Royal Navy, 1941 – 46, First Day in the the Navy

The Chameleon Theory Seven years old, now inured to Africa, I adopted a chameleon. We watched one another, daily, although it mostly watched insects – as dinner – from a bush beside the front door. I was enthralled by the stillness of this ugly creature, its strange jerky movements, and the speed of the rapier-like… Continue reading Royal Navy, 1941 – 46, First Day in the the Navy

Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Teaching Navy Style

The examination techniques we adopted at the Royal Naval Signal School should have been the norm for the Country’s education system in genera . Education is not a case of knowing information, but knowing where to find it and how to apply it. The Leydene examination organisers had obviously taken this theory to heart. We,… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Teaching Navy Style

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Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, The Chief’s Course and After

Isle Of Man, Two – A careless death The second visit to the Isle of Man was an entirely different experience, we were now Petty Officers with the privileges that entailed. The work if anything was harder, and the sets we were learning much more sophisticated and in some cases as big as a small… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, The Chief’s Course and After

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Royal Navy 1941 to46 in order, The Irish Question,Coincidences.

The Irish Question Take the Irish Question, for an instance, not the Irish question, from where I stand I find nothing amusing in that. No! Just an amusing Irish question. I don’t remember my friend Bunny’s rate of assimilation, certainly I didn’t really find my own feet for about a week and then he and… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to46 in order, The Irish Question,Coincidences.

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Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Belfast Shipyard Part 2.

Shipbuilding is probably the most complicated and detailed engineering exercise, outside aeroplane design. The size of a ship, various hull designs, its use, all give multitudes of options from the thickness of the plates, to the design of door handles. All the equipment has to be installed which involves designing the positioning, the fixings and… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Belfast Shipyard Part 2.

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Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Belfast Shipyard Part 1.

To those who hate technicalities I apologise for this entry, For me it records something gone and lost never to be recovered. Whether that is good is debateable. In ’43, I was drafted to Belfast to supervise the radio installations on the warships being built there. The shipyard was vast, there were at least six… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Belfast Shipyard Part 1.