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There is nothing more stimulating than sitting on a button on a warship when it is gathering speed. Button is the term used for the round pancake of wood set on top of the mast to protect the end from the weather. Radar relies on signals received through a special cable which connects the set… Continue reading Royal Navy, Islandands of stimulation in a sea of monotonoy

The day came when more of the new breed of craftsmen were sent to the ship to supplement the work normally done by the regulars and to carry out duties which were occasioned by the advent of more and more new technology. For example, at night, E’ Boats were wont to tie up to the… Continue reading The day to day chores

The Charade Of ‘Defaulters’ I believe that the Service was suspended in the aspic of time, almost ever since the days of Nelson – until the war, with the sudden alterations in thought and deed which that emergency and the introduction of civilians forced upon it. In turn the Nelson syndrome was thrust upon us… Continue reading Royal Navy, The charade of ‘Defaulters’

By the time you have read this you will appreciate that there is more than one meaning to ‘passing out’ and the one in a military sense is not intended. We had suffered more than our fair share of bad weather and our convoy duty had not been so much dangerous as stressful as well… Continue reading Royal Navy, The passing out parade

It Had To Rear Its Head Sometime. If you have led as sheltered life, in a house full of women, the services will soon change all that. You soon become aware of life as it is lived. My first brush was when we had come in from convoy and repairs had to be carried out… Continue reading Royal Navy, Just Fun

For possibly the last time ever, I want to revive all those stupid rituals real pipe smokers took so much to heart and spoke of with such reverence. Now we rarely see, or even smell a pipe being smoked, I feel I must record, probably for the last time, the strange, ancient habits of the… Continue reading Royal Navy, ‘Baccy’

To put this occurrence in context I have to write some technical information. I have discovered that any mention of physics, people’s eyes start to glaze, so I will be brief and as simple as possible. Voltage is what gives electricity impetus to move along wires, across the ether, or, as in my case through… Continue reading Royal Navy, A 6,000 volt shock

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 The Change of the Watch

In my time in the Navy, the people most respected as groups, were the Submariners and the Divers. Not totally because of the risk, but because the conditions of their training and work were the toughest. Subs were merely lethal weapons first and last, and the comfort of the men was well down the list… Continue reading Life on a small ship

At the end of three months at Newcastle we were dispatched to the Isle of man where we were billeted in boarding houses on the front at Douglas and further along, similarly housed but behind barbed wire, were the Italian internees, mostly harmless waiters and restaurateurs who would probably have been a greater asset to… Continue reading Three weeks on the Isle of Mam