There
Go the Ships
Author:
Marshall Meek
ISBN:
1841040452
Publishers:
The Memoir Club
Price
£17.50 RRP UK
Publication
Date: 2003
Publishers
Information on the Book
There
Go The Ships offers an insider view of what has happened to UK maritime
industries since World War Il and why these industries have declined.
Marshall
Meek enjoyed a successful progression through the branches of the UK shipping
industry during his career and therefore offers a unique perspective of the
marine world over the past sixty years. He tells of UK ship owners in their
prime and of their rapid collapse.
He
describes how merchant shipbuilding virtually sank without trace, despite
receiving vast subsidies and that now only warship building remains in a much
reduced role. Controversially, he highlights the poor performance of management
and trade union employees during this decline and their refusal to acknowledge
foreign competition. He tells how research and development in the industry
fared better because the people were more adaptable and progressive.
Throughout
the book Marshall touches on his involvement with these major sections but also
with the many supporting activities. He observes that although the ships, the
industries and the companies have drastically declined, the labour has not been
in vain, that the human relationships and shared endeavours with companions,
colleagues and family have made happy recompense.
Marshall
Meek was the chief naval architect and director of Ocean Fleets. He perfected
the design of the fast cargo liner, then designed the first ocean-going purpose
built containerships that revolutionised shipping.
He
was deputy chairman of British Maritime Technology, chairman of Argonautics
Maritime Technologies, and chairman of the DSAC Marine Technology Board. He was
visiting professor in naval architecture at the University of Strathclyde and
also president of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects.
REVIEW
by Neil McCart
The
author was, during the post Second World War years, one of Britain's principal
naval architects, and in this autobiography he describes his progression
through the shipbuilding industry, from its heyday in the late 1940s and early
1950s, to the turn of the 21st century when, as we see, British
shipbuilders are very much an "endangered species".
The
highlight of the author's career must be the period when he was employed by the
famous Blue Funnel Line, which began in the early 1850s, before the advent of
worldwide air travel. This was a time
when, with their distinctively shaped and coloured funnels, the company's ships
could be seen on the high seas and in seaports the world over, particularly
east of Suez. The author tells us that
the name of the Blue Funnel Line came about in 1852, when Alfred and George
Holt decided to use some spare light blue paint to refurbish the funnel of
their first ship, Dumbarton Youth. Thus a legend was born and this lasted over
100 years until 1966, when the author was instrumental in giving the ships more
streamlined smokestacks.
We are taken through the Blue Funnel Line's various post-war designs, as well as the author's busy personal life, and in 1956, when the company sent him out to Singapore, it is interesting to note that they transported him east in a BOAC scheduled flight via Dusseldorf, Istanbul, Basra and Karachi, and not in one of their own ships. Clearly this was a sign of things to come. However, in the following year he was able to travel in the company's elderly steamers, Charon and Gorgon, which provided a service between Singapore and Fremantle. One very interesting chapter concerns the old troopship Empire Orwell which, during the late 1940s and 1950s, must have transported many thousands of British Army National Servicemen east of Suez. In the early 1960s the author was instrumental in buying the redundant troop transport for the Blue Funnel Line. She was renamed the Gunung Djati, and spent the remainder of her career carrying Muslim pilgrims from Indonesia to Jeddah, and home again.
Perhaps
the most interesting ship, the design for which the author was wholly
responsible, was the MV Centaur,
a vessel which became more familiar in home waters when, between 1982 and 1986,
she was chartered to Curnow Shipping for the Cardiff to St Helena
passenger-cargo service: one of the few routes which the airlines have been
unable to take over. We get a real
insight into the designing and building of this unique vessel. Being at the hub of shipping design at the
beginning of the "containerization" phenomenon, the author is able to
explain the background behind this major development in the shipping
industry. This chapter also coincides
with the labour problems which were being experienced in the British
shipbuilding industry at the time, which of course was already in serious
decline. The saddest reading in the
book is the demise of the Blue Funnel Line which, in the 1970s, fell victim to
the increasing competition from the massive container ships.
The
author's involvement with the Royal Navy was minimal, but he gives us a
fascinating insight into the "short-fat versus long-thin" debate
which, appropriately, is the chapter heading.
He also gives us his interesting professional observations into the 1998
investigation into the loss of MV
Derbyshire. His conclusions make
fascinating reading.
Although
this book is essentially a very personal autobiography, for any ship-lover
there is plenty of interest and certainly enough to justify spending £17.50 on
what is a well-produced volume, which would be a valuable addition to any
bookshelf.
Neil
McCart
Ship's
Husband
Author:
Robin S. Salveson.
ISBN:
1 84104 053 3
Publishers:
The Memoir Club
Price
£17.50
Publication
Date: 2003
Publisher’s Book Description.
Ship's Husband is a memoir that captures the essence of
seafaring; the adventure, camaraderie, the risks and poor conditions that were
sometimes endured. Robin Salvesen has set down his own
experiences and those of the people around him in order to preserve the
post-war age of British maritime trade.
As
an engineer officer in the Merchant Navy Robin has many tales to tell,
including his voyage on an Antarctic expedition ship and the logistics and
preparation required in order to sustain both ship and crew during such long
periods at sea. It was then that his
public school discipline and Army experience helped him to endure the
discomfort and hardship of a self-sufficient existence in a small cabin.
It
was his involvement with these expeditions that initiated Robin's strong drive
for managing change and introducing technology into the shipping industry during
his many years in charge of the shipping division of Christian Salvesen. He tells of the difficulty in making changes
to working practice in such a highly unionised industry as seafaring and the
sense of achievement felt when modern Coasters with unmanned engine rooms
traded profitably within Europe.
Robin
Salvesen recounts evocatively a bygone era of seafaring history when Britain
traded globally and the sea was vital for transporting goods. He tells of whale harvesting and other
practices that have now disappeared and gives
a
unique insight into an industry which has previously had little exposure.
Review by Neil McCart
Born in Edinburgh, the author is a member of the influential shipping family Christian Salveson & Co, and his autobiography is essentially about very specialist areas of the maritime world. Nevertheless, after a brief introduction to the Salveson family, we see the author graduating from university in the late 1950s, and joining the family business which, in those days, was centred around the now largely discredited whaling industry. The author brings to life South Atlantic ports which although not generally well known, did become familiar names for a few weeks during the Falklands War of 1982, Leith and Grytviken in South Georgia being the most obvious. He describes in detail the working and living routines in one of his company's whale factory ships which, at the height of the season, was catching at least 1,000 of these beautiful creatures each season. The vivid and gruesome description of how the whales were killed and dealt with on board is, to say the least, quite disturbing and may leave the reader very thankful that in most civilised nations of the world this wholesale slaughter of whales has now been stopped.
From
whaling the author moved to the more generally acceptable section of his
family's trade, the importation of sugar from the Caribbean, and Cuba in
particular. We are given a fascinating
insight into life aboard the 13,000 ton MV Saldura. We follow her on a voyage from Havana, round Cape Horn (to avoid
US sanctions), and across the Pacific Ocean.
We see her confront three US Navy warships enforcing what many people in
the world consider to be vindictive United States political sanctions against
an already impoverished island, imposed after America's humiliation at the Bay
of
Pigs. We see runs ashore in China, Australia and
Indonesia, before Saldura returns home by way of the Suez Canal and the
Mediterranean.
From
the SaIdura the author works in his family's coastal trading business, carrying
anything from timber to stone ballast, from as far afield as Russia and
Scandinavia, to ports all round the coasts of Britain and Ireland. The reader is introduced to a fleet of
coasters, such as the Dunvegan Head, the Rattray Head, the Kennard Head and the
Marwick Head.
Although
there are a lot of interesting insights into life on board some of Salveson's
ships, this is essentially the autobiography of a senior member of the
company's Board and, of course, the family dynasty, but for anyone interested
in ships and the sea it makes fascinating reading.
Neil
McCart
Title:
Aft Through the Hawsepipe
Author:
Bryan Smalley
ISBN:
1841040967
Publishers:
Memoir Club
Price
£17.50
Publication
Date: 2004
This
is the story of a man who joined the Royal Navy at the same lowly rank as I
did, Boy Seaman 2nd Class.
Whatever Midshipmen will tell you, Boy Seamen 2nd Class
really is as low as you can get, but then we all had to start somewhere and
Bryan Smalley started at HMS Bruce which was established in Scotland in 1947 to
accommodate recruits who were from Scotland or the North of England. Bryan was
one of the exceptions.
The
regime at Bruce would have been as tough as it was for us at St Vincent and
Ganges with the inevitable mast to climb.
I had a private chuckle to myself when he describes on page 15 that he
won the Religious Knowledge prize for the un-Christian motive of being
determined to beat the class bully.
Like Bryan, I too won the school and RK prizes. On the Religious knowledge prize I was
congratulated by the Padre, Ambrose Weekes (who later became Bishop of Switzerland),
when I told him that it had been twenty good guesses. He said ‘You know that isn’t true’.
Bryan
was determined to get on, and he took and passed the Education Tests, ET1 and
2, and then the Higher Education Tests (HET).
The system remained more or less the same during my service. However
because of the marks I obtained in school at St Vincent I was exempt ET1 and
was granted 1 months seniority.
By
1956 Boy Seamen spent a whole year training and we went to school every day.
You needed to pass
four subjects in HET at the same time to become an officer. Bryan overcame all the other hurdles
and become an officer by the CW
Candidate System. CW means
‘Commissioned or Warrant Officer’.
Bryan
served in HMS Wakeful, HMS Troubridge, HMS Triumph and his first ship as an
Acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1954 was HMS Crossbow, a Weapons Class destroyer. After his Sub-Lieutenant’s course (Junior
Officers’ War Course) he volunteered for the submarine service and trained at
HMS Dolphin in 1955.
He
went on to serve in HMS Scotsman and then HMS Acheron as navigator and fourth
hand. His next boat was HMS Porpoise
followed by HMS Tabard & HMS Seraph and back to Porpoise as first
Lieutenant, before moving on to the ‘Perisher’ course, otherwise known as the
Submarine Commanding Officers’ Qualifying Course, which as Lady Fieldhouse
points out in the foreword ‘was the Waterloo of quite a few would-be COs’. Bryan passed and took command of HMS Aurochs
in 1963. The last British submarine
fitted with a gun. Finally, he served in
a nuclear boat HMS Valiant and on the staff of the Flag Officers’ Submarines
before retiring in 1969.
After
leaving the Navy Bryan tried to become an MP.
He says in the book he was told to ‘come back after he had done
something useful’. If commanding one of
Her Majesty’s submarines is not considered ‘something useful’ to say nothing of
the years of experience to rise from the lower deck, then the Conservative
party must be missing some of the best candidates.
In
his dedication Bryan dedicates the book inter alia, ‘to all those boy seamen
and submariners who shared the load with me’. As a one-time boy seaman and
barge Coxswain to the Flag Officer Submarines I take pride in being one of
those who has a book dedicated to him and also one of those who has also done
‘something useful’.
This
is a very interesting book and I particularly recommend it to all ex boy or
junior seamen and submariners who shared the load, and to any young person
thinking of joining the Royal Navy.
Rob
Jerrard
Includes stories of HM Ships Ganges, Leander, Prince of Wales, Calypso, Terror (Singapore Base ship) and Superb: Not forgetting the "Devonport Redhead" & Rosie Barlow?
Preface
This book is based upon the 'grasshopper' principle. It has no narrative, no logical succession of events, and it jumps from one decade to another, from country to country, and channels a stream of consciousness recalling people, places and episodes from any perhaps unusual life.
It might be useful to travellers in planes or trains, and for those imprisoned in airport lounges or railway stations. It might even serve as a way of escape from fellow passengers on cruise liners'
The lines quoted from Stephen Leacock's Nonsense Novel, Gertrude the Governess, which have been quoted on the title page, describe perfectly how I approached the format of this book: Ronald said nothing. He flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.'
I could not have completed the book without the sustained support and fine professionalism of Miss Chantal Bowen. Whether Chantal deserves praise or censure, only our readers can decide.
Every man, it is said, has a book in him. My, readers may derive comfort from the fact that I shall never write another! For a two-fingered typist and poor speller it was drudgery. Thank heavens forTippex!
Ronald Bell
THE BOOK
This is no ordinary memoir,- it is a free flowing collection of reminiscences, essays, observations and diatribes from a man with strong opinions and an extraordinary collection of experiences.
The book encompasses Ronald Bell’s memories of his childhood 80 years ago, his service in the Royal Navy, and his long and varied experience in the music industry. He also offers insights into a period of recent history and a way of life that now seem long gone, and views on aspects of modern Life from the present day Navy to political correctness and New Labour.
Riding Madly Off In All Directions is not systematic or in chronological order; this frees it from the usual constraints on such a book, allowing the author’s character in all its diversity - well~read, witty, reflective, mischievous, strong willed - to shine through on every page.
The first decade of Ronald Bell’s adult life was spent in the Royal Navy, beginning in HMS Ganges, Shotley and continuing with service in the waters of the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the West Indies and the Far East.
After leaving the service he tried his hand at various jobs, including three years with renowned music publishers Boosey & Hawkes, before beginning a life-long career ‘In the record industry with EMI, MGM Records, Liberty Records and United Artists.
Evaluating new recordings and promoting bands, this enviable employment took the author all over the world, to the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries as well as most of the capitals of Europe. It also brought him into contact with a myriad of stars - Ike and Tina Turner, Dame Shirley Bassey, Connie Francis, Canned Heat, Bobby Vee and Paul Anka to name just a few.
Ronald Bell, now 85 years old, lives in Sawston, Cambridge, with his wife of 59 years, Eva Margaret. They have a son and a daughter and two grandsons.
When I started to read, (browse the contents) of this book I thought what an odd book, it's all over the place but wait: actually it's very clever; Ron's thoughts are explained in chapters and it reminds me of when I was a young law student reading law reports -- the best by far were those of Lord (Tom) Denning, one-time Master of the Rolls and the best judge of all; he always divided up his reports under headings, this book is like that, it's easy on the eyes.
By the time you read chapter 114, (some chapters are only two lines) you discover that if you agree with Ron's political views you could be a bore.
The reason is chapter 114 describes how during a discussion with another man they discovered that their views were identical -- they therefore "bored one another to death ". I think this is Ron's way of accepting that we are not all the same. It is therefore essential that I find something to disagree with.
Since the title suggests a method I shall review the book by "Riding Madly off in all Directions", which means I will not necessarily discuss things in any logical order.
This is a very interesting book because it has for Ronald Bell, Signalman Royal Navy T 0 DJ/X 136329 been an interesting life. Ron tells of his early life -- family life. Ron's father was a victim of the First World War, he wasn't killed but he was like so many of his generation a victim; Ron quotes his father in saying to the King on a visit to the hospital he was in, "Well your Majesty a packet of woodbines and a current bun will not solve my problems".
Fortunately for Peggy, Ron's wife, she met Ron, how lucky so many of our fair girls are to have met sailors. Her first words were "I don't want to go out with a sailor", where have I heard that before. Ron's generosity knew no bounds since unlike me he paid for a cinema seat, we always arranged to meet the girls inside.
Ronald had the misfortune to attend HMS Ganges for his initial Royal Naval Training. I have to say that because I trained at HMS St Vincent which also trained boy sailors, and, as we all know St Vincent was better. It's a bit like Oxford and Cambridge -- even in our old age we carry on the good-natured rivalry. For those not lucky enough to have been a boy seaman one of "The Band of Brothers", HMS Ganges at Shotley and HMS St Vincent at Gosport in Hampshire were the two main Royal Naval boy Training Establishments.
Ron starts this part of the book, the part on the Royal Navy by describing HMS Ganges and his exploits in climbing the mast, Ron arrived at HMS Ganges sometime in the Thirties, he doesn't give a date. He was the famous button boy and has a photograph to prove it. Ganges boys' would tell you that their ships mast was taller than St Vincent: Okay, Okay can't argue with a fact.
Ronald quotes William Wordsworth.
I travelled among unknown men
in lands beyond the sea:
Nor, England, did I know till then
What love I bore to thee.
Ron, started at HMS Ganges, he tells of his time there and his eagerness to climb the mast, becoming the button boy.
He explains in chapter 23, how all the boys had to take part in boxing, this was certainly true, I well remember it myself, in fact I say remember, I was flattened. Ronald was accused of being a coward and finished up in the yellow corner: the PTI shouted, "signal boy Bell in the yellow corner". I must have been in that corner as well.
His 1st ship appears to have been the old, Leander, not to be confused with HMS Leander the recent frigate which gave the name to the class of Leander class frigates; but the old cruiser Leander. He tells of his time in HMS Courageous an Aircraft Carrier, and his good fortune be be taken off a few hours before she sailed for a dreadful rendezvous with U29, when hundreds of men lost their lives.
He tells of fleet manoeuvres, and talks of the loss of HMS Prince of Wales: Sunday Divisions: his Devonport Redhead, Rosie Barlow, presumably another fleeting encounter and, of HMS Terror the Singapore Bay ship. He served in HMS Calypso was another old "C" class cruiser, a relic of World War I.
By the time you reach chapter 38, Ron discusses Royal Navy destroyers in rough weather, midshipman, and his brothers ship HMS Superb.
Ron entered the Music Industry - I will not dwell on this part of Ron's life, suffice to say he seems to have meet many of the great stars, he is photographed which Connie France and Shirley Basssey, to name just two
We then come to chapter 99, the virtues of political correctness.
Here Ron talks about ordinary men and women, they are, of course, familiar with the ugly anti-social terms, "having sex", "gay" and "partner". The PC virus is gnawing away at the very vitals is of Western civilisation.
Ron asks us, is there a cure for the PC virus? Yes there is! As a first step, victims should read Kipling's poem, "IF" every day. Before going to sleep, they should also read the following words by Alexander Pope.
First follow nature and your judgment frame
by her just standard, which is still the same,
unerring nature, still divinely bright,
one clear, unchanged and universal light,
life, force, and beauty, must to all impart,
at once the source, and end, and test of art.
Ron conludes, "Dear readers, do not try to change the natural order which comes from a force greater than ourselves"
Epilogue
This book is an octogenarian's last defiant shout at those who spoil our beautiful world.
Ron concludes that at 84 he is haunted by those poignant words written by Sir Walter Raleigh, the night before his execution.
Even such is time that takes in trust
our youth our joys, our all all we have,
and pays us but with age and dust
Who in the dark and silent grave,
when we have wandered all our ways
shuts up the story of our days.
But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
my God shall raise me up I trust
Amen, Amen, Amen.
A Pot Mess - Journals of a Royal Navy Cook
J A Parker served on HM Ships Solebay, Barcarole, Ganges, Defender and Calton
A POT MESS - Journals of a Royal Navy Cook J A Parker Full Price £14.99
J A Parker's life story was almost lost forever. Whilst moving house in 1957
his wife Pauline handed him a box containing over 600 letters that he had
sent her during his eight years as a Chef in the Navy. He asked 'Did you
want to keep them?' and when Pauline did not reply, he intended to destroy
them on a garden fire. When it began to rain, they were instead stored in the
loft.
Forty years on, and J A Parker is grateful for that rain. Those letters,
along with Pauline's diaries, have been skilfully adapted to become A Pot Mess,
the lively and compelling account of Parker's eight years in the galley of
various Defender Class and other ships.
Thanks to this unusual writing method, the past is narrated with an immediacy
not found in the average memoir, as the author recounts life in the Navy from a
unique angle. The stories of prominent and high ranking officers are found
everywhere. A Pot Mess is instead a far rarer glimpse of what life was like
'below decks' for the ordinary crew members. Parker records incidents that
would otherwise have gone unnoticed because they did not happen to
'important' people.
At the same time, the book is a highly personal record, and Parker's devotion
to his wife back in England - the devotion which produced those
hundreds of letters - is one of its most engaging features.
Born in Leicester in 1932, J A Parker' early life was not always easy. His
mother died when he was two, and he and his disabled father, a shoe factory
worker, went to live with family in Market Deeping near Peterborough at
the outbreak of the Second World War.
Yet his description of his 1930s and 40s rural childhood is a normal and
happy one, with fond memories of feeding the ducks and chickens, taking
the cows for milking, singing in the Church Choir, Boy Scouts, paper rounds
and double summertime.
After leaving school, Parker worked in a fish and chip van, travelling the
neighbouring villages. But his horizons were broadened by two uncles who had
served in the Navy, and he began to dream of more exciting voyages than a
day trip to Skegness. In February 1949 he joined the Navy as a junior chef,
serving for eight years until being demobbed in 1957.
J A Parker now lives in Leicester where he cares for his wife, who suffers from severe osteoporosis.
I am sure that this book will be of interest to all who served in the WRENS as officers
Diary of a WREN 1940 - 1945, by Audrey Deacon
When Audrey Deacon, a Leading Wren, was promoted to cypher duties to the Commander in Chief, Plymouth, she little thought that she would shortly find herself in charge of the cypher department at a most crucial time in World War II - the period leading up to the invasion of Normandy.
This book chronicles the day to day life of a Wren during the most eventful days of World War II. It is, by turns, poignant and amusing, compelling and tragic and encapsulates all of the emotions of the time.
Many families lost loved ones during this period but you will not fail to be moved by the author’s account of how she watched her husband and childhood sweetheart - a Second Lieutenant in the Sixth Airborne Division - slowly sink into the abyss of death.
No story of World War 11 is ever complete without a chapter on the Wrens. But this book goes one step further and brings home the stark reality of what being a Wren really meant. It is a unique tribute to the courage and fortitude of all Wrens everywhere.
The original manuscript of the diary is held in the archives of the Imperial War Museum and is frequently consulted by those researching the period.
Audrey Deacon was born in Deal, Kent, but spent her formative years in Plymouth. She joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service at the beginning of the Second World War and remained with the Wrens throughout.
After the war she worked in voluntary social service organisations, leading to the General Secretaryship of the then Hertfordshire Council of Social Service. For this work she was appointed MBE in 1978.
In her retirement she has been associated with several voluntary organisations, including the
Hertfordshire and the Harpenden local history societies. She is the author of a number of articles but this is her first full-length book.
This is not a book to recommend to
women who served in the WRNS (Wrens) as ratings -- but I am sure it would be to
ex-Wren officers.
The title could have been, "diary of a Wren officer", since
ratings are never given the courtesy of a
name: every reference to a fellow officer is.
It has to be said that Audrey
Deacon's war consisted of good accommodation often in an hotel, first-class
travel, mess dinners (of lobsters, salmon, trout and pheasant etc) not a
sausage in sight, and being ferried around in a staff car or launch; plus
masses of leave.
Audrey Deacon's war was the other
side of the coin, and, I suppose in a diary you write about your friends, and
in those days one did not make friends with ratings; a pity.
The most interesting parts were the references to walks on Dartmoor, good to hear of the normal use of public transport and walks of 13 miles or more; simple pleasures.
There are good descriptions and
details of the terrible bombing raids and heavy casualties in Plymouth.
Rosemary Jerrard
WRENS did serve abroad and many were
killed, when you recall the story of "Aquila" in convoy 0G 71 
on the
way to Gibraltar, told in the book "Nightmare convoy, The Story of the
lost Wrens".
'And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.' St. Matthew, XIV.25 Inscription on memorials to the lost Wrens
'Whenever I think of war I don't remember the happy things, but this convoy. It is my particular nightmare.'
Nicholas Monsarrat Lieutenant in one of the naval escorts
“The Flower of the Flock”; that is
the description given in the book. 22
were lost.
THE AGUILA WRENS (In Memory)
Second Officer
Christine Emma Ogle
Third Officers:
Cecelia Mary Blake
Forster
Margaret Eulalie Chappe
Hall
Isabel Mary Milne Holme
Joy Victoria Constance
McLaren
Florence Macpherson
Kathleen Miller
Josephine Caldwell Reith
Chief Wrens:
Phyllis Bacon
Margaret Watmore Barnes
Cecilly Monica Bruce Benjamin
Dorothy Bonsor
Madeleine Gladys Cooper
Mary Grant
Mildred Georgina Norman
Else Elizabeth Shepherd
Catherine Johnston Slaven
Beatrix Mabel Smith
Ellen Jessie Waters
Rosalie Wells
Nursing-Sister
Kate Ellen Gribble,
QARNNS
Introduction by the Author
THIS IS AN ABRIDGED and heavily edited extract from my personal memoirs, written down a few Nears after inv retirement for the information of my descendants. Having enjoyed the diaries and memoirs of some of my forebears, and been fascinated by the ambience of their times, I felt I owed it to later generations to pass on to them how one ancestor lived in the 20th century - and, in particular, an account of his career in the Royal Navy which they might find of some interest.
I had an unusually long naval career of exactly 41 years (1934-1970. Unlike one or two 'high flyers' in my group who rose rather rapidly to higher rank (and early retirement), I served the full span of years in each rank, being promoted in every case at the last opportunity! Thus, on retirement and approaching the age of 60, I found myself the oldest serving officer in the Navy - even including 'Their Lordships' (whose Severe Displeasure I was about to incur).
Since I enjoyed naval life, I was fortunate; throughout my career luck played a significant part in determining its direction and duration. When many officers would give their eye-teeth for a Sea Command, the fact that six of these came my - way suggests at least a measure of good luck, rather than simply the Fortunes of War (or Peace). There were three or four 'Life-or-Death' instances -,where pure luck (or my guardian anger) decided the out-come - and other occasions when crucial appointments occurred just as I happened to be `in the right place at the right time'. Apart from these episodes, however, to have cruised every ocean, touched on every continent and visited inane exotic and little-known places world-wide - all in the day's work and at no personal expense - seemed to me the essence of good fortune.
Hence the title of this book. The sub-title outlines its story.
G. PD. H.
Foreword
GEOFFREY HALL
succeeded me as Hydrographer of the Navy in February 1971, becoming the 20th
incumbent of that honourable post since its establishment in 1795 to provide
seacharts for the Royal Navy. When these charts were placed on the open market
in 1823 the requirement for them began to expand as merchant ships of many
nations set about using them world-wide. '
During Hall's
term of office as Hydrographer he was in overall charge of thirteen
white-hulled naval surveying ships collecting hydro graphic data at sea, and of
the work of 800 civil servants at the Hydrographic Department at Taunton busy
compiling, printing and issuing charts to the Royal Navy and commercial agents
throughout the world.
Hall was the
last Hydrographer to have been surveying at sea before the onset of World War
11. On his own admission he was awarded each of his promotions from
Lieutenant-Commander upwards on his last chance in each zone, so that on
retirement in September 1975 he was nearing his 60th birthday and was the
oldest man in the Navy.
During his
long years he had enjoyed a widely varied, and often exciting, life in general
service, Combined Operations and the surveying service in peace and war, and
this included one general service and five surveying ship commands, each of
about two years in duration.
Thus the
author has a fascinating tale to tell. He writes evocatively, particularly when
recalling events at sea - whether it be surveying off South Georgia under the
daily stress of ever-changing stormy weather conditions; carrying out beach
reconnaissance from a folbot on the Arakan Coast, where he nearly lost his
life; making geophysical investigations in the Indian Ocean; or ocean sounding
in the North Atlantic. Many found the latter activity boring - not so Geoffrey
as the reader will find out on page 193:
`For me,
however, it was far from boring. Quite apart from the interest and fascination
of the developing survey, and my daily stint at hand-contouring of the
bathymetry in the Chartroom, the whole business was immensely satisfying. I was
aware that Hecla would almost certainly be my last sea-going and I was intended
to make the most of it. Standing there on the bridge, or sitting in the
Captain's chair. With nothing in sight
except the east blue ocean, the ship surging ahead on a steady course, engines
throbbing and machinery humming in the background, officers and men quietly and
efficiently performing their duties on all sides, I often thought what a
marvellous job I had.'
In 1942 he
undertook a six weeks N* course in HMS Dryad, and subsequently enjoyed putting
the skills he had into practice. He always derived pleasure from handling his
ship in close quarter situations, and was ever ready to take his vessel into
tight locations such as the narrow lagoon at Aldabra Island, the constricted
harbour of Heimaey in the Westman Islands, or the snuggest cove in South
Georgia.
Unusual for
this type of book, the tale is told in a very personal vein, an approach which
will commend Sailor's Lick to historians fifty years or more from now.
The story of
how Geoffrey became engaged to Mary Carlisle, a Wren Officer he had never met,
by means of a letter written from a Commando camp in Ceylon, and their first
meeting six months later in an hotel in Dorchester is delightful.
Once married,
Mary packed and followed whenever possible, accepting Geoffrey's white
mistresses; she was regarded by being invited to launch one of them, HMS
Herald. Today Herald is the grand old lady of the surveying squadron and as
beautiful as ever.
Hydrographers
of the Navy have always had to fight within the Whitehall corridors of power to
obtain or even retain the ships they require to meet their responsibilities as
they see them. Geoffrey Hall fought harder than most of us. Whether he -,won or
lost may be judged by the reader of the final pages of Sailor's Luck.
THE SAME WIFE IN EVERY PORT
Suzanne Kyrle-Pope: Full Price £14.50
Few wives can have experienced such a varied and unusual life as Suzanne KyrIe-Pope.
From making marmalade for submarine crews in Malta during the Second World War to taking part in an opium raid in Singapore, the author takes the reader around the world as she recalls her amazing life.
Her husband, Michael, was a senior naval officer whose appointments took him and his family to Germany, America, the Far East and the Arabian Gulf. The author took the opportunity when far away from home to immerse herself in local life. If she was not working in a fashion store in Washington DC or starting a children’s library in Bahrain she was going off exploring exotic places by bus, ferry, cargo boat or Landrover.
Although her life has been at times exciting, her story is not without sadness but her remarkable spirit has seen her through the hard times. This illuminating spirit shines through time and time again in The Same Wife In Every Port.
Suzanne KyrIe-Pope was born into a naval family in 1921. She had a strict Edwardian upbringing, remaining in England at the age of ten when her family left for China. On leaving school she accompanied her parents to Malta when her father was appointed second in command of the Mediterranean fleet. Aged 18, she became engaged to escape her over-bearing father and when her parents left Malta she married and stayed on as an army wife throughout the siege.
Returning to Britain after a dramatic evacuation she joined Naval Intelligence and worked on the preparations for the Normandy landings. Her marriage broke up when her present husband, Michael, whom she thought had been killed, was repatriated from a POW Camp. After marriage in 1947, she accompanied her husband around the world on various naval postings.
Her husband retired from naval life in 1970 and the couple returned to England. They are now enjoying their retirement.
I am sure that this book will be of interest to all who served in the RN.
A fascinating record of a junior officer’s war at sea, Midshipman RNR relies heavily on the entries made in the author’s journal at the time. It covers most of the more important naval activities of World War 11 outside the Pacific, from tedious patrols in the South Atlantic to the Battle of Crete, Tobruk, Russian Convoys, Battle of the Barents Sea, landings in North Africa and Sicily and the final spasms of the Battle of the Atlantic.
This is a superb memoir detailing the day to day activities on board ship. A very much ‘hands on account’ which tells of life in the Gunroom, running ships boats, intensive gunnery and other training prior to major operations. Here also may be found a comprehensive account of the activities of a Corvette engaged in shepherding convoys to Gibraltar and across the Atlantic.
We journey through those turbulent times with the author as he advances through the lower echelons of the Naval hierarchy, gaining in maturity and expertise.
F N Goodwin was born in 1923 and joined HM Training Ship Conway as a cadet in 1938. He was then commissioned as a Midshipman RNR in May 1940 and spent the next six years at sea.
His major interest was navigation and he was appointed navigating officer of HMS Tintagel Castle. After demobilization he gained a degree in Agriculture and spent the remainder of his working life in agricultural development in the third world.