For four days the stunted little warship had writhed and hammered her way through the green bowels of the storm until the most hardened member found himself praying. In their selfish agony a few prayed for death, little caring its cause or how many would die in its accomplishment. Men of sterner stuff prayed for… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, The change of the Watch
Month: July 2007
Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order,Fiddles,Food and tales of Chicanery
Food was in short supply throughout the war, we were not starving in the true sense, but our diets were insufficient to maintain that layer of fat which we might have carried just before the war and by 1944 I weighed only ten and a half stone with a ribcage like a washboard. I now… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order,Fiddles,Food and tales of Chicanery
Royal navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Chats Round the Pot-bellied Stove
There was no dearth of extroverts in the Navy, the trick was trying to avoid them. We were a great mixture in that class going through Leydene Signal School. There were sailors who had been telegraphists and had spent years at sea and knew every dodge in the book. They would tell you that if… Continue reading Royal navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Chats Round the Pot-bellied Stove
Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Leydene On The First Occasion.
From the IOM we were sent to Petersfield, in Hampshire, to the Naval Signal School called Leydene. We were only to be in Leydene for about ten days and in that time we had to learn the workings of some ten transmitters and receivers together with all the ancillary equipment, so it is unsurprising that… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Leydene On The First Occasion.
Royal Navy 1941 to ’46in order, Three Weeks on the Isle Of Man
After three months in Newcastle we left for the Isle of man where we were billeted in boarding houses on the front at Douglas. Further along the front, similarly housed but behind barbed wire, were the Italian internees, mostly harmless waiters and restaurateurs who would probably have been a greater asset to the war effort… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46in order, Three Weeks on the Isle Of Man
Sunday Special, The Constituents of Family Glue
I hear so often today of break-ups of relationships that I started questioning in my own mind why such a high proportion seem to fail. I am not trying to preach, nor criticise, just analyse what it takes for one-time total strangers, with different aspirations, different backgrounds, even different customs in some cases, to choose… Continue reading Sunday Special, The Constituents of Family Glue
Random Thoughts 10, MRSA and Jail
Recently a very old friend was in hospital for a period and during that time she developed, on three occasions, MRSA or some other awful, unpronounceable, disease expressed in letters. One reads about these cases in the press, and it is only when someone you know is infected that you realise the size of the… Continue reading Random Thoughts 10, MRSA and Jail
Random Thoughts No 9, I ‘m Either Going Deaf or Daft
When one gets to the point in life where you have outlived most of your friends and those you haven’t are probably in sheltered accommodation, one can be excused for questioning every change in the routine of life. My current problem is diction, other people’s diction, on television and on film. In an essay I… Continue reading Random Thoughts No 9, I ‘m Either Going Deaf or Daft
Royal Navy 1941 to 46 in order, You’re No Use To Me.
As Part of the Newcastle training we had to learn lathe work, forging and bench work at the Metalwork classes, a re-run of my Matriculation syllabus. This was an opportunity for me to relax. One day I was working on a lathe when I found a note complaining that the machine had been left dirty.… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to 46 in order, You’re No Use To Me.
Royal Navy 1941 to 46, in order,The injustice of being Billeted in a Brothel.
It must be understood that about 1940/41 the whole of Briton was going through an incredible time of change, at home and in the forces. There was evacuation, rationing, which induced the Black Market, bombing, recruitment, and families being split. In the forces, the need to recruit men and women in vast numbers, clothe and… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to 46, in order,The injustice of being Billeted in a Brothel.