NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008 31
LETTERS to the editor should always be publish it.
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● This watercolour, Up Spirits, was painted by Derek Norris, of King’s Lynn, to celebrate the bicentenary
of the Battle of Trafalgar
On a string
and a prayer
PERMIT me to continue the saga of the much- Everyone in the mess offered him a wet which he
lamented demise of the Navy rum issue. accepted, then it was my turn.
When I was a Telegraphist (S) at HMS Anderson Grasping my tot in his hand the Padre wished me a
in Ceylon in 1943-45, we had a novel way to make “Happy Birthday” and saw it off in one amidst great
a glass for our tot, which, much to this ex-destroyer merriment from the associated onlookers.
sailor’s disgust, was made up of three parts water to After he had atoned for his misdeed, and despite
one part of the real stuff. my being an atheist, he and I got on well together,
We used a beer bottle, around which we wrapped sharing many quiet chuckles.
a strong string or cord about halfway down. We see- – Basil Hudson, Hanworth, Middlesex
sawed the string back and forth until the glass got
... YOUR feature about HMS Sidon exploding
hot, then plunged the bottle into a bucket of cold
(December) brought back memories.
water.
We were doing sea training in HMS Porchester
The glass snapped, and we had a glass for our daily
Castle, having completed training at HMS Ariel and
11 o’clock rum issue.
one day six of us went over to HMS Maidstone to
Since I was on the other side of the pond when
have a day out in a submarine.
some joker at the Admiralty decided to discontinue
Two of us went on HMS Untiring and two on
“Up Spirits,” I never found out what was the ration-
HMS Sidon. The next day HMS Sidon sank! The two
ale for this crime against a tradition that harks back
guys who went out in her counted their blessings they
to Nelson’s days.
were not on board when that happened. I enjoyed my
In my day, the only booze allowed on board, apart
day out, my offsider dropped his hat down the peri-
from our rum ration, went to the wardroom, for the
scope well – which the Captain really liked.
use of officers only.
I had my first drop of rum – when the rum came
I never did figure out why officers could be trusted
up we all hung around and as there was only one glass
to imbibe the hard stuff and still carry out their duties
they filled it up and passed it round and when it got
on board, and we lower deck ratings could not. to me I said “I am UA.” They said: “We are all in
– Kenneth A Tipper, Ocala, Florida this boat together, so have a sip” and this went on till
... MARY Holmes’ letter (January) about her hus-
the fanny was empty and I was very happy.
band’s misfortune with his tot tumbler brings back
– Robin H ‘Slinger’ Wood, Elizabeth South,
memories of my first tot (and that’s all they are, just
South Australia
memories). For the benefit of younger readers, ‘UA’ stood for
I was in Belfast when I went ‘G’. At that ‘tot time’ under age, ‘G’ for grog, and ‘T’ for temperance, for
there I was in the mess on my birthday, awaiting my which the non-partaking sailors got an allowance of
first tot, when the Padre came visiting. 3d a day in lieu of the tot.
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