London Branch October 2012

Written by London Branch | Posted on 18th October 2012

Hello once again. Those who receive the minutes of the September meeting will see that changes are under way in response to the inevitable slimming down in the number of members who, on a regular basis are able to attend the Belfast meetings. The introduction of a few snacks after the last meeting helped to develop a more informal atmosphere, and it was one in which nobody seemed to be in any hurry to leave. Not entirely unrelated, problems manifest themselves over Branch Committee meetings. These are held at 10.00am, one hour before the main Branch meetings. Full attendance at these is now virtually a thing of the past, due to ill health, transport problems etc. on the part of participants, leading to the necessity for further communication by other means with those who were absent. The Branch Secretary has proposed to the Branch Committee that the committee meeting be absorbed into the Branch meeting, giving the chance for all to participate in any discussions, that under the old regime, would have been the province of the committee only. This makes sense, since there are not too many people left who are not on the committee! The ones that are, are all for it. In addition, and arguably, it can be said that we have reached a deciding point over the number of people who want to sit listening to formal 'reports' followed by more 'reports', etc., etc. when there is really nothing much to report and the participants themselves have to rack their brains to think of something to say and the meeting soon ends and everybody goes home. If there is the opportunity for members to have a say and raise matters of concern or interest, and can chat in an informal way and straight rows of seats become circles with refreshments on hand and if they stay longer, it is far more likely that the meeting will have a satisfactory conclusion. It is proposed that this should be our aim. Minutes can be incorporated within the newsletter — as indeed, in some cases they are now — and this will do away with another piece of paper. There must be a lot more we can do, and suggestions (not rude ones, of course) are invited. The next meeting will be as normal, but discussion on the above will be welcomed before any changes are made. Readers of the Branch minutes will know that Ted Else is on the look out for a suitable projector for use in conjunction with Branch meetings. He now has one, and will possibly be able to use it at the next meeting. Sec.

Syd Clifford

Following the death of Syd, Jim Barnes sent in some words of appreciation and memories of him. Unfortunately these arrived just too late for publication in the August newsletter and they now appear in this current issue.

Words from the heart?

He writes :–

Syd Clifford was a great friend of mine, he did quite a bit for Coastal Forces. We travelled to Fort William together a few times. We regularly went to the annual functions at the holiday camp. He was an enthusiast for Coastal Forces. We also travelled to Germany together quite a few times. We met many Germans, and made friends with quite a few. He lost his wife in the early years. He moved from London (Harrow) to Hastings before moving to Lake on the Isle of Wight. It is sad to lose a good friend. But he is better off than suffering the way he was doing in his last few weeks.

Jim Barnes

4th Schnellboot Flotilla Plaque

Brian Hetherington, one of our Associate members became concerned, after the death of Syd Clifford, about a plaque that he had passed to Syd some years ago, for safe keeping. He contacted our Branch Secretary and enquiries were made with the family on the Isle of Wight, and also an old shipmate of Syds, living in the same town. The plaque was found and was forwarded to our Secretary for onward transmission to Brian. It was of some interest and quite attractive in its colour and design. A swastika, surmounted by the outspread wings of a German eagle dominated the upper part of the plaque, an E boat took centre stage, with a surround of gold leaf. On receipt of the plaque, the Branch Secretary, interested in how Brian came to be involved, queried this with him and found out that he used to take CFVA members, including London Branch members, over to Germany to visit the Schnellboot counterpart of the CFVA. Several visits took place and on one of these, in 1993, the plaque was presented to the visitors. Brian still had a list of names covering those who attended. To those members whose memories of the London Branch go back twenty years and beyond, the names will undoubtedly ring far distant bells. How about — Joyce and Derek Crane, Jim and Pam Kellman, Sheila Bywater Eric Taylor and Syd Clifford. They are the ones no longer with us. Those that are — Jim Barnes, Ken and Doreen Gadsdon, Charlie Smorthit, and John Williamson, will remember them well. In addition, Alfred Solomon (South London member) Harry Brown with Cedric and Maisie Canon (National members) attended. The future of the plaque was decided following a discussion between Brian and the Branch Secretary, when it was considered that arrangements should be made to offer it to the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust in Portsmouth. This was done and a thank you letter was received from Commander Head, acknowledging safe receipt and stating that it would be retained, pro tem, in the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust offices for safe keeping, until it could be displayed.

2012 Remembrance Service

Early enquiries have been made regarding the Remembrance Service this year, to avoid a repetition of the disruption associated with ticket allocation experienced last November. We understand that the London Branch allocation is very close to that which we had last year. It was sufficient then to accommodate the members that wished to attend plus carers where applicable, so that providing numbers are roughly the same, no problems should be encountered for the Belfast service. Those who wish to attend please contact Vera Mitchell (if she has not already spoken to you) and give names etc. before October 20th. Vera has again very kindly offered to draw up the list that is required to cover their presence on the ship. Her phone number can be found on the Branch members list.

MGB 718 Project

Members will recall that Peter Webster of the Federation of Naval Associations recently gave a talk at one of our meetings outlining plans that would result in the build of a brand new 'D' Boat, based on the design and construction of the original MGB 718 that was completed in Scotland in March 1944. The boat, once completed, would be available for training and other commercial activities and would be the forerunner of a Memorial Naval Squadron. Peter gives an update on progress so far :– In the first year since we started the project, much has been done on the side of organising and gathering a team around us. With Guy Hamilton now confirmed as our Patron and Tony Byrd (S/Lt 1944) MGB 718 acting as our coordinator with Guy, we are now starting the difficult business of raising the £1.8 million we need as our portion of the £5 million required to build and operate the boat for the first two years, we have no doubts about the difficulties this brings in regard to our personal lives, in these times of austerity it will not be easy. So far we have two quotes to build the boat to its original Fairmile design but thanks to John Lambert for his generous donation of the plans, both quotes are of about the same value and give the option of Traditional Build, but triple diagonal or Modern Cold Moulding, but both to original design and specification. Wyn Davis Bsc Msc C Eng MRINA, RCNC, has agreed to supervise the build of the boat and will have any alterations made to the plans which are necessary to comply with Solas 10 regulations. Wyn is very involved with Historic Ships and is amply qualified to carry out this task. A business plan is slowly coming together, to take in all aspects of the build and operation of the boat, we expect to have this ready by early next year to present to the EU Funding Council, which hopefully will give us 75% of the total costs for the initial two year period. We envisage having two Euro partners building replica wooden vessels, from their own countries history. General information :–

MGB 718 Project
Build	Location	Construction Type	Engines	Cost
1	Plymouth	Cold Moulding	4 x 1250 HP MAN (Turbo Charged Diesels) x .444 Reduction	£2.8 million including engines
2	Totnes	Traditional (but Triple Diagonal for strength). Copper Mailed etc. (3 tons of Copper Mail)	4 x 1250 HP MAN (Turbo Charged Diesels) x .444 Reduction	£2.3 million excluding engines
Both quotes are practically the same amount — weapons not supplied

Any help from anyone who is interested, money most welcome. Cheques to FNA (Federation of Naval Associations, Project MGB 718). Peter Webster MMN FPB500l (1954) S/Lt. (FNA is a registered Charity No. 1068708).

Fifty years with the SCC

At a meeting of the SCC held early this month on HMS President, CFVA London Branch Associate member Alan Phillips, together with four others, were each presented with an award in recognition of fifty years service with the Sea Cadet Corps. This took the form of a silver Captain's Medal, and at a ceremony attended by, amongst others, Admiral West, the presentations were made by Captain Mark Windsor, Bsc MA RN at the Annual Court of the Marine Society and Sea Cadets. Our congratulations are extended to Alan.

And how are they doing?

The short answer seems to be — Not Very Well. Dennis Reeve answered by saying that Sybil had been taken into hospital following a collapse at home and he was visiting and awaiting the outcome of an assessment being carried out by the hospital. Pat MacAngus said that Bill now has a carer attending each morning, but it is easy to see, from what she says, that the problems extend far beyond the mornings. Better news though, from Edna Randall who said that she and Wallis had settled in at Witham, Essex, with their daughter now close at hand. Edna said that about a fortnight after moving, Wallis had a mishap that resulted in several days in hospital — an experience that was very upsetting to him. He is safely home now. Edna asked that they be remembered to all old friends in the Branch. Doug Elliott with Annette are now confined basically to the house, with there own respective problems. It is fairly certain that the above is not a complete list of those with troubles — only those we know about. There must be many more that we don't. It is worse when the enemy cannot be seen. We call it age.