NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2007 27
LETTERS to the editor should letters, we cannot publish all of your
always be accompanied by the correspondence in Navy News.
correspondent’s name and We look particularly for corre-
address, not necessarily for spondence which stimulates
publication. debate, makes us laugh or raises
E-mail correspondents are important issues.
also requested to provide Please try to keep your
this information. submissions as brief as
Letters cannot be possible – our space is
submitted over the limited.
telephone. The editor reserves
Given the impres- the right to edit your
sive volume of submissions.
Tributes to a
faithful shipmate
IN 1991 I started a campaign to have a me photos of his ship’s company on
memorial to Just Nuisance placed in a parade at the Just Nuisance statue in
naval establishment in this country, to Simonstown.
recognise what he had done for the mo- – Tom Bryant, East Preston, West
rale of visiting matelots to the Cape Town Sussex
area during the Second World War. ...I was interested in Mrs Umbreville’s
Contact was made with various South letter about Just Nuisance (October)
African newspapers seeking support and and her delight with the book Just
the response was overwhelming, with Nuisance AB.
many personal stories concerning this Having been associated with Just
great shipmate. Nuisance on his occasional visits to
On September 22 1993 at HMS Simonstown Hospital, and frequently
Centurion a plaque was unveiled by Cdre boarding trains with him to and from
Charles Cranford with the Rev Arthur Farquarson- Simonstown station, I too managed to purchase the
Roberts (ex-Royal Marines). book about this beautiful dog and great character.
Also in attendance were two admirals along with The photograph (above) is one I took at Simonstown
other ex-naval personnel who had taken an interest Hospital in August 1942. I believe the nurse on the
in the campaign. left, Iantha Bacon, is the same nurse who was shown
As the plaque was unveiled at Centurion a serv- in your picture (October) at Just Nuisance’s bedside
ice was held and a wreath laid at the Just Nuisance in 1943.
memorial at Simonstown, South Africa, with various During my service in the RN I worked alongside
dignitaries in attendance. Iantha and Nurse Barbara Clark (second from left) at
The first RN ship to visit South Africa at the end Simonstown RN Hospital.
of apartheid was HMS Norfolk; Capt Perowne sent – Jack Quin, Newton, Powys
Wrens past and present
I ENJOYED reading the contribution of the currently serving with the Royal Navy.
QARNNS (Falklands 25) the website interviews of – Celia Saywell, vice chairman, Association of
RN women, and the tribute made by the York branch Wrens, Hatherley St, London
of the Association of Wrens and RN veterans to the
“twenty-two lost Wrens” of SS Aguila, who were en
...LORD Hamilton is talking like a typical politician
route to Gibraltar in 1941.
when he makes the observation (October) about the
Two items may be of interest to your readers;
effect of having females at sea: “I am sure that we
according to the memoirs of the Director WRNS,
have strengthened the Navy as a result too, because I
the complement of servicewomen going to Gibraltar
think it has raised the quality of our people who now
was 12 Cypher Officers, ten W/T Chief Wrens and
serve in the Navy whether they’re male or female.”
one Naval Nursing Sister, under the command of the
I remain neutral on this subject, but I object to the
WRNS officer.
inference that we, who did our two-and-a-half-year
Secondly, the Association of Wrens, a charitable
commissions without female assistance, were of a
organisation, was formed in 1920 by a group of ex-
lesser quality than today’s personnel who often seem
Wrens who felt that both the friendships they had
to be dripping about being away more than three
made and the spirit of the service should be kept
months at a time.
alive. Mixed crews have yet to be tested in the firing
Now, many years later that same ideal is still line.
upheld by over 7,000 women, some of whom are – P Relf, Gravesend, Kent
0026-027_NN_Nov07.indd 226-027_NN_Nov07.indd 2 119/10/07 15:18:399/10/07 15:18:39
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48