth year and was on my way to report to the drafting office of the Royal Navy in Whitehall. I have often wondered since what my thoughts must have been as the 48 bus took me along the Old Kent Road towards Westminster. Did I regret the decision taken weeks before to "have a crack at the joining up routine"? Was I thrilled and excited at the prospect or was I just scared and numb? It was probably the latter. Looking back into the old records I find that in those days I was five foot four and three quarter inches tall (or short!) with a chest measurement of thirty-four inches. My weight was not registered at the time; suffice to say that a few months after recruitment I was a lightweight in the boxing ring and that called for a nine stone minimum and a nine stone seven pounds maximum. A "Little Podge" thus debussed at Bridge Street and wandered down Whitehall to seek out his Kismet! The Duty Petty Officer, wearing toothpaste advertising teeth that would not disgrace a Cheshire moggy, bade me, "Sit over wiv 'em other blokes". (He was obviously a member of the Chatham Division.) I joined two other scared looking fifteen year olds and we sat hardly breathing for a few minutes before being joined by an adult sailor wearing bell bottoms and with an arm covered by red snipes who was carrying three packages. He gave us one each. He said, Quickly now, we have to catch a bus to Liverpool Street Station and these are your victuals for the trip.” Already they were feeding us - fattening us up for the trip ahead? He escorted us to the railway and here we were to be left to make our own way to Harwich Docks! The train ride through Essex into Suffolk is lost in the past although I do remember that with the sandwich (which was doorstep thick) was a bar of rum-flavoured chocolate! We three munched and lunched at the appropriate time. Introductions had been made - one lad, I cannot remember the name of this “unfortunate”, was sent back home after two days at the base complete with a crop of fuzz on his bonce where luxuriant hair used to sprout. It was discovered that he had flat feet at the final medical check taken two days after arrival and this had to be passed Al before you were fully accepted to serve His Majesty. Unfortunately, one of the first things to happen to us at the GANGES was to have our mops cropped. The other young fellow who made up our trio was Stan Lampard, a fellow Cockney who was to be a close chum of mine during our early naval days. Before we finally “passed out” he was to break a leg at P.T. and so remained at Shotley when I left to join my first ship. We duly arrived at Harwich and here we were met by yet another beaming Petty Officer who was carrying a piece of rope about 18 inches long. This wicked piece of hemp had a fist-sized ball at one end and was called a “stonikey”. The wielder of the rope’s end led us to a jetty at which floated a boat full of shaven-headed youths. These dozen or so lads were all carrying oars that were about three times their height. We were led down into this boat, which turned out to be a Dipping Lug Cutter, and took seats in the back. (Only later was I to start calling it the stern.) The Petty Officer screamed out something that sounded like, “Shuvorfforrard, bearorfarf” ! And the boat, lustily being pulled by the dozen lads of the sea, headed out into the sun-dappled waters of the harbour. Across the bay, at the foot of a small cliff, lay the jetty of H.M.S. GANGES, Shotley, Suffolk. We were boarding our “ship”, albeit a stone frigate, from seawards. Our “taxi-crew” passed ribald comments as we left the cutter, mainly about "curly tops" and "Boston haircuts". We had thus arrived at the Training School. The mast (from the original GANGES, a 72 gun ship of the line) towered above us and would do so almost for the next twelve months. The first few weeks at the GANGES were spent in barrack rooms separated from the main concourse. These were called the Annexe (42 Mess I believe) and we newcomers, who were awaiting our classes to form up, were called "Nozzers". We wore temporary uniforms and soft caps that were almost like berets until we had our proper suits supplied, which were made up by the ship's busy "jewing firms" (tailors). During these early days we were re-examined both medically and scholastically - the former ensuring whether or not we were finally to proceed with training and the latter as to what the training was to consist. Following a written and oral Educational Test it was decided that I was earmarked for Class 171 which was an Advanced Course. Others were allocated to the Signals Branch and the remainder formed Class 45. These were the blokes who would do a General Course and at the end of six months would be ready for sea-going duties. We were all Boys 2nd Class on entry and were paid 5s/3d per week. In "the Annexe" I was to be given my first job in the Navy - "a Tin Boy" ! I remember I could hardly wait to let my family know that I was a Tin Boy and my first letter to Mum, and I swear this, written on brown square toilet paper, contained this news about my job. We also, on receiving our proper number one suit, had our pictures taken standing behind a Lifebelt emblazoned H.M.S GANGES. This was to grace the clock-box at Lethbridge for a time, plus the letter. I had been smoking for about two years previous to my call up but that had to cease. It was forbidden to "cop a drag of a fag" and those boys who did and were caught doing so soon knew what a "stonikey" could do. These were the days when the birch was still in use and if any heinous offence was committed a boy would receive a certain number of what were termed "cuts". Whole messes were also disciplined for offences such as late on parade or failing in mess cleanliness and some of the punishments were mind-boggling. If a Mess was under “Shotley Routine” you were to lose a number of little privileges, such as “No Duffs" with your dinner. The Mess tins containing the Spotted Dick or Figgy Pudd or Chinese Wedding Cake (rice) plus Custards were all tipped into the Pig Swill containers. And a rather popular punishment at the time was to have to push a laden kit bag shelving (which was on small metal casters) up “Laundry Hill”. But these were all to be experienced by some after leaving the Annexe. As the “mess tin boy” I was responsible for the mess tins and had to keep them clean and sparkling. After a dish full of “Train Smash” this was some job, I can tell you. (Train Smash was a breakfast of fried bacon and tinned tomatoes). We were also taught how to polish a parquet floor so that one could use it as a mirror and to scrub tables that were whiter than these sheets I write on. Windows were cleaned both in and out by using screwed-up paper and we also learned the art of cleaning brightwork with cotton waste and Bluebell - sometimes making use of a cotchell of “Aly Slopers” which was a rich brown pungent sauce. I was one of the first of the “pyjama boys”. We had been supplied with these in preference to the older type of flannel nightshirt, although there were classes of boys kitted up in the old way. We were known as “Jixer” ratings because our official numbers were prefixed J.X. This was to signify that we were the modern [ratings] although poorer than the plain J ratings. An AB J rating had a flat rate of 4 bob a day whilst a JX AB received 3 bob. It was all political and never really affected us Nozzers. Our hair was shorn. Our deceased teeth were pulled. We fed well. We exercised as though we were being prepared for the Olympics. We were taught to swim wearing a Duck Suit. We learned to pull and toss an oar in a landlocked boat. We fell out of our beds before the local cock was crowing to stand outside the mess in Guardsman Style as we awaited a ship’s biscuit and “hot ki” (thick pusser’s cocoa which was guaranteed to put muscles in your braces.) We ran for miles and scrubbed both living quarters and ourselves before tackling breakfast at around 7.15 am. We were finally kitted out and supplied with both a tin Hat Box and wooden Ditty Box. The latter was for our private bits and bobs and was lockable. Photographs and such like were kept in the little treasure boxes - the Ditty. Mine still stows gear even though it is now in the garden shed. A “house wife” was also part of our kit. This was known as a “Hussiff” and contained scissors, cottons, threads and needles which were all to be used to keep one’s kit shipshape. During our leisure hours in the Annexe we also had to sew our names into our kits, and this was a tiddley job inspired to keep us occupied, I thought. We had a wooden stamp of our Names and these after dipping in paint were then applied to the sock, shirt or pants and when dry were stitched over. (We had a Fitzgerald and I felt sorry for him - Durey wasn’t so bad). Razors were also supplied - the days of the “cut throat” had ended shortly before our time, although they were still being used throughout the fleet. We had a safety razor with a strop - the blades were one-sided. In the Annexe we were taught the rudiments of marching and how to salute. I remember my first salute on the Quarter Deck and being chided by the Instructor, “Sloppy, boy, sloppy!” (I felt like saying, “There’s no help for us cack-handers”, but looking at the stonikey decided against it). I also remember vividly a black-gaitered Lieutenant-Commander, full of gold braid, and a chestful of World War One medals calling our Instructor “Chief”! Our tutor must be very important to be called chief I thought. Cleanliness was drummed into us as was good husbandry. We began to evolve as tarpots. Our days spent in the Annexe drew to a close and we were transferred into the mainstream of Shotley. Those of us who had been chosen A.C. found ourselves in Number 27 Mess at the foot of the covered way close to the beach - Anson Division. The adventure was about to begin! Each Division (named, in the main, after old-time Admirals) consisted of four messes. Each mess contained two classes. One mess was Signals including both Telegraphists and Bunting Tossers. One Mess was for A.C. Seamen and the other two Messes were for G.C. Seamen. I was part of 171 Class and we were a few weeks junior to 170 Class. From here on in we were kept busy and our days were taken up gathering experience that was later to stand us in good stead. We trained in gunnery, torpedo and electrical, seamanship and last although not least, in schoolwork. Schoolwork was to occupy us for a good third of our stay at GANGES and I found trigonometry, maths, navigation and such "crams" a boon. Seamanship was the real course, however, and soon we were wrestling with "Rules of the Road" and towing sheep through shallow water! (Not the latter, of course, I kid.) Bends and hitches, knots and splices, sailmaking (you try working a "sailmaker's palm" when you are left-handed), practical boatwork, sailing, lifesaving, and every aspect of seamanship that can be envisaged. Our Seamanship Manual was invaluable. Gunnery was taught as were the basics of electrical work and the functions of torpedo work. We had to be proficient (if somewhat slow) in semaphore and simple Morse code signalling. We were taught to use a Bosun's pipe and to emit from these various calls. How proud we all felt when we were presented (those that made the grade) with our own pipe. You could go on for a "Silver Bosun's Pipe" and this I did. Alas, the "call" was lost later in my career. We were put through our paces both on the parade ground and in the beautiful gymnasium. Our rifle drill became top class despite the weight of the short Lee Enfield - we could fix bayonets with the best and march like marines. We could strip Lewis guns and other weapons and reassemble them. We could master the arts of firing all manner of different weapons, although (with the exception of the .303" rifle) never actually banging off! We were shown that ammunition is in no way dangerous until you forget that it is! We sailed Dipping Lug Cutters (two master) and the more modern one masted sloop type. We coxwained these boats and so gained invaluable experience. We were never allowed to slack - our Instructor Lieutenants (Schoolmasters) would stand no nonsense. Our hair during these hectic weeks continued to grow and was continually being cropped, and on the 9th November 1935, I found the first rung of the ladder awaiting my foot. I was made up to Boy Ist Class. The G.C. boys who entered GANGES with us now left for sea, looking forward to a duty free fag and all the "pleasures" of a navy cruise. We A.C. boys, now proudly wearing a gold star on our right arm, soldiered on. I have not yet mentioned the mast. Each and every entry must climb the wretched thing quite often up to the crow's nest and once one had to use the "futtock shrouds" instead of the "lubbers' hole" ! This meant that for a spell you clung to the shrouds by hands only and I swear my first grey hair appeared then! But enough of that. Our Captain at the time was an ex-Boy Seaman who had clawed his way to the Highest Point. I believe that his name was Endive or something like that. He was a shortish looking gentleman and seemed happy with his lot. I never at any time thought of emulating him. Sports of all kinds prevailed - athletics, boxing, football, cricket, swimming, hockey, etc. I found that I was quite a good stick wielder on the hockey field and this despite having to play with right-handed sticks. I was pressured into playing Outside Left and did quite bonnie. Later, years on, I found that I was an ace at Deck Quoits Hockey on the Flight Decks of carriers! Since we had reached a certain seniority, we found that we could be trusted to have a two hour Sunday afternoon shore leave. This was called “Shotley Leave” and was simply that - a walk down Suffolk roads, nowt else. I remember trying it once. We had a leave taken at home, of course, and we used to keep a chart of how many more “Charlies” there were before our leave was due. The Bugle call Reveille was always sung as "Charley Charley, lash up your hammocks and Charley Charley, stow it away". Not that we had hammocks to lash up every day at the GANGES. They came later and the tiddley “point and graft” work on the ropes of the hammock. In the gym was a very large print-out of the poem written by Rudyard Kipling, “IF”. I got to know every word of that poem, as indeed all others did. My only boxing match was in the I.S.B.A. championship and was against a six foot beanpole called Stone, who waggled nine foot long arms with fists made of stone on the end into my poor old moosh! Giving up the fight game I decided to stick to hockey. At least I had a stick to defend myself! On being made up to Boy First Class our weekly pay had been upped as well. I now had a stipend of three 'alf dollars a week or seven shillings and sixpence or thirty seven and a half new pence - whatever! The weekly pocket money had risen from one shilling to one shilling and sixpence. The rest was saved for us and would be handed over when leaving GANGES. My father died on February 12th 1936 and I was granted leave. It was about five days if memory serves me correctly and due to this break in routine I missed part of the Gunnery Course. In March we commenced "our finals" and I was rather chuffed by my results. Class 171 disbanded in early April and on All Fools Day I, with a few others, travelled north to Scapa Flow and joined the IRON DUKE, the oldest battleship still in service! I was to spend very little time on this old battlewagon and memory of it is not very clear. We, about six boys, were awaiting the arrival of H.M.S ROYAL SOVEREIGN, a much more modem battleship than the DUKE and the only memories of my first stay in Scapa was my early “scraps” trying to sling a hammock and the awful 6.00 am “scrub decks”, which for us Nozzers (yes, we were back at the bottom of the ladder following being “top johns” at Shotley) consisted of swabbing out the ring bolts! "My Tiny Hand Is Frozen" was a popular song, and if one adds the digits of the feet (we scrubbed in bare bats!) we had then 20 frozen sticks. Most of the older “badgemen” aboard wore '14-18' medals and some marines had caps with no peaks. I believe these were known as Blue Marines. To us they were known as Bootnecks. I started then to smoke the weed once again. A half pound tin of "Tickler" (ciggie tobacco) cost around two shillings in those days and a box of 25 Players containing beautiful pictures of famous (or infamous) film stars were about 7d. Packets of 20 were a tanner a touch, We lads used to watch the "old stripeys" form a perique of tobacco out of tobacco leaves. These were rolled very tight in a "skin" of spunyarn, sometimes with a little rum (Nelson's Blood!) added to them. The spunyarn was bound tight by use of what I can only describe as a Spanish windlass hung between two hammock rails! After a period of time the incarcerated leaves were bone hard and black, ready then for either chewing or cutting into shag for pipes. In those pre-'39 days we were only allowed to smoke on the upper decks at specified "stand-easies" and leisure times. Large "spitkids" were placed on deck to take up the debris of the smoker including the spit of the chewer. Woe betide any dabtoe who missed the spitkid and hit the deck instead! The fleet, or port, returned to this most northerly of harbours and we could sight across the water the "Tiddley Quid" (the ROYAL SOVEREIGN). Watch for Part Two in the next newsletter ___________________________________________________________________________________ THE SUPERVISORS When the body was first made all parts wanted to be Supervisors The Brain insisted, "Since I control everything and do all the thinking, I should be the Supervisor". The Feet said, "since we carry man where he wants to go, we should be the Supervisors". The Hands said, "Since we do all the work and earn all the money to keep the rest of you going, we should be Supervisors". The Eyes staked their claim, "since we must watch out for all of you, we should be Supervisors".
___________________________________________________________________________________ Famous Last Words From John Batty "Drill for oil?" "You mean drill into the ground to try to find oil? You're crazy." (Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist in his project to drill for oil in 1859) "The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives". (Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project) "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value". (Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre) "Everything that can be invented has been invented". (Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Patent Office, 1899) "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home". (Ken Olsen, President, Chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Co., 1977) "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us". (Western Unional internal memo, 1876) "The telephone will be used to inform people that a telegram has been sent". (Alexander Graham Bell) "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial vale. Who would pay for a message to be sent to nobody in particular?" (David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s) AH WELL _ FILMING OF "THE YANGTSE INCIDENT" By Alan Quartermaine Shortly after Suez in the Autumn of 1956, I was drafted to HMS DELIGHT; a Daring Class Destroyer. One Friday morning, 10 other DELIGHT UWs and I were ordered to report to the Drafting Office to be issued with a loan draft to HMS GANGES. Located 5 miles up the River Orwell, we were to assist RKO Ltd with the making of the film " The Yangtse Incident".
R.C.N, who had recently arrived from the TAS Academy, HMS VERNON. The job in hand was to lay Plastic Explosive (PE) to simulate straddles of shell fire on the two ships used to represent HM Ships AMETHYST and CONSORT, HM Ships TEASER of the 2nd TS Portland and MAGPIE. The method used to simulate shellfire was to suspend three 8-ounce blocks of PE, complete with detonator and civilian Fixoflex, along a 1500-yard (1371.6 Mts.) length of wire. This was then laid along the riverbed using two local fishermen in their boats. A total of four wires were laid and these were made up in the Drill Shed using trainees to assist. Once laid, the wire was made partially bouyant by attaching a Dan Pellet at each end. Cork floats (secured with "Pussers ginger string") were secured in the middle so that the wire floated just under the surface of the river. To ensure watertight joints in the Fixoflex, which only came in 100-yard lengths, Dunlop solution was used. Apparently so much solution was used that all garages in Harwich area completely sold out. The two ships steamed as required for the underway filming. We all worked like "Beavers", laying charges and pulling back to "AMETHYST" in a small riverboat to secure the firing leads to 4 accumulators situated on the ship's quarterdeck. Large insulated nails were used to make the correct connections for the firing sequence. At the end of each day of filming, we searched the area for misfires. Suprisingly only one misfire occurred in the two weeks of filming. It was a happy time and apart from the really nice food supplied to us by the film makers catering company, I ate and socialised in the PO's Mess with some of the actors including Sam Kydd and William Hartnell and I also chummed up with two more POs drafted to Delight (D119). A nice surprise awaited us at RNB. We all received a registered letter containing our wages of approximately £33.00 for the 14 days of filming. (£2.10s per day, old money). Not bad when you consider this was on top of our RN pay. Two weeks later I was required to return to GANGES in order to assist in the taking of single shots.....Happy days. 
The two ships steamed as required for the underway filming. We all worked like "Beavers", laying charges and pulling back to "AMETHYST" in a small riverboat to secure the firing leads to 4 accumulators situated on the ship's quarterdeck. Large insulated nails were used to make the correct connections for the firing sequence. At the end of each day of filming, we searched the area for misfires. Suprisingly only one misfire occurred in the two weeks of filming. It was a happy time and apart from the really nice food supplied to us by the film makers catering company, I ate and socialised in the PO's Mess with some of the actors including Sam Kydd and William Hartnell and I also chummed up with two more POs drafted to Delight (D119). A nice surprise awaited us at RNB. We all received a registered letter containing our wages of approximately £33.00 for the 14 days of filming. (£2.10s per day, old money). Not bad when you consider this was on top of our RN pay. Two weeks later I was required to return to GANGES in order to assist in the taking of single shots .....Happy days. __________________________________________________________________________________ Some thoughts on old age: 1. No one expects you to run - anywhere. 2. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac. 3. There is nothing left to learn the hard way. 4. Things you buy now won’t wear out. 5. You can eat dinner at 4 pm. 6. You can live without sex but not without glasses. 7. You enjoy hearing about other peoples operations. 8. When you have a party the neighbours don’t even notice. 9. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge. 10. You've stopped trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room. 11. You sing along with lift music. 12. Your eyes wont get much worse. 13. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off. 14. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than weather forecasters. 15. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first. _____________________________________________________________________ Never Anger Your Nurse A bigshot business man had to spend a couple of days in the hospital. He was a royal pain to the nurses because he bossed them around just like he did his employees. None of the hospital staff wanted to have anything to do with him. The head nurse was the only one who could stand up to him. She walked into his room and announced, "I have to take your temperature. After complaining for several minutes, he finally settled down, crossed his arms and opened his mouth. "No, I'm sorry, the nurse stated, "but for this reading, I can't use an oral thermometer. This started another round of complaining, but eventually he rolled over and bared his behind. After feeling the nurse insert the thermometer, he heard her announce, "I have to get something. Now you stay JUST LIKE THAT until I get back!" She leaves the door to his room open on her way out. He curses under his breath as he hears people walking past his door, laughing. After almost an hour, the man's doctor comes into the room. "What's going on here?" asked the doctor. Angrily, the man answers, "What's the matter, Dec? Haven't you ever seen someone having their temperature taken before?" After a pause, the doctor replies, "Yes, but never with a daffodil!" _________________________________________________________________ Subject: Male Rules We always hear the rules from the female side, now here are the rules from the male side. These are their rules! Please note... these are all numbered "1 "!!!! 1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we. 1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it. 1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be. 1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way. 1. Crying is blackmail. 1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don’t hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it! 1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress? 1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question. 1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for. 1. Check your oil! Please. 1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. We refuse to answer. 1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one. 1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it. 1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is. 1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that. 1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind- reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you. 1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle. 1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear. 1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really. 1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, the four four two formation, or cricket. 1. It is neither in your best interest nor ours to take the quiz together. No, it doesn't matter which quiz. 1. BEER is as exciting for us as handbags are for you. 1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch to night, but did you know we really don’t mind that. It's like camping. .........… __________________________________________________________________________________ Well that’s it once again. We hope that you all enjoy the rest of the summer - and don’t forget to get your ‘flu jabs before the winter. And that includes you George. __________________________________________________________________________________
Margaret Atherton MAAthert@aol.com Bill Bartholomew bill@hmscossack.freeserve.co.uk Fred Barton fred@fbarton90.freeserve.co.uk Keith Batchelor keith@beaconroad.freeserve.co.uk Mike Bath soapy@mickbath.freeserve.co.uk John Batty cossack@flatrate.net.au John Bishop jbishop.cossack@virgin.net Tony Brown tony@beaufort83.fsnet.com Tom Brown t.mbrown@bmts.com Philip Bryant philip.bryant@ukonline.co.uk George Bye g_bye@talk21.com Russell Campling russellcampling@hotmail.com Jack Caswell Jack1cas@aol.com Mike Cook MikeStensonCook@aol.com Fred Cook fredcookhome@ntlworld.com Fred Cooper frederick.cooper@ntlworld.com Stan Edgell edgellas@aol.com Alan Edinborough aedinborough@o2.co.uk Geoff Embley naughtycal@ns.sympatico.ca Dave Fenton dfenton@rogers.com Liz Foster-Hall liz@foster-hall.freeserve.co.uk Pat Gaffney patrick.gaffney@talk21.com Betty Gilham egilham@bushinternet.co.uk Alistair Gordon alfaye.gordon@tiscali.co.uk Geirr Haarr ghaa@statoil.com Stan Hannaford stanhannaford@hotmail.com Peter Harrison cossack@attglobal.net David Helyar Davehelyar@aol.com David Higgins dhiggin8@ford.com Tom Kay tom@kaybn13.freeserve.co.uk Alec Kellaway Alec.Kellaway@ukgateway.net Graham Keyes Gkeyes@btinternet.com Brian Lambie bds.classics@ntlworld.com Geoff Lane Geofflane@tesco.net Stan Leadbetter alanesewell@hotmail.com Brian Luter b17luter@ntlworld.com Bob McLean bisnad@aol.com Peter Marchant peter.bosun@virgin.net Terry Matthews matthewsllb@tinyworld.co.uk Dusty Miller GEMSPEC@FSBDial.co.uk Finn Nesvold f-nesvo@online.no Doug Parkinson dparkinson@onetel.net.uk Brian Patterson bhp.ports@virgin.net Jack Price Ppamelajack@aol.com Jack Race jackrace2@activemail.co.uk Philip Remnant bees@premnant.fsnet.co.uk Harry Ripp hripp@hotkey.net.au Don Rush donval.rush@virgin.net Ken Satterthwaite kensatt@tinyonline.co.uk Paul Saunders PaulSaunders@bensonclimate.fsnet.com Dr. Neil Shand nshand@zip.com.au Anne Smith annepsmith@talk21.com Carol Taylor carol@snookerdebts.co.uk Les & Jean Taylor jeles@taylor3.evesham.net F.M. Thomas f.m.thomas@ntlworld Colin Trigg colin@northgate99.freeserve.co.uk Mike Tunks miketunks@hotmail.com Frank Weedon frank.sheila@fweedon.freeserve.co.uk Don Whittick dewhit@mail.pacificcoast.net John Williams john@josylanja.freeserve.co.uk ___________________________________________________________________________________ Directory: download download -> Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2008 May 20, 2009 Abstract download -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations download -> Bbc archives: Beyond the programme download download -> Occupational health and safety download -> Dynatest 3031 lwd light Weight Deflectometer download -> Forth coming competitive exams download -> English Olympiad Tasks: 10 th form Аудіювання, 10 клас. Текст download -> Brush High School Morning Announcements Friday, September 05, 2014 all school download -> Year 9 The Arts — Music download -> Years 7 and 8 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: Music draft Download 0.72 Mb. Share with your friends:
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