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London Branch August 2010


Written by London Branch | Posted on 30th August 2010


Secretary's Report

Greetings to all. The July Branch meeting saw a change in venue aboard the Belfast. Due to the locker on the upper deck being so full that we could not reach sound equipment and tea making things without a lot of humping, and in view of the fact that attendance was below normal, Allan Phillips suggested that we adjourn to his retreat where he would make a few cups of tea, we could have the meeting and we would be ready there on site for slightly stronger refreshment at the close.

The outcome was a quite successful…Charlie Smorthit took the Chair and being on good form was soon digressing away from the agenda. The Secretary drew Charlie's attention to the fact that he was digressing and Charlie appealed to the audience to witness that the Secretary was 'getting at him'. It was all good stuff. We did in the end, manage to get through enough normal business to allow for the minutes to be compiled, without too much trouble, on another day.

Our thanks to Allan for the accommodation and to Charlie for providing the lighter touch.

Whilst the reasons for a lower than usual attendance were probably due to a combination of several factors coming together at one point in time, we must accept that increasingly low attendances will be the order of the day, not necessarily at the moment, but certainly in the future. There are more members now who dearly wish that they were able to attend but simply cannot, due to illness, infirmity or distance, to name only three possible reasons from a wide range of causes.

But for those who can come to the meetings - keep coming. The London Branch is still strong. Let's keep it that way.

Gary Payne MBE

It was pleasing to give members details of the award of an MBE. in the Queens Honours List to Gary Payne of the City of London Sea Cadets. Gary has carried out a great deal of work behind the scenes in connection with our Socials over a long period of time. His award was given in recognition of his work to raise thousands of pounds for charity, also for the City of London Sea Cadets, by taking part in no less than eleven London marathons. We extend our congratulations to Gary on this very happy occasion.

Donald Campbell

With sadness we received news that Donald Campbell had died. Don had been a member of the London Branch for many, many years and had, at one time, taken the role of Branch Secretary. His latter years had been spent in a residential nursing home. Older members will almost certainly remember Don arranging a very successful conducted tour in a section of Ford's factory at Dagenham where he spent a good deal of his working life. Branch members were present at a Cremation Service held on the third of this month. Our sympathy goes out to Don's wife, Iris.

HMS Wasp Plaque Unveiling

At Dover, on Saturday the l0th.of July, the Unveiling and Blessing of a Plaque commemorating HMS Wasp and the Royal Naval Coastal Forces based at Dover during World War 2, took place and was carried out in the presence of Admiral Lord Boyce, GCB OBE DL Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports, Constable of Dover Castle. It was, by all reports, an impressive ceremony, and was part of the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust's plan to establish commemorative plaques on or near the major C.F. bases of WW2.

Amongst the CFVA. members present was London member Bernie Coot. Bernie has said that he would be quite happy to give a little chat at the next Branch meeting on how things went. We look forward to that.

ED

Members in our thoughts

Ted Else is currently on a daily visit to a specialist hospital for treatment spanning a period of many weeks. The hospital is in excess of 20 miles from his home. The daily driving there and back is bad enough - the treatment is worse. Dennis Reeve and Sybil? Much the same. Dennis said that they now have an invalid carriage which either can drive when necessary, and it enables them to get to a local shop without having to arrange for things to be dropped off. Ken Gadsdon, due to enter hospital shortly for treatment to injuries from WW2, suffered a setback when the operation was cancelled at short notice. He now awaits a decision on the next move.Pam Phillips is pleased to say that she is recovering very well after her back operation, but is on strict orders to take things quietly for several months. Bill MacAngus is still suffering. Colin Morris is currently trying to manage his own urgent medical problems with the equally urgent problems affecting his wife.

Sometimes, when things are making you feel a bit low, the receipt of a card or a phoned enquiry can make a world of difference. Is there anyone who would be pleased to hear from you?

Web Site Update

Work on the new version of the web site continues, though the proposed summer launch has had to be postponed till later this year, in order to allow more time for its completion. In an interesting development, we have opened negotiations with the Imperial War Museum (IWM), with a view to obtaining the use of photographs held in their archives, and have managed to secure a waiver from them for the substantial licensing fees that would ordinarily apply. We are now in the process of sourcing prints, prior to applying to the IWM to formally license their use for the web site. The web site forum continues to receive requests from readers for information on Coastal Forces personnel and boats, whilst responses are also made to enquiries on other web site forums to persons requesting help with the service records of relatives with an obvious Coastal Forces link. This also provides us with the opportunity to inform others of the Coastal Forces Veterans site.

Annual National Service for Seafarers

The Service this year will be on the 13th. October in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Our Vice Chairman will be applying for tickets. Those wishing to attend please contact Wallis as soon as convenient.

Relative values.

Nick Carter sent in a cutting from a daily newspaper. It will undoubtedly bring back memories for those whose time in the Navy took them to Malta, either before or after the devastating siege that the island suffered in WW2 when any semblance of normal life was put on hold. The newspaper cutting read as follows:

Question: As a young sailor in 1945, I visited The Gut in Malta (Peterborough). I’ve visited Valetta twice since then but haven’t been able to find The Gut. Is it still there?

Further to earlier answers, in July 1958, aged eighteen, I was posted to RAF Steamer Point, Aden, but because of trouble in the Middle East, our troopship HMT Nevasa was diverted to Malta.

While there, with two others, I paid a visit to The Gut, along a cobbled street, all uphill, with bars on each side. We were invited by a quite attractive fourty-something hostess into a bar, to partake of a cool drink.

Each of us was invited by the hostess to enjoy a certain service she offered in a side-room, and I, being more adventurous than the others, accepted.

I rejoined my mates after about twenty minutes having paid the sum of two and sixpence (12½p)—blushing furiously but very much the wiser.

The replies that followed would undoubtedly have assured the questioner that The Gut—or at any rate the area covered by the Gut—does still exist under its official name of Straight Street. But gone are the bars and no longer do the girls call out their invitations from the windows above. Devoid of traffic because of the cobblestones and steps, the street has an air almost of abandonment with no sign of habitation.

Straight Street runs parallel to Republic Street, a main street in Valetta. I and an old shipmate were strolling down this street when we came across, unexpectedly, a branch of Marks & Spencer. One of the things not packed for the journey to Malta happened to be some brown socks. We went in to buy some. Inside it felt as though we were in our own UK store. Being unable to locate the socks we asked an assistant—very helpfully the girl directed us to go one floor up and then "cross the bridge over Straight Street" and we would find the hosiery department. Mention of Straight Street demanded our instant attention. The bridge turned out to be a tastefully constructed corridor with glass panels giving unobstructed views- up and down Straight Street. The socks were of excellent quality and the price in euros was around £6.50p for a pack. We marvelled at the fact that there was now a bridge over the street and wondered how many ladies 'side rooms' were demolished when M&S took possession.

It was after this, when Nick had came up with his newspaper cutting, that we thought about the relative values of the two transactions. Which was the best deal, the 12.5p transaction of long ago or the £6.50 transaction of today? It would be fair to say that the 12.5p one would have been prone to a certain amount of inherent risk, whereas the M&S one would not—and in addition Marks offered a full refund if not completely satisfied.

It is pretty certain that the lady generously providing the service mentioned would not have included that particular clause in her deal. So one up for Marks!

We pondered about the position today, that most of us are in our mid eighties and beyond, and all are aware that Mother Nature has been gently lifting her foot off the accelerator for some time now. With this in mind, gentlemen, we decided to face the facts—we are no longer 20 and must view things in a different light. So, after due consideration, and with a decision tinged with regret, we have come down in favour of the socks!

Isn’t it amazing how time changes things!

E.D.