30 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008
On the
ropes at
Pitt Street
Ban the balloons
Argyll’s
‘dog
AS AN 88-year-old reader the
I WAS dismayed to see the
news that the Pitt Street gym was
photograph in your March
watch’
to be demolished (March) brought
edition of balloons being
a lump to my throat. Is nothing
launched from HMS Ark Royal
IN YOUR article about HMS
sacred these days?
as the plans for Meet Your Navy
Argyll (April) spending 52 days at
My mind went back some 71
e
were revealed.
sea, you make it sound like a long
years to 1937 when I left HMS
y
Inevitably, many of these
time, well it’s only a dog watch.
Ganges and found myself drafted
balloons will end up on the sur-
I was on the Commando car-
to Victory with 119 other boys.
face of the sea to be ingested
rier HMS Bulwark from October
We were the nucleus of the
by whales, dolphins, turtles and
1967 to October 1969. From
RN Rope Climbing and Window
seabirds. Experts estimate that
December 1967 to February
Ladder Display Team for the 1937
plastic bags (including balloons)
1968 we spent ten weeks (70 plus
Royal Tournament in London.
kill 100,000 animals and a million
days) at sea, off the coast near
It was a wonderful experience.
seabirds every year.
Aden and up the Gulf.
Marching from barracks twice a
It was recently reported that a
We had a full ship’s company,
day, the PTIs were golden to us
mature, but dead, Cuviers beaked
helicopter squadron and a full
in the gymnasium, where we were
whale was washed up on the shore
complement of Royal Marines.
split into groups of 16. For the
of Mull off the west coast of
What a good way to spend
first 15 minutes of any session we
Scotland.
Christmas! We had water short-
had the run of the gym with the
When it was opened up to
ages caused by jellyfish, and as
trapeze over the pool.
establish the cause of death, its
we had 100 men on our mess-
We trained hard for weeks and
stomach was found to contain 23
deck we were showering four to
at the end of May 1937 took the
plastic bags from silage, which it
a cubicle. That’s when soap on a
train up to London.
had ingested, mistaking these bags
rope comes in handy.
One week’s practising, two
r
for squid, its normal prey.
We must have had 1,800-plus
weeks’ show. The icing on the cake
-
It was recently announced that
on board at the time. I wonder
was being victualled by Lyons, big Portsmouth City Council has
if the Argyll crew had the same
eats. Incidentally we got one shil-
n
banned helium balloon releases
problems, with their smaller crew
ling and sixpence a day extra. from its land in order to protect
and a newer ship?
My experience at Pitt Street
,
wildlife.
Mind you, we had a blooming
was second-to-none, the train-
t
The city council has banned
good run ashore in Singapore
ing and being part of the Royal mass balloon releases taking place
when we got back.
Tournament helped me settle on its land, including schools.
– R A (Bungy) Williams, REM1
down to my life in the Navy. It is about time the Navy
I’m sure there are many more imposed a similar ban on this
saddened on reading of the demise practice which is so damaging to Bring back
of Pitt Street. the environment.
● The launch of Meet Your Navy on the fl ightdeck of HMS Ark Royal in Portsmouth Naval Base in
Picture: PO(Phot) Jon Hamlet
– Alf Fishlock, Bushbury, – C J A Cope,
March
Wolverhampton Kings Nympton, Devon
the mighty
Awe-inspiring
Hood
I AM curious as to how names of
new warships are chosen.
Zeebrugge
For instance, the two new
carriers that are to be built
(hopefully) being named HMS
Queen Elizabeth and HMS
Prince of Wales.
I can understand that they will
THE excellent feature you published on the
Later that day as he stood in the gathering dusk as
be so called in honour of our
Zeebrugge Raid brought back a very memo-
Vindictive limped home he reflected that he had not
Queen and her eldest son.
rable occasion for me.
suffered a sprain, graze, bruise, cut, break or lacera-
But what I cannot understand
is why the people who name our
Over the Easter period of 1966 and 67 HMS
tion of any sort whatsoever.
warships have never resurrected
Northumbria (ex Quainton: CMS to Tyne Division
He confided to me that for the whole of that day
the name which used to epito-
RNR) escorted by other RNR Units conveyed some
he had had a peculiar sensation of being locked in a
mise the strength of the Royal
150 survivors of the raid from Great Yarmouth to
cocoon that gradually evaporated the closer they got
Navy – namely HMS Hood.
Zeebrugge to participate in the town’s Anniversary
to England, and had disappeared never to return on
If they can resurrect the name
Services of Remembrance.
reaching Portsmouth.
of Prince of Wales (which after
● Not only did HMS Belfast live to tell the tale, but celebrated her
70th birthday in March with a party for members of the HMS Belfast
Some 50 proud old warriors disembarked from
As a young Lieutenant I was much affected by his
story (as may be your readers) but I could not desist
the action in which Hood was
Association (pictured above) and a rededication of her ship’s bell,
Northumbria on to the Mole, and in remarkably fine
from asking what it had been like.
sunk was unfairly called ‘the ship
given by the City of Belfast.
fettle marched off with their walking sticks, crutches,
It seemed preposterous to hear him say, “Awful”.
that ran away’) then why not
Picture: courtesy of the Imperial War Museum wheelchairs and the like to the Cathedral and City
“Yes,” I said, “I see that.
Hood?
Memorial.
But what was it really like?” “Dreadful” he replied.
I think it is time that a new
Belfast’s bash
The soundness of their tread as they returned
And so it went on: “Awful; dreadful; dreadful;
capital ship was so named.
along the Mole with bands playing and standards fly-
awful.”
– E Hills, Yaxley, Peterborough
ing was a sight to behold.
Until I realised (stupid bugger that I was) in the
At the RPC that followed I fell into conversation
pantheon of language they said it all.
with a portly young-looking man, a bit more sprightly
As I finish close to tears I hope George’s passing Loo-se talk
than the others, resting on his walking stick.He said
BELFAST’S back again – contrary of the mining was in a turret of
was as quiet and peaceful as his fight, for we remem-
ON MANY TV programmes
he was 65 which, quickly calculated, made him 17
to many letters and books by Belfast. He suffered injuries and
ber each and every one of them – before and since
and indeed news bulletins,
and celebrating his birthday as Vindictive secured to
amateur authors (and a letter in wears his hurt certificate badge
– do we not?
when reference is made to
the Mole.
Navy News in January) ships do with pride. The account is also in
– Capt Fergus Maclaine RD RNR Retd, HMS
sub-lieutenants, lieutenants or
The Mole for anyone who has never seen it is a
Calliope, Tyne Division RNR
not ‘hit’ magnetic mines, nor do the Profile Book of HMS Belfast,
lieutenant commanders, there is a
formidable piece of engineering. Besides its impres-
the mines hit the ship. by John Wingate.
tendency to use the pronunciation
sive length, and stone construction, it is the size of the
On November 21 1939 – Ted Hill, co-founder, HMS
leftenant whereas in my days in
tiers rising seawards that gives it a sense of oppression
Passing the ’buck
Belfast, in company with HMS Belfast Association, Harold Wood,
the RN the correct term was
to normal piers.
HMS ROEBUCK (Ship of the Month, January) was lootenant.
Southampton and two destroyers, Essex
The Germans knew Keyes was coming and had
my fi rst ship and I joined her in January 1962 in Has there been a change in
was proceeding to sea for gunnery ...IN RESPONSE to Ken
positioned machine guns on gun carriages hub-to-
Guzz. recent years? I’m intrigued...
practice. Buckingham’s letter, although
hub every 200 yards down the mile and a bit of the
She was part of the Dartmouth Training Squadron – Gordon Thomson, Redhill,
While in the Firth of Forth off HMS Belfast was attached to the
Mole. My new acquaintance, George (forgotten his
and we did a couple of lovely trips to the West Indies Surrey
the Isle of May in 18 fathoms Home Fleet at Scapa Flow during
surname), was in the third wave off Vindictive.
and Scandinavia, in the few months I was in her.
(108ft) the magnetic influence of WW2, she was in fact leaving the
He made no mention of crossing a gangway. He
I do, however, think she went to scrap, and not sold
Belfast triggered a magnetic mine Firth of Forth on November 21
recalled how he followed others across a plank and
Rescue Ruler
as stated, as I was part of the party that stripped her
as she passed over it. 1939, and struck a mine laid by
wondering why all those in front of him, and then all
prior to her being scrapped. I have often wondered I NOTE that a name is
At the time, 10:52, no guns U21. Her keel was buckled and those behind him, kept falling down.
what happened to her after I left to go to Dryad. being considered for the new
were firing. Bibliography appears she also suffered engine failure. For the rest of the day he, and others he joined up
The piece about “launched by a bomb” is some- submariner rescue submersible.
to be unknown to many authors She was towed down to Devonport with, fought their way down the Mole yard by yard.
thing I haven’t heard about – if anyone could supply As the system is being jointly
of these past events. via the east coast and through the He could not recall the blowing up of the Viaduct at details I would be grateful. operated by Norway, France and
I had a pint or so the other Solent. the base of the Mole, but on reaching it, they turned I have a shipmate in our RNA who was in Roebuck the UK, what about the Norse
day with John Harrison, a former – David Hughes, Chairman, round and fought yard by yard all the way back to just before me. God Adgir – Ruler of the Sea?
ordnance artificer who on the day RNA Orkney, Kirkwall, Orkney Vindictive. – Stan Gallon, Cape Town, South Africa – Bill Chapman
opinion
What mixed messages our young people receive. to join the various cadet forces – nearly 100,000 of them have
The National Union of Teachers, at its Easter conference, criti- done.
Leviathan Block, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH
cised the MOD for bias in the information literature it sends to Our Sea Cadet pages demonstrate, month after month, the range May 2008 no.646: 55th year
schools. The NUT must be very naïve if it thinks young people do of activities offered by these units, and the benefits to young people
not see the dangers of Armed Forces life every time they watch TV of joining.
Editorial Business
or open a newspaper. Their primary purpose is not recruiting, (standfast the NUT) but
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Now the Government has announced that it recognises the ben- teaching practical skills, instilling the more abstract qualities of con-
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efits to young people of joining cadet organisations. fidence, self-reliance and teamwork, and, one hopes, having fun. Deputy Editor: Mike Gray
navynews.co.uk
It is to fund an £800,000 pilot scheme to bring cadet units into It is excellent news that the Government has recognised the ben- Assistant Editors: Accounts 023 9272 0686
state schools in six areas of England and Wales. efits which these organisations offer their young cadets.
Richard Hargreaves Advertising 023 9272 5062 or
At the moment there are only 52 state schools which run a It would be even better news if they extended the funding to help
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029-031_NN_may08.indd 2 21/4/08 10:34:32
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