Old Gaffer

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, the strange, ancient habits of the sailors of my day with respect to ‘baccy’, some perhaps, long… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to 46 in order,Baccy.

It All Started With A Fish Box One day, in calm weather, the Petty Officers Messman appeared on deck and sat down to scrape a fish box. No one took any notice, but as the day progressed so did the fish box. He shaped the sides, added supports to the bottom, made a hinged towing… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Naval Rum, Part 3 of 3

The Chiefs’ & Petty Officers Rum This Mess treated Rum like the Romans treated Jupiter and the tradition also was unique in my experience. Daily at eleven o’clock a deep-sided dish was placed on the Mess table containing fresh water. Three average sized tumblers were place, upended, in the water for the men to take… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order, Naval Rum Part 2 of 3

The Tradition and Importance of The Tot. To the RN Lower-deck that I knew, the withdrawal of the daily Rum Ration, The Tot, must have been like the death of a lover. How, in 1970, a do-gooder managed to engineer the withdrawal without murder is astounding, as you will realise if you read The Chief’s… Continue reading Royal navy 1041 to 46 in order,Naval Rum Part 1 of 3

To put this occurrence in context I have to write some technical information. I have discovered that any mention of physics and peoples 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… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to ’46 in order,The 6000 Volt Shock.

The Changes WW2 Wrought On The Royal Navy 2 Once it had dawned on the Government that the war would not be over in a month, and Dunkirk reinforced this thinking, people were inventing new, and improving existing weapons and systems. fast, resulting in a constant state of change within the services. New categories of… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to 46 in order,Naval Life in 1940s.

Travelling since early morning, provided with food vouchers, eating on the run was difficult. The trains were full, and one spent the journey uncomfortably seated on a suitcase, while guarding a small case and kit bag, with a hammock in the guard’s van, At big junctions there were barrows selling sandwiches and tea and there… Continue reading Royal navy 1941 to 46 in order,That First Day Afloat