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31 Aug 17 - HMS Chiddingfold and HMS Penzance returning from the Gulf

 

HMS Chiddingfold (MCM2 Crew 1 commanded by MCDOA member David Louis) is due to return to Portsmouth tomorrow after being deployed on Operation KIPION in the Gulf for over three years (see entry for 10 Aug 17).  According to QHM's Movements, her ETA at Outer Spit Buoy is 1030 and she will berth initially on South Railway Jetty (bows north).  Any photos of her arrival would be appreciated.

 

HMS Chiddingfold's progress can be tracked on AIS (Automatic Identification System) here.

 

Screen capture of HMS Chiddingfold's AIS track this morning

 

She has been accompanied on her passage home by Faslane-based HMS Penzance (MCM1 Crew 1) which arrived in Ardrossan for a short stopover this morning.

 

HMS Penzance arriving in Ardrossan for a short stopover this morning

before proceeding home to Faslane

(Royal Navy in Scotland photo)

 

Flashback to 2014: HMS Penzance (MCM1 Crew 3) berthing on HMS Chiddingfold (MCM2 Crew 5) in Gibraltar on 13 June during their passage to the Gulf to relieve HMS Ramsey (MCM1 Crew 2 commanded by MCDOA member Ash Spencer) and HMS Quorn (MCM2 Crew 3) respectively (see entry for 22 Jun 14 in News Archive 46):

 

HMS Chiddingfold and HMS Penzance in Gibraltar on 13 June 2014

while bound for the Gulf

(Photo courtesy of local photographer Daniel Ferro)

 

     

 

Above and below: HMS Penzanze at Gibraltar on 22 July 2017

while returning from the Gulf

(Photos courtesy of local photographer Daniel Ferro)

 

 

Postscript: The Portsmouth News has published this article announcing the homecoming of HMS Chiddingfold and the Carlisle News & Star this article announcing the homecoming of HMS Penzance.

 

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30 Aug 17 - New books

 

Oscar King is the pseudonym of an author who started his eventful career in the Royal Navy as a Clearance Diver before being commissioned and qualifying as a Fleet Air Arm helicopter pilot.  He was appointed an MBE for his involvement in hazardous operations and had further escapades after leaving the Service.

 

'Mexican Standoff' is the third volume of Oscar's trlilogy about the fictional adventures of ex-Special Forces hero Harry Linley.  It is due for release tomorrow and should be available to order soon afterwards via Amazon here:

 

Mexican Standoff by Oscar King

 

The previous books in Oscar's trilogy can be ordered here:

 

Persian Roulette by Oscar King

 

Moscow Payback by Oscar King

 

           

 

MCDOA member Paul Henke's most recent book about the fictional adventures of ex-MCDO Nick Hunter is called 'Turmoil'.  It is available to order via Amazon here:

 

Turmoil by Paul Henke

 

 

Paul will be signing copies of his books at the Perth Show 1000-1600 on Friday and Saturday.  If you are planning to attend please do drop in to see him.  He is always happy to have a chat.

 

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29 Aug 17 - New Treasurer needed for MCDOA

 

After four years in the role, Peter Davis requires someone to take over as MCDOA Honorary Treasurer as he is prevented from continuing owing to his return to sea among other commitments.  He is therefore looking for someone to relieve him, effective from the AGM in November.  This is a serving officer's post as it involves close liaison with the Secretary and the two signature arrangement for the expenditure of Association funds.  Although the work is relatively undemanding, it is critical to the continued running of the Association.

 

Please contact Peter via this email address if you are able to fulfil this vital position.

 

As far as this year's dinner is concerned, Peter has requested that

 

a. Cheques should be submitted with completed booking forms (or else list the guests on the back of the cheque).  Those paying online need to annotate their payment reference on their ticket proformas.  Cheques and Bank Transfers are the preferred methods of payment.

 

b. Hosts should pay for all their guests in a single payment to prevent a large number of random cheques/bank transfers.

 

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28 Aug 17 - NDG disposes of pyrotechnic in Hebrides

 

The Hebrides News website contains this article describing the disposal, presumably by members of Faslane-based Northern Diving Group (NDG), of a phosphorous flare discovered on the shore at the North Ford causeway between Grimsay and Benbecula.

 

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27 Aug 17 - Reunion for 1982 ships' company members of HMS Brecon, HMS Ledbury and RMS St Helena

 

Ian McVitie is organising a reunion for ships' company members of HMS Brecon, HMS Ledbury and RMS St Helena who deployed to the Falklands in early July 1982.  It will take place at the 4* Strathallen Hotel, Birmingham from Friday 30 March to Sunday 1 April 2018.

 

 

Email Ian McVitie for further details.  The booking form is available for download here.

 

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26 Aug 17 - Life in the TONs

 

To mark its 30th anniversary, the Ton Class Association (TCA) has just published a new book called 'Life in the Tons'.

 

     

 

This 156-page A4 format paperback is "...a compilation of dits and photographs of time spent serving in TON class vessels that were Britain's front line of defence against the sea mine during most of the 1950s through to the 1990s".  It costs £11.50 (including post & packing) and can be obtained from the TCA's Stores Officer.  See this page of the TCA website for further details. 

 

'Life in the TONs' is a companion volume to 'Last of the Wooden Walls - An Illustrated History of the TON Class Minesweepers & MInehunters' and 'Jacks of All Trades - Operational Records of TON Class Minesweepers and Minehunters published in 2012 to mark the TCA's 25th anniversary.

 

 

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25 Aug 17 - A very kind gesture including a piece of Vernon heritage

 

 

Yesterday I received this letter and photographs together with a cheque for £50 towards the Vernon Minewarfare & Diving Monument:

 

"Dear Cdr Hoole,

 

I read with considerable interest about your project to build a monument at Gunwharf Quays to those who undertook minesweeping duties.  My late father, Able Seaman Appleford, served on board a series of minesweepers during the Second World War.  I have various papers relating to his service.  Although they do not perhaps convey all of his work, I know from discussions with him that he was minesweeping off Arromanches on D-Day, aiming to clear a path for USS Texas to get towards the shore.

 

My father was serving in BYMS 2161, believed to be called 'Miranda' according to his papers, when the war ended, with him being one of the first crews to enter Copenhagen harbour at the end of hostilities.  I have enclosed two photographs of his ship which he left among his papers.  I suspect they were taken by a local press photographer at the time.

 

 

Above and below: BYMS 2161 and other RN minesweepers alongside at Copenhagen in 1945

 

 

I understand that you are raising funds for the monument at a fund-raising event later this week.  Although this is not something I would be able to attend, I would very much like to support the creation and installation of the monument.  I have therefore included a cheque which I'd like to go towards the costs.  My father was a member of the VAC (Vernon Auxiliary Company) based at HMS Vernon.

 

If any of my father's papers are of interest to you or your colleagues carrying out research into the work of the Yard Mine Sweeper class, I'd be happy to providee scans or copies if they care to get in touch with me.

 

The Rev'd Ken Appleford

 

P.S. As mentioned, these vessels are tied up alongside the quay in Copenhagen harbour - the first Allied vessels to enter the port at the close of the Second World War.  In the 'nearer' photo can be seen a a Resistance member complete with armband.  An impression of a BYMS can be seen in the background on the Wooden Minesweepers Memorial at the National Memorial Arboreteum at Alrewas in Staffordshire."

 

HMS Miranda was, in fact, the minesweeper base at Great Yarmouth.  It was commissioned on 16 October 1940 and paid off on 21 July 1945.

 

BYMS (British Yard Mine Sweeper) 2161 was built at the Burger Boat Co at Manitowoc in Wisconsin and launched on 3 April 1943.  She was completed on 9 August 1943 and assigned to the 163rd MSF (Mine Sweeper Flotilla) based at Lowestoft & Great Yarmouth (1943), Grimsby (1944), NW Europe (1945) and Lowestoft in 1946.  This is a list of her movements:

 

1943 6 Oct - Charleston 1 Nov - Halifax, Nova Scotia 3 Nov to 9 Dec - St Johns, Newfoundland 22 Dec - Falmouth 26 Dec - Portland 27 Dec - Portsmouth 29 Dec - Southend 29 to 30 Dec - Harwich	BYMS 2161 Sweepdeck (photos by Charlie Price)
1944 25 Jan to 28 Apr - Harwich 28 Apr to 9 Jun - Lowestoft 9 Jun to 10 Jul - Harwich 18 Jul - Harwich 24 to 31 Jul - Lowestoft 31 Jul to 1 Aug - Harwich 1 to 23 Aug - Southend 23 Aug - Portsmouth 18 Sep - Le Havre 18 to 30 Sep - Portsmouth 1 Oct - Dover 28 Oct - Ramsgate 28 Oct to 3 Dec - Lowestoft 4 Dec - Aberdeen
1945 20 Apr - Aberdeen 22 Apr to 9 May - Grimsby 25 Jun - Copenhagen 25 to 29 Jun - Kiel 30 Jun - Hamburg 7 Jul to 4 Sep - Plymouth 9 to 15 Sep - Gibraltar (then to SE Asia for minesweeping duties with 181st then 182nd MSF in Malaya until Sep 1946. Sold in USA in 1947.)

 

Ken mentions that his father was a member of the Vernon Auxiliary Company.  This excerpt from 'HMS VERNON - A Short History from 1930 to 1955', written by Cdr Edgar Dudley Webb RN and published by HMS Vernon's Wardroom Mess Committee in 1955, provides the background for the formation of this organisation:

 

 "...In the autumn of 1938 came also the Munich crisis, and everyone dug trenches for nearly a week.  The Captain had anticipated this move by sending the Commander into the Dockyard to get shovels and spades.  He found there were only about 130 in store, so he drew the lot and brought them back to Vernon.  Two or three days later the order came to dig, and Vernon was much commended for the brilliant organisation of the operation; which was not entirely true - they were the only ones with spades.

 

Trench digging was made a sort of 'coal ship'.  A platform was rigged for the band and they played throughout the day and well into the night.  Meanwhile draft chits were being relayed on the loudspeaker, and many a sailor with pick poised in mid-stroke would hear that he was off to sea.  The Captain was determined to preserve the football field, and this was achieved by confining the digging to the grass tennis courts and beyond the football touch and goal lines.  As this was all the site of a reclaimed tidal creek, the trenches remained a muddy abortion for many weeks, and it took a long time to get the lining and woodwork complete and the sheeting and covering provided.

 

 

Above and below: Digging trenches outside the football ground touchlines and on

the Petty Officers' tennis courts at HMS Vernon during the Munich crisis in 1938

 

 

Meanwhile one of Vernon's tenders, the small minelayer Plover, was carrying out trials in the Mediterranean, and at the height of the crisis was on passage from Malta to Gibraltar.  They took considerable interest in such news bulletins as they could pick up, as they were never quite certain they were not going to run up against part of the Italian Fleet, with their speed of something like 12 knots and armament of six pistols, for which they had no ammunition.

 

 

Above and below: HMS Vernon's coastal minelayer HMS Plover. Launched at

William Denny & Brothers on the Clyde on 8 Jun 1937, sold on 26 Feb 1969

and subsequently broken up at Inverkeithing

 

 

On 9th December 1938 there was a change in the Vernon name-ship.  The trawler which had borne the name since 1923 had her boilers condemned and was paid off into reserve under her first name of Strathcoe. 

 

HMS Strathcoe as HMS Vernon.  Launched at Hall Russell at Aberdeen in 1916, requisitioned by

the Admiralty in Jan 1917 and converted into a minesweeper.  Purchased 1918 and converted

 into a minelayer.  Renamed Vernon in 1924 and attached to HMS Vernon for minelaying trials.

 Based at Malta from 1933 and reverted to Strathcoe in 1939.  Laid up but re-employed on

harbour service 1942 and converted into an ESSO (fuel tanker) in 1943.

Sold in 1946 and became mercantile loss on 4 Feb 1959.

 

Controlled mines on board Vernon (ex-Strathcoe), tender to HMS Vernon

for minelaying trials between 1924 and 1938

 

[By Webmaster: Prior to 1 Jan 1959 the Naval Discipline Act only applied to those officers and men who were borne on the books of one of His/Her Majesty's Ships of war.  Thus all personnel were appointed or drafted to a 'nominal ship' when not actually serving in a proper seagoing warship.  At the turn of the century these shore establishments were mainly old hulks and the original ship names were taken into use.  Later, when proper shore accommodation was provided, a ship was nominated to carry the establishment name, and later, even small craft were used for this purpose.  Thus a 27 feet long Montagu whaler was notionally crewed by hundreds of officers and men.  The provision of a nominal depot ship also created other anomalies. The DOLPHIN was lost while under tow; the ST ANGELO was mined; the MANTIS became a constructive total loss, and the FOLIOT was lost by collision. Other losses were the CABOT and HORNET. Even the enemy were confused as they claimed to have sunk the ST ANGELO, and in a way, they were right.  Vessels normally had their names changed to comply with those of their associated shore bases because they tended to wear out faster.  Establishments formed after 1959 (PALATINE, SHERWOOD, etc) did not run this risk, having no need for a nominal depot ship, and the Navy List ceased to record nominal depot ships from 1962.]

 

As a replacement for Strathcoe, the mining tender Skylark was re-christened Vernon and became the name-ship of the establishment.

 

HMS Vernon's mining tender 'Skylark' being re-christened 'Vernon' on 9 Dec 1938. Her name

was changed to 'Vesuvius' in Apr 1941 owing to difficulties with the postal arrangements.

Launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 15 Nov 1932, sold on 5 Jul 1957 and broken up

 in Feb 1958 at Pollock Brown in Southampton

 

An important outcome of the Munich crisis was the 'Vernon Auxiliary Company', also known as 'Cork's Light Horse'.  The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, appreciated that if the enemy laid mines in the approaches to his port immediately on the outbreak of war, there would be a period of two or three weeks before the minesweeping force allocated would be in full stride.  During that period the port might have to be closed. He therefore directed the Captain of Vernon to produce an organisation to meet this deficiency, and the matter was put in the hands of the First Lieutenant - Lieutenant Commander J. Hext Lewes.

 

The direction given was to collect and train a body of men, preferably drawn from the yachtsmen and yacht hands of the port, who would engage themselves to answer a personal call from the Commander-in-Chief, independently of any order to mobilise.  They would undertake the sweeping of the approaches to the port for a period of two or three weeks, until they could be relieved by the forces formally allocated by the War Plan.  How they were to be collected and trained was left to the First Lieutenant, with somewhat of a suggestion that he would be well advised to go round the Gosport pubs one Sunday forenoon canvassing.

 

Actually the means adopted was to ask to dinner certain yachtsmen who it was thought might be interested, and to discuss the question of whom to invite to join this somewhat exclusive and unusual yacht club.  In his opening address the Captain is said to have informed the neophytes that everything was quite unofficial as yet and that they might find themselves lodged in the Tower for piracy or high treason.  But if so, they would be in good company, for the Commander-in-Chief and he would be there also.  The Captain says he merely told them they had no legal authority to be at sea and must be very careful to avoid collisions.

 

No difficulty was experienced in selecting enough officers, and a firm foundation of ratings was provided by a number of yacht hands recommended and brought along by Camper and Nicholsons of Gosport.  The remainder were collected in many unorthodox ways, largely with the help of the rugger reporter of the Portsmouth Evening News, and some beer.  The officers of the Company assisted in the recruiting of their own crews.  Bus conductors, clerks, dustmen, anyone willing and not debarred by a reserved occupation, all were welcome and entered enthusiastically into the training.  In one trawler the Captain had a Sea Scout as signalman, a greyhound race-track engineer as a leading seaman, a milk roundsman as a wireman, a timber merchant as a winchman, a yacht hand as coxswain, and Portsmouth Gas Company men as stokers.  One of the chief stumbling blocks at this time was the Labour Exchange and its list of reserved occupations, and the peacetime occupation of an applicant had often to be tactfully reworded to escape this net.

 

Training started towards the end of 1938, long before any formal approval had been given to the formation.  Nothing could be promised; the men just came in on Thursday evenings for lectures and on Sundays for minesweeping because they thought it might make them more useful in the trouble that was to come.

 

Seagoing training started with the picket boat sweep in Spithead and worked up to trawlers.  In February 1939 the Admiralty formally approved the formation of the. Company, and draft regulations were drawn up by Vernon on the lines of the R.N.V.R. Regulations.  Although these regulations do not seem to have ever obtained Admiralty approval, it is satisfactory to note that they were honoured in full.  It was on these regulations that the officers were given R.N.V.R. commissions immediately on the outbreak of war and in consequence became the most senior temporary R.N.V.R. officers of their respective ranks.  Ratings were taken into the Navy in the substantive rating held in the V.A.C. and all training bonuses earned were paid.  By the spring some of the officers were already members of the R.N.V.S.R. and the remainder were accepted by the Admiralty for enrolment.

 

Members of the Vernon Auxiliary Company manning picket boats

 

Two trawlers were at once provided from the Reserve Fleet and moored alongside Vernon Pier, and a few pensioner shipkeepers were engaged.  Although high and dry at low water, the trawlers became seagoing ships for Customs purposes.  They went to sea every Sunday, and later on for a week's cruise once a month to Plymouth, Falmouth and other Channel ports.  On their cruise the trawlers joined up with the Minesweeping Training Flotilla from Portland, and very fully took their part in exercises.  Apart from the First Lieutenant of Vernon and the shipkeepers, they were manned entirely by the volunteers.  Keenness produced some amusing incidents, as when the Senior Officer hoisted the stationing flag.  The Auxiliary Vessels Signal Book was feverishly consulted, and it was decided that this must mean 'keep station close astern'.  And they followed him round all the morning like a dog, only to find they were supposed to disregard his movements.

 

Members of the Vernon Auxiliary Company

manning a minesweeping trawler

 

By April 1939 fourteen officers and about fifty ratings had been enrolled, and by the end of June, when the First Lieutenant was promoted, the unit had risen to four trawlers.  His farewell trip was a week-end to Alderney, when two trawlers were manned and commanded by the V.A.C. and two by R.N.R. crews and fishermen skippers.  A few days before this the unit had the honour of lining a special part of the route in the Dockyard along which the King and Queen drove on their way to embark for the visit to Canada.  They were pointed out by the Commander-in-Chief to His Majesty as the latest addition to his fighting forces.  To reach their position, the unit had to march along the Hard, which was already lined by the battalions from Whale Island.

 

In keeping with their general unofficial character, a special uniform was designed for the Company, largely with the help of the Captain's daughter and Mr Alderman of Gieves.  For the officers, this consisted of a yachting type reefer, which could without much difficulty move forward to a monkey jacket or backward to a reefer, black uniform buttons, and shoulder-straps with blue rank stripes and a gold wire monogram, 'V.A.C.'.  With this was worn an ordinary officers' cap and badge.  The men were supplied with a seaman's jersey with white letters 'V.A.C.' on the chest, trousers, boots, cap with Vernon ribbon, and an oilskin.

 

The trawlers attended the Reserve Fleet Review at Weymouth in August and the Commanding Officers were presented to His Majesty.  In the wardroom of the flagship, H.M.S. Effingham, one of the Commanding Officers was mistaken in his V.A.C. uniform for the attaché of a foreign naval power.  This story has been considerably embellished over the years.

 

A few days before mobilisation, the Vernon Auxiliary Company was called up as intended.  They manned their four trawlers and, being at sea before the outbreak of war, fully met all requirements of the directive on which they were raised.  Far more than this, their standard was such that some of their officers were at once taken to assist in the training of other trawlers.  This perhaps repaid the many hours of peacetime leisure sacrificed to training that was strange, arduous and often uncomfortable, especially for the ratings who were for the most part quite unused to the sea and her ways.  The officers and men of the Vernon Auxiliary Company subsequently served in all parts of the world, many of the ratings gained commissions, several lost their lives, including two of the original fourteen officers, and a number of decorations were won.  Indeed, all those who had anything to do with the Vernon Auxiliary Company had good cause to be proud of their work.

 

Between the Munich crisis and the start of the war, the Mining Department had the job of planning the Dover mine barrage, and were later to help with the operation orders and the actual laying.

 

As the days of 1939 lengthened and it became clear to the most confirmed optimists that war was not to be avoided, preparations of all kinds were pressed forward, black-out, fire-fighting, even some plans for the possible dispersal of Trials Departments.  The Long Course at Greenwich were disbanded to become First Lieutenants of destroyers and minesweepers commissioning from Reserve, all except one Australian, whose government said that they had paid for him to do a 'T' course, and do a 'T' course he should.

 

A single-storied building, Marlborough Block, was built on the east side of the parade ground, to provide additional accommodation at a time when a number of M.T.B. ratings were still living in Vernon.  On the north-west side a chief petty officers' recreation room was begun, later to become the church and cinema.  Apart from these two additions, and the altered appearance of No.17 Building after the fire of 1935, Vernon looked much the same as in 1930, when depicted in Lieutenant Sayer's History.  And the Second World War started, which was to bring so many physical changes to the shore establishment and such a profound transformation to the whole Torpedo Branch..."

 

This is the 'wooden minesweepers' memorial at the National Memorial Arboreteum which Ken mentions as incorporating an impression of a BYMS.

 

 

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24 Aug 17 - FDU2 pays respects to Second World War casualty HMS Hermes

 

The Royal Navy website contains this article reporting that members of Fleet Diving Unit 2 (FDU2) have laid a white ensign on the wreck of the Second World War aircraft carrier HMS Hermes.  All photos from the RN website.

 

 

Bereft of any aircfraft, she was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft off Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 9 April 1942 and lies in 60 metres of water. 

 

 

 

    

 

The article features Jim Preston (OIC FDU2) and CPO(D) Ward Peers (2I/C FDU2).  The ten-strong team of RN divers has been conducting joint-training with divers of the Sri Lankan Navy based at Trincomalee and hopes to offer training courses for their Commonwealth colleagues in due course at the Defence Diving School (DDS) on Horsea Island in Portsmouth.

 

 

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23 Aug 17

 

Change of venue for reception following Bob Fraser's funeral

 

The venue for the reception following Bob's funeral service (see entry for 13 Aug 17) has changed from the Marriott Hotel to:

 

The Cams Hall Estate Golf Club

Portchester Road

Farham

PO16 8UP

 

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22 Aug 17

 

Operation OPEN SPIRIT 2017

 

The ships of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) and the Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON) are participating in OPEN SPIRIT 2017 in the Baltic from 18 to 31 August.  This operation, dedicated to clearing historical ordnance in Latvian waters, involves 15 ships and six clearance diving teams from ten countries: Belgium, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and the UK.

 

The Estonian minehunter ENS Sakala (formerly HMS Inverness)

entering the Latvian port of Mērsrags on 21 Aug 2017

 

The Lithuanian minehunter LNS Kuršis (formerly HMS Dulverton)

entering the Latvian port of Mērsrags on 21 Aug 2017

 

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SDU1 deals with hand grenade near Honiton

 

The Midweek Herald website contains this article describing a call-out today, presumably for members of Plymouth-based Southern Diving Unit 1 (SDU1), to deal with a hand grenade dug up in a garden near Honiton in Devon.  The team later detonated the grenade.

 

 

 

 

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21 Aug 17

 

MCDOA AGM, Operational Updates and Annual Dinner

 

I have been notified by Rob Walker, our Honorary Secretary, that this year’s dinner will be held in HMS Excellent’s Wardroom on Friday 24 November 2017.  Paddy McAlpine, our outgoing President, has kindly agreed to be the Guest of Honour which is wholly fitting as this will be his last as our senior serving MCD Officer.

 

Rear Admiral Paddy McAlpine CBE

 

The evening will follow the traditional format commencing with pre-dinner drinks in the bar at 1900 followed by food and refreshments and a hearty sing-song to the musical accompaniment of HMS Nelson's Volunteer Band before retiring to the bar.  N.B. As roving photographer, I request that attendees only stand on their chairs for 'Bubbles' during the singalong as images of rows of 'bums', however interpreted, are not particularly edifying.

 

The dinner is open to MCDOA and affiliated association members and their guests only.  If a non-member wishes to attend the dinner who is eligible to join the Association (serving or retired), then they will be asked to complete the membership process prior to being offered a place at the dinner.  Serving and former serving WO1s (D/MW) are also eligible to attend at the guest rate.  If lack of space becomes a problem (as nearly happened last year), members will be restricted to one or possibly two guests each with others being placed on a reserve list.  We don't want to turn bona fide members away.

 

The cost of the dinner will be £45 for members and £50 for guests.  This will include a four-course meal, wine, and the Association will put a healthy kitty behind the bar if approved as usual at the AGM.  JFD UK has again kindly offered to provide the port for the evening.  Accommodation in HMS EXCELLENT transit block has been reserved.  

 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of LMCDO ’67: Course Officer: Hec Donohue RAN.  Students: David Bartlett, Jack Birkett, Nigel Davies, Peter Fougstedt SAN, Pat Gale, Mike Harwood, Geoff Mullett, Chris Niven RN/RNZN and David Ramsden RN/RAN and LMCDO ’67 MW Conversion: Course Officer: Brian Braidwood. Students: Tag Caisley, Hec Donohue RAN, John Hendrick, Tony Johnson-Newall and Charles 'Chuck' Maginley RCN.

 

1967 Long MCD Course & Mine Warfare Conversion

 

LMCDO '67 Course Photo

 

LMCDO '67 - 'The Final Few'

 

We will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of  LMCDO 92A: Course Officer: Alan Trevarthen. Chief Instructor: Dave Morris. Students: Don Crosbie, Tim Lambie and Tony Watt.LMCDO 92B: Course Officer: Alan Trevarthen. Chief Instructor: Dave Morris. Students: Keith Broughton, Jason Scott and Tim Lewis and LMCDO 92B (MW module): Course Officer: Jim Acton. Chief Instructor: Tony Mulrain. Students: Keith Broughton, Jason Scott, Tim Russell and Clive Smith).

 

LMCDO '92A

 

LMCDO '92B

 

LMCDO '92B MW module

 

Operational update briefs will be held in the Reclaim Conference Room at Fleet Diving Headquarters in the Bridge Building on Horsea Island commencing at 0900.  Lunch will be provided in the HI Officers and Senior Rates Mess from 1200 with the AGM starting at 1315.  Members are encouraged to attend this important serial and make your voices heard to the committee.  

 

Payment for the dinner can be made by cash, cheque or online bank transfer.  Please ensure  you send hard or soft copy application forms.  The closing date for applications will be Friday 10 November or before if all spaces are taken.  If you are due to leave the Royal Navy and deserve being dined out for free, please make Rob Walker aware and discuss your choice of 'gizzit' with him.

 

Download and complete the calling notice and booking form here.  It will also be available on the website's Forthcoming Events page. 

 

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20 Aug 17 - SDU1 detonates grenade in Devon

 

The Mirror website contains this article, including video, reporting Saturday's detonation, presumably by members of Plymouth-based Southern Diving Unit 1 (SDU1), of a hand grenade discovered in a field in the tiny village of Winkleigh in central Devon.

 

(Okehampton Police photo)

 

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16 Aug 17 - Hurworth and SDU2 lead Queen Elizabeth home to Portsmouth

 

I was among the thousands who witnessed the first entry of QNLZ (the future HMS Queen Elizabeth) into Portsmouth today (see entry for 12 Aug 17).  This photo was taken by my son from the beach outside the Hot Walls in Old Portsmouth and merits sharing.

 

(Photo courtesy of Gareth Hoole)

 

QNLZ was too large to capture in one photo as she passed my position on the ramparts between the Square Tower and the Round Tower so this is a composite of two images.

 

 

This event received much media coverage but little or no publicity was given to HMS Hurworth (MCM2 Crew 5) leading her to Outer Spit Buoy at the start of the approach channel. 

 

 

HMS Hurworth with QNLZ at sunrise

 

I am grateful to MCDOA member Bob Hawkins, QNLZ's First Lieutenant, for these images of the leadthrough.

 

  

 

 

I took this long range photo of HMS Hurworth detaching from her task at Outer Spit Buoy.

 

 

Members of Portsmouth-based Southern Diving Unit 2 (SDU2) had the privilege of leading QNLZ in through the gap and up harbour in their RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat).

 

SDU2 RIB approaching Outer Spit Buoy at sunrise

(Photo courtesy of James Danger)

 

SDU2 RIB leading QNLZ into Portsmouth

(Photo courtesy of James Danger)

 

SDU2 RIB leading QNLZ into Portsmouth

(Rob Hoole photo)

 

SDU2 RIB leading QNLZ into Portsmouth

(Photo courtsy of James Danger)

 

SDU2 RIB leading QNLZ into Portsmouth

(Photo courtsy of James Danger)

 

SDU2 RIB leading QNLZ up harbour

(Photo courtesy of Andy Waller & James Danger)

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14 Aug 17 - Former CPO(MW) Garry Burridge becomes a Beefeater

 

Congratulations to Gary Burridge on his installation as a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London.

 

 

Postscript: The ITV News website has since published this article, including video, the Kent Online website this article and the Shoreham Herald website this article covering the same story.

 

 

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13 Aug 17 - Arrangements for the funeral of former CPO(D) Bob Fraser

 

Bob Fraser's son Mark has advised me that his father's funeral will take place at Portchester Crematorium, Upper Cornaway Lane, Portchester PO6 8NE at 1230 on Friday 1 September (see entry for 5 Aug 17).  Anyone who knew Bob will be welcome.

 

Regrettably, I am unable to attend but I would be grateful for a brief account of the service which I can publish on the website.

 

Postscript: The venue for the reception following Bob's funeral service (see entry for 13 Aug 17) has changed from the Marriott Hotel to The Cams Hall Estate Golf Club, Portchester Road, Farham PO16 8UP.

 

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12 Aug 17 - Three mighty warriors

 

I am grateful to MCDOA member Bob Hawkins MBE, First Lieutenant of our new carrier QNLZ (the future HMS Queen Elizabeth), for this photo of himself during his ship's recent encounter with USS George H W Bush and her strike group off the coast of Scotland: 

 

 

Royal Navy website: HMS Queen Elizabeth meets up with US carrier group off Scottish coast

 

 

QNLZ is not actually HMS yet as she is still in civilian hands on contractor's sea trials.  She won't wear the white ensign until she is accepted and commissioned into the Royal Navy.  Ill-informed critics complain about her having no aircraft but she won't receive any of the 138 F-35 jets, in her case STOVL (Short Take-Off Vertical Landing) F-35Bs, being purchased by the UK until she is ready for them.  Her aircraft, some of which are currently being flown by RN and RAF pilots in the USA and at sea, will be the cheaper full rate production versions with the latest hardware and software, not the more expensive LRIP (low rate initial production) aircraft which would only be sitting in a hangar somewhere gathering dust and growing ever more obsolete.  Almost as though it had been planned that way, eh?

 

I am looking forward to witnessing QNLZ's first entry into Portsmouth when weather conditions permit.  Her sister ship, Prince of Wales, should be following in a year or so.

 

Postscript:  QNLZ's first entry into Portsmouth has been confirmed as approximately 0710 on Wednesday 16 August as announced in this article on the Royal Navy website and this article on the Portsmouth News website.  Note the planned road closures.

 

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10 Aug 17 - Penzance and Chiddingfold on their way back from the Gulf

 

 

The Royal Navy website contains this article announcing the return to the UK of HMS Penzance (MCM1 Crew 1) and HMS Chiddingfold (MCM2 Crew 1 commanded by MCDOA member David Louis).

 

HMS Penzance has tweeted these photos of her homeward passage so far:

 

HMS Chiddingfold following HMS Penzance through the Strait of Messina

 

HMS Penzance's XO at the grill

 

     

Hands to bathe from HMS Penzance

 

Both ships have been deployed on Operation KIPION in the Gulf for over three years.  Penzance has been relieved by HMS Blyth (MCM1 Crew 8) and Chiddingfold has been relieved by HMS Ledbury (MCM2 Crew 7) (see second entry for 7 Jul 17).

 

HMS Penzance arriving in the Gulf in August 2014

(RN website photo)

 

HMS Chiddingfold alongside in the Gulf in August 2016

(RN website photo)

 

HMS Penzance and HMS Chiddingfold in Oman early last month

 

HMS Ledbury after her arrival in Bahrain last month

(HMS Ledbury photo)

 

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9 Aug 17 - MCDOA members sail for charity

 

MCDOA member David Hosking and his son Edmund successfully sailed 'Celtic Dawn' from Antigua to the Azores in May 2017 and both were very grateful for the money raised for Combat Stress by their many supporters (see second entry for 9 Mar 17 in News Archive 57).  David will be returning to the Azores on 22 August to prepare 'Celtic Dawn' for the home trip.  With the help of fellow MCDOA member Chris Sherman, who will join David in the Azores on 2nd September -  the two will attempt to bring 'Celtic Dawn' back to her home port of Poole, England.  The two also hope to raise yet more funds for 'Combat Stress' on their return trip home. 

 

David and Chris plan to depart from Praia Da Vitoria Marina [on the Island of Terceira in the Azores] on the morning of Sunday 3 September 2017 [subject to a favourable weather window] and they hope to arrive back in the UK some two weeks later.  Follow their progress towards Poole [UK] by watching the Yellowbrick satellite tracker on this site:

 

https://my.yb.tl/oceanrowingboathallinmarine2/

 

The tracker will go live at the end of August 2017.  

 

To show your support for David and Chris, please consider making a donation to their adopted charity 'Combat Stress' by using this JustGiving link:

 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/CelticDawnAtlantic2017  

 

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8 Aug 17 - SDU1 deals with bomb off west Somerset

 

The BBC News website contains this article, the Somerset Live website this article, the Forces News website this article and the Bristol Post website this article describing this afternoon's disposal by members of Plymouth-based Southern Diving Unit 1 (SDU1) of "a large second world war bomb" in 40 metres of water at Lilstock Range near Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

 

MCDOA member James Oxley (OIC SDU1)

 

 

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7 Aug 17 - Award of LS&GC

 

Congratulations to LS(D) Matt McEwan on being gazetted for the award of the Long Service & Good Conduct medal.

 

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5 Aug 17

 

Death of former CPO(D) Bob Fraser

 

I regret to report the sad news from Vic Humphrey (via Cris Ballinger and Dudley Woolnough) that Bob Fraser passed away in the early hours of this morning.  He had been suffering from cancer for some time and discussed his condition with me at the Association of RN First Class Divers' reunion at the Royal Maritime Club in June when I took this photo of him (see entry for 11 Jun 17 in News Archive 58).

 

Bob Fraser in June this year

 

After leaving the Royal Navy in the mid-1970s, Bob founded the highly successful Singapore-based offshore oil & energy company Fraser Diving International Ltd.  This specialised in supplying portable saturation diving systems until he sold the company about ten years ago.  I am sure that all members of our community will join me in extending our deep condolences to his family.

 

---

From MCDOA member Chris Sherman:

 

"Hi Rob,

 

I was sorry to read about the death of Bob Fraser.  I worked for his company 1993 – 1995 and spoke to him on the phone a few times but never actually met him as I working in Brunei and then Saudi Arabia while he was in Singapore.  He was certainly held in high regard by his employees and his peers in the offshore diving industry.

 

I retired from my job as Chief Inspector of Diving at HSE at the end of 2016 and have been “busily retired” since then.  You may know that since 2005 I have co-owned a Contessa 32 yacht with another ex-MCDO (and ex-HSE diving inspector) Steve Field and this absorbs quite a lot of our time (and pensions!).

 

Best regards,

 

Chris Sherman"

 

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From MCDOA member Jon Riches:

 

"Rob,

 

Oh Dear, Oh Dear,  Another fine man gone.

 

Bob was my second Chief in the Western Fleet Clearance Diving Team having relieved Dutchy Holland.  Both now sadly departed.  Highly professional and a man in whom I had the utmost trust.  

 

He was an outstanding 2i/c who taught me much.  As you know when he left the RN he ran a very successful diving business in the Far East and I lost touch with him.  We re-established contact at Morty Drummond's funeral a couple of years ago [see entry for 21 Mar 13 in News Archive 41].  It was a pleasure to see him again after such a long time and to catch up with what he had been doing.

 

My sincere condolences to his wife and family.

 

In sadness,

 

Jon"

 

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From MCDOA member John O'Driscoll MBE:

 

"Dear Rob,

 

I am saddened to hear the news of Bob Fraser's death recently.

 

I served with Bob in the Western Fleet Clearance Diving Team and thence the Fleet Clearance Diving Team from 1971 to 1973.  Not only was he a consummate first class Chief Petty Officer Diver but also a gentleman and a true friend. 

 

I kept in touch with Bob over the years and saw him late last year when we arranged to meet at a local pub on the Hamble.  He was in poor health at the time but,as was his way, made no complaint about his situation.  We were in contact until the last few months, during which time he arranged a very special welcome for us when Jos and I went to St Lucia during the winter.  His son-in-law controls a number of marinas in the Caribbean and we were given VIP treatment through out our visit.

 

Like many people I owe a great deal to this fine gentleman for his support and loyalty as my Chief Diver and his enlightened company as a friend.  One of the finest men whose comradeship I will always treasure.

 

Yours aye,

 

John O'D"

 

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From MCDOA member Bill 'Chippy' Norton:

 

"Rob,

 

Very sorry to hear of Bob's passing.  I knew he had been ill for some time but not that it was terminal.  Please pass my condolences to the family.

 

Bob and I were in a group of young D2s (Divers Second Class) awaiting the opportunity to get on to the D1 course when 'Standard' diving was declared redundant.  Existing D1s were offered a place on a modified CD1 course.  D2s were offered a place on the next CD3 course.  If they gained 80% marks overall, they were given a place on the next CD2 course.  Alternatively, they could opt to revert to their original sub-specialisation, e.g. Gunnery or TAS.

 

Bob and I, together with 'Blondie' Rees and a few others, took the conversion route.  No allowance was made for the relative age gap between us and the new students but we mostly made it!  Peter Cobby later became Bob's mentor and they picked up on the USN 'Man in the Sea' programme into saturation diving and the Mk1 exchange programme.

 

Although DTU (Deep Trials Unit) had been set up as a civilian function at Alverstoke, the RN's deep diving programme was moribund.  Meanwhile, commercial operations were booming.  Bob and some friends from the U.S.saw an opportunity, commissioned a basic modular sat system from a company in mid-U.K. and set up business, initially in the Middle East but later in south-east Asia based in Singapore.  The subsea manager of the largest offshore engineering group was also an ex-Steamer.  Vic Humphrey later had a position as safety officer in another contracting company so, when I visited the area wearing my Shell 'hat', it was quite homely. 

 

I remember that Bob had a super banyan boat called RECLAIM which he intended to bring back to the UK.  I lost touch with him when I moved to Norway but last spoke to him at Christmas.

 

Vic Humphrey can probably add more but by any measure, Bob made a great success in both his careers,and cracked the 'Steamer / Corkhead' rivalry myth!   May he rest well with a glass of good malt.

 

Yours aye,

 

Bill"

 

---

From Cris Ballinger BEM:

 

"Hi Rob,

 

Bob spent a good deal of time with the Experimental Deep Trials Unit just before I first met him in, I think, 1968.  He then joined HMS Reclaim as the Chief where I first met him.  His deep diving knowledge was unbelievable, and even before we had heard of Saturation Diving, he was aware of it and was teaching us.  Under his guidance we pushed the Reclaim far further than she was capable of.  We spent almost three years on her when he left to take over the WFCDT, later FCDT.  He then went to America, and like all his jobs, he turned it all around and practically rebuilt the DDS Mk1, making Vic Humphrey's job and then mine much easier, but he was a very hard act to follow. 

 

I do have much in my career for which to thank Bob.

 

Cris"

 

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MWA Southern Area Dit Session

 

A small but convivial band of Minewarfare Association (MWA) members celebrated well over 40 years of friendship last night at a monthly Southern Area 'Dit Session' at the Royal Maritime Club in Portsmouth.  MCDOA co-members included David Sandiford, George Turnbull, Bill Kerr and your humble Vice Chairman & Webmaster.

 

Left to right: David Sandiford, George Turnbull, Peter 'Taff' Reader, Sandy (friend of Bill Kerr),

Bill Kerr, Dixie Dean and Rob Hoole

 

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4 Aug 17 - HDS at Horsea Island's families day

 

Members of the Historical Diving Society's Working Equipment Group set up shop outside the Fleet Diving Squadron's headquarters at Horsea Island's families day yesterday.

 

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

Congratulations to LS(D) Luke Halbauer of the Fleet Diving Squadron (FDS) and Ty Burton and John Smillie of the HDS Working Equipment Group for making the day such a success.  No fewer than 16 HDS members turned up on a very windy day.  Thankfully the rain stayed away.  Amazingly, Ty managed to dip a dozen divers, mainly RN, despite explosions going off all around them.  Members also brought a good collection of helmets, regulators, torches etc., so they managed to put on a respectable display. Thanks also to Una Smillie for an inexhaustible supply of sandwiches and crisps.

 

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3 Aug 17 - Funeral of Lt John Ernest Hendrick RN

 

There was a full house for John Hendrick's funeral today at The Oaks Crematorium near Havant (see entry for 30 Jul 17).

 

MCDOA members present included Bob Lusty, David Hilton MBE, Bill 'Chippy' Norton and his wife Gunhild. Jon Riches and Yours Truly (Rob Hoole) while the Association of Royal Navy First Class Divers (AORNFCD) was represented by Mick Fellows MBE DSC BEM, Chris Jones BEM, Colin Kidman QGM, Gerry 'Pincher' Martin, Ray Ramsay, Brian 'Troy' Tempest and Jim 'Tommo' Thomson.

 

Left to right: John Dadd, David Hilton, Brian 'Troy' Tempest, Jim 'Tommo' Thomson, Bob Lusty,

Jon Riches, Mick Fellows, Colin Kidman, Gerry 'Pincher' Martin and Ray Ramsay

 

 

Mourners entered the chapel to the sound of the Beach Boys singing God Only Knows and the Carpenters singing Close To You.  John's casket, lying on the catafalque, was draped in a white ensign with his sword and medals on top.  The Revd Colin Noyce OCM RN, who also happens to be the chaplain to the Ton Class Association (TCA), then welcomed everyone to the service and said Prayers of Penitence before the congregation sang Abide With Me.  Colin then read from the Gospel of John Chapter 14 verses 1 to 6 (In My Father's house are many mansions) before delivering these reflections on John's life:

 

"I am grateful to Freda and the family and John's brother Bill for some insights into his life.

 

John was born in Croydon in March 1935 but at the age of four, when war broke out, he and his brother Bill were evacuated to Ottershaw in Surrey. This was not a happy time for them and John actually ran away.  He was sought by the authorities and when found, was severely thrashed by the husband of the person where they were billeted.  Had it been today there may well have been a prosecution for cruelty.

 

With the war over and a return to their home, John passed his 11+ and went to Whitgift School in South Croydon.  They had a cadet force which John joined and Bill tells me that he took the mickey because the uniform was like something from the First World War.  However, John must have liked wearing uniform as he decided to join the Royal Navy at HMS Ganges in 1950.  After the uncomfortable years of evacuation, Bill thinks it must have been like going from the frying pan into the fire because many of the senior rates seemed like qualified sadists.  (Apologies to any Ganges instructors among us today.  These were Bill's words, not mine.  I was a St Vincent boy!)

 

However, John survived his training and joined the Fleet as a seaman and went to serve in Korea.  He later became a clearance diver and that was to be his life from then on.  I'm told that he actually dived with the infamous Cdr Buster Crabb.  John's specialisation was in bomb disposal, a branch that is still very much in demand.  Apparently, he also had his own vehicle with a flashing blue light.

 

Whilst serving in Malta in 1960, John met Freda who was serving there as a Wren.  They fell in love and came to the UK the next year to be married before returning to Malta to finish their time there.  Jon, their first son, was born in November 1961, just six weeks before they left.  After some leave, John joined HMS Vernon and Caroline was born in Gosport in 1963.  John was commissioned as a Special Duties officer in 1965 and Scott was born in Portsmouth in 1968.  In 1969 Freda, Jon, Caroline and Scott joined John on a married accompanied appointment in Hong Kong.  Phil, their youngest, was born in 1972 after their return to the UK.

 

John retired from the Royal Navy in 1975 and took a job in Fort William as an underwater operations manager on the oil rigs.  After five years of commuting, the family joined John and lived in Aberdeen for the next 15 years.  It was there that they acquired two puppies; a retriever and a labrador and John adored them both.  When John retired, the family returned to Alverstoke and John was still involved in his love of diving.  He was a keen swimmer golfer and loved to walk the dogs along the beach, often accompanied by a grandchild.  They moved once more to their present home in Drayton.

 

Freda tells me that after so much time away, John became a real homebird in his retirement and just enjoyed the company of his family.

 

Sadly in 2010 whilst attending a Historical Diving Society dinner, John suffered a stroke [See entry for 17 Nov 10 in News Archive 32].  This seems to have started his decline into dementia and by 2013 he went to reside in Russell Churcher Court, Gosport where he was cared for very well.  The sad thing about dementia is that we begin to lose our loved ones before they leave our physical presence.  However, as with death itself, there are always memories to draw upon and good times for which to be thankful.  The wonderful thing for those baptised as Christians is that we have God's promise of eternal life.  So even though we are parted from our loved ones for a while by death, we knoiw that we will be re-united with them and with all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  Until then, John, rest in peace."

 

 After Hannah paid homage to her grandfather with some of her memories, her mother Liz read this poem she had composed for the occasion:

 

Listen......

Peace has come at last to John,

The fight was hard, the fight was long,

The questions we have are always there

We hope we did what was right and fair.

 

Listen......

You can hear and see this disease that steals,

Not knowing each day what someone thinks and feels,

Snatching moments here and there,

Trying to give the best of care.

 

Listen.....

With our eyes, we delved into those greyish blues,

That widened at times, we thought he knew

The hand that grabbed and wouldn't let go,

As if to say, "I'm still in here you know!"

 

Listen.....

Hear me now I think he'd say,

My body's gone but I'm not far away,

Feel me on the wings of the breeze,

Hear me most on the sounds of the sea

Just listen.....

 

Colin Noyce then led the congregation in prayers before we sang the Naval Hymn, Eternal Father.  This was followed by the Commendation & Farewell, Committal aand a bugle playing of The Last Post and Reveille.  We departed the chapel to the sound of Katherine Jenkins singing Time To Say Goodbye.

 

Several of us mustered afterwards in the Old Customs House pub at Gunwharf Quays (formerly the Captain's offices in HMS Vernon) to swap dits and raise a glass in memory of John.  It was a humbling but joyous occasion and I managed to capture this group with John's son Jon, a former Lt Cdr (S) submariner.

 

Left to right: Chris Jones, Bob Lusty, Jon Hendrick, Jim 'Tommo' Thomson, David Hilton,

John Dadd and Yours Truly (Rob Hoole) with Bill 'Chippy' Norton sitting front and centre

 

Donations, if desired, very gratefully received for the Vernon Monument Project, Royal British Legion or Alzheimer's Society via Ruby Funerals Ltd or:

 

www.funeralzone.co.uk/33086

 

Lt John Ernest Hendrick RN

(3 March 1935 - 9 July 2017)

 

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2 Aug 17 - Sub Lt Graham Maurice Wright GM and AB William Henry Bevan GM*

 

I received this query today:

 

"Dear Webmaster,

 

I am producing a TV documentary for ITV about the London Palladium.  In the course of my research I have discovered that two RN "Land Incident" clearance experts defused a parachute mine in 1941 that had landed over the stage of the Palladium.  Without their efforts there would possibly be no Palladium today.

 

The two men involved were Sub-Lieutenant Graham Wright and Able Seaman William Bevan.  Both were awarded the George Medal.  Sadly Sub-Lieutenant Graham Wright was lost not too long after the incident, torpedoed whilst on a troop ship SS Aguila.  

 

My question is whether it might be possible to find out more about these servicemen, ideally finding a photo of them?   Or finding who may have served with them?  I have tracked down Mrs Wright as being Mrs Margaret Rhona Wright of Swansea but I fear she may be no longer with us.  

 

Any help or pointers you can offer will be gratefully accepted.

 

Thanks so much.

 

Jamie Wiggins"

 

I responded to Jamie's email thus::

 

"Hello Jamie,

 

Thank you for your email.  Beyond this information already published on the MCDOA website, I regret I have little more to offer about Sub Lt Graham Maurice Wright GM RNVR and AB William Henry Bevan GM* than the attached scan from p.39 of my belated friend Noel Cashford’s book All Theirs!. 

 

WRIGHT Graham Maurice	Sub Lt RNVR	HMS Vernon	9 Jun 42	GM	RMS - GM awarded for gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty. Dealt with GC mine suspended over stage of London Palladium Theatre 11 May 41 by climbing a ladder.  The fuze started ticking during removal but the mine failed to explode. Reported missing presumed killed on 19 Aug 1941 while en route to Gibraltar on board the torpedoed troopship SS Aguila.
BEVAN William Henry P/SSX12136	AB AB	HMS Vernon HMS Vernon	27 Jun 41 9 Jun 42	GM Bar to GM	BD and RMS - GM awarded for gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty. Mine Disposal Manchester Dec 40. Bar to GM awarded for gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty.  Assisted Sub Lt Wright deal with mine suspended over stage of London Palladium Theatre 11 May 41.

 

 

However, I am blind copying this to some other people who may be able to help.

 

Best wishes,

 

Rob Hoole"

 

Does anyone have anything to add?

 

---

From Hans Houtermain:

 

"Wright has been added at:

 

www.unithistories.com/officers/RNVR_officersW3.html#Wright_GM2

 

As for Bevan you can find some details here:

 

www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/past-catalogues/lot.php?auction_id=51&lot_id=88625  

 

Regards,

 

Hans Houterman

www.unithistories.com"

 

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From WWII re-enactor Tony Boyle:

 

"Dear Rob,

 

Thanks for the information about Wright and Bevan.   Yes as you say very sad.  The whole story of the sinking of the SS Aguilla is tragic.  The first draft of wrens were on board en-route to Singapore.  After this they were allowed on RN ships which sailed faster with less risk of being torpedoed.  

 

I’m currently trying to find out more about Lt James Kessack RANVR who died defusing a parachute mine in Southport on 28 April 1941.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony"

 

---

From Jamie Wiggins:

 

"Rob,

 

Thank you so much for this.  I love the drawing in the book.  It's just how I imagined it.  Fascinating, and a little sad maybe, to see in the reply from Hans that Bevan's GM was auctioned for £22,000. 

 

They must have told their story to someone because the account in your friend's book and from other sources vary a little but are generally quiet detailed and follow the same lines.  I shall endeavour a little further.

 

Thanks again,

 

Jamie"

 

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1 Aug 17 - Artefacts dredged up from Portsmouth harbour

 

The Forces TV website contains this article, the Portsmouth News website this article and the Royal Navy website this article describing artefacts that have been recovered during dredging operations to prepare Portsmouth harbour for the arrival of the new aircraft carriers QUEEN ELIZABETH and PRINCE of WALES.  More than 20,000 items, ranging from shoes to sea mines, have been found, many dating back several centuries.  The wealth of artefacts uncovered include eight cannon, an aircraft engine, 36 anchors and a human skull, which was passed to the local police.  There was an arsenal of old ordnance, ranging from bullets and cannonballs to a British torpedo.  A German sea mine and five large bombs were found, before being made safe by the Royal Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

 

A video interview incorporated in the first two articles features MCDOA member Del McKnight, CO of the Fleet Diving Squadron (FDS).

 

 

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