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Navy News OCTOBER 1993
40p
Old timers on fop form • Left: World War II submariner Gus Britton's latest stunt in aid of the Submarine Memorial Fund was to free fall from 10,500 ft over Headcorn airfield, Maidstone, in company with tandem master Clem Quinn. Five years ago Gus (70), long-time archivist at the RN Submarine Museum, Gosport, swam to the Isle of Wight and back to raise £7,000. Now he is hoping to raise £1 a foot from his "free ascent in reverse." Donations made out to SOCA (Parachute Fund) will reach him at the museum, HMS Dolphin, Gosport, Hants.
% Right: Gus is just a youngster next to Jutland veteran Bert Pester — who at 99 was still the smartest man on parade when he came to watch his great-grandson Christian Chalker's Passing Out at HMS Raleigh. Bert, who was the Wardroom wine steward in the battleship HMS Centurion during the 1916 battle, has four children, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Christian is currently at RNH Haslar for his Part II training as a Medical Assistant.
With the retirement of Commandant Anne Spencer as the last Director WRNS, speculation mounted last month that the Women's Royal Naval Service was about to be disbanded. Approval has yet to be given by The Queen, as Lord High Admiral — and by the Queen Mother, as WRNS Cqmmandant-in-Chief and the Princess Royal, as Chief Comandant — but with full integration the Service seems likely soon to pass into history, as did the Women's Royal Army Corps last year. The WRNS was formed in 1917 in the bleakest year of World War I to relieve more men for sea duty. In 1919 no further requirement was perceived and it was disbanded — until the need was once again imperative in 1939. By the end of 1945 there were some 74,600 Wrens employed in a wide range of duties — some were even trained as ship's pilots in the aftermath of D-Day. A n u m b e r had lost their lives at sea — most notoriously the 22 cypher officers and telegraphists who died when the SS Aguila was torpedoed on her way to Gibraltar. A small post-war WRNS of around 3,000 was retained and slowly, over the years, they became more and more integrated with the Royal Navy. They came under the Naval Discipline Act in 1977, began serving in warships in 1990 Wrens were embarked in HMS Brilliant during the Gulf War — and discarded their old blue •braided badges in favour of the men's gold and red in 1992. There was further speculation, too, that women may one day serve in submarines. Commandant Spencer, for one, was "not personally in favour of the
idea." It is understood that the WRNS will live on in the RN women's t i t l e s — L e a d i n g Wrens and PO Wrens will sound an echo of a proud tradition into the next century while the Association of Wrens and
the WRNS Benevolent Trust will likewise continue, together with such popular annual fixtures as the Christmas concert at the WRNS Church, St Maryle-Strand. • Interview — pages 20-21 % Newsview — page 18
Cumberland closes the gap West Indies Guard Ship HMS Cumberland, seen here at St Lucia, last month helped the local Coast Guard arrest three suspected drug traffickers. She launched her Sea King helicopter to close in on a fleeing speedboat, stopping it in the water until it could be boarded by the St Lucia authorities. The Type 22 frigate was due to arrive home in Devonport this month a f t e r handing o v e r WIGS duties to HMS Active at Bermuda.