The Moorings, Issue #74

THE MOORINGS ISSUE 74

FEBRUARY 2019

Core Values: Unity, Loyalty, Patriotism & Comradeship - Once Navy, always Navy

No.5 Area AGM

Leading from the front, Committee Members looking after all things East Anglia related; Shipmates Graham Dunnill-Gosling (Welfare), Paulette Rose (Secretary), Tim Jarvis (Chairman) & June Ray (Treasurer).

Incorporated by Royal Charter

Patron: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION RAYLEIGH BRANCH (No.5 Area)

BRANCH CONTACTS RNArayleigh@outlook.com President:

Bob Hill

01268 780449

Chairman:

Jim Hammond

01268 414616

Vice Chairman:

Terry Barker

01268 456165

Hon. Secretary:

Gary Daisley

01268 555570

Hon. Treasurer:

Joan Crick

01268 741303

Membership Secretary:

Bill Vernon

01268 772775

Standard Bearer:

Dave Bishop

01268 770521

Welfare Officer:

Dave Mead

01702 307922

Social Secretary:

Mike Sandbrook

01702 801103

Padre:

Rev. David Oxtoby

01268 971814

BRANCH INFORMATION email: RNArayleigh@outlook.com tweet: @RNArayleigh

Meeting Venue: Royal British Legion 2 London Hill, Rayleigh SS6 7HP Tel: 01268 776503 Meeting Dates: Fortnightly (see back cover).

Registered Charity: Registration Number 1069148 2

No.5 Area AGM: 2 February 2019

Twelve delegates representing the RNA branches of East Anglia (Essex, Suffolk & Norfolk) braved the chilly journey to Harwich for the No.5 Area AGM & first quarterly meeting of 2019.

Re-elected to remain in post for the next two years was Rayleigh’s very own S/M Graham Dunnill-Gosling as Welfare Advisor and Harlow’s S/M June Ray as Treasurer. Newly elected to the committee is Stowmarket’s S/M Pete Chivers as Vice Chairman.

Congratulations to Nigel from Stowmarket Branch for winning the John Newsome Trophy for his work in helping to establish Stowmarket as a recently formed new branch.

Pictured below is Rayleigh’s S/M Terry Barker as Branch Delegate, taking notes and keeping abreast of the proceedings.

3

New Year, New Broom.

At the time of going to press, we have not yet received the February issue of the Semaphore Circular. We can only hope that S/M Bill Oliphant, the new General Secretary, is now fully briefed and ready to get things moving.

Shipmate of the Year Award: As is tradition, the award winner is to be announced at the Rayleigh Branch AGM in February. The winner will receive the announcement together with the engraved Tom Loosely Memorial Shield (which they will hold for a year) and a personalised medallion which can be worn at any RNA meeting or event.

The Shipmate of the Year trophy is awarded annually by the Branch Chairman to the shipmate who is deemed to have made the greatest personal contribution to the Branch. Recent winners include Audrey Blomfield, Bob Hill, Margaret Day, Len Hobbs, Dave Bishop, Jack Harrison, Terry Barker, Bill Vernon, Cherry Ablitt, Jim Hammond, Lily Irons, Iain Hendry & Gary Daisley. (right) S/M Gary Daisley receiving the Shipmate of the Year Award in 2018.

4

Bluebell Steam Railway visit: Tuesday 11 April 2019

Our first visit of 2019 will be to the Bluebell Steam Railway in Uckfield on Tuesday 11 April 2019. It is intended to arrive at Sheffield Park Station, Uckfield at 10:00 where Social Secretary S/M Mike Sandbrook will obtain our return rail tickets to East Grinstead Station, while the rest of the group have a cup of tea or coffee.

Our first steam train journey is at 10:45 and takes approximately 45 minutes to reach East Grinstead Station. Once there we move to our return platform for our 11:45 steam train to take us back to Sheffield Park Station arriving approximately 12:35. We will then have lunch at the Bessemer Public House which is a part of Sheffield Park Station and steam era experience.

On completion of lunch we will be viewing the train sheds and museum. It is intended that we leave for our coach journey home at 15:30.

The first pick up will be 08:00 at Rayleigh Weir, 08:10 at the Royal British Legion and then if required Trafford House (Basildon) at 08:30.

S/M Mike Sandbrook (Social Secretary)

5

Great British Warships: Channel 5 Visiting the ships as they stand today, Rob Bell reveals how and why these monumental vessels were originally built. He uncovers a murder on board on the Cutty Sark, reveals the mystery of why the Mary Rose sank and discovers how HMS Belfast helped turn the tide on D-Day. From Nelson on board HMS Victory to Sir Francis Drake on the Golden Hind, Rob reveals how daring, genius and dazzling invention led to Britain becoming the world’s greatest sea power!

Rob Bell delves into the fascinating history of the WW2 cruiser, HMS Belfast. A ship that played a critical role in some of the most dramatic battles of World War 2 and whose daring deeds helped bring down the Nazis.

HMS Belfast is the sole survivor of the British ships that bombarded the Normandy coast on D-Day. Rob clambers aboard the immaculately preserved warship, experiencing at first-hand the awesome power of Belfast’s guns, by firing one! He hears the testimony of a veteran who was on board Belfast at the very moment she was blown up by the Nazi’s new secret weapon, a magnetic mine. He gets a taste of life on board, from the daily tot of rum, to the hammocks and officers’ cabins, exploring how the class divide played out among the officers and seamen who lived and fought side by side. Rob re-lives the tactical brilliance of the Battle of North Cape, an extraordinary act of courage that saw Belfast take on the pride of the German Navy, the mighty battleship Scharnhorst. Now available on catch-up TV.

6

Photographer of the Year: At last year’s AGM in February 2018, it was announced that Rayleigh Branch would be holding a photo competition. There are a total of 16 entries for the competition, with the winning position being hotly contested. So close was the competition, that we’ve had to call in an expert (professional photographer Dave Rasch from Phoenix Photography in Rayleigh) to make the final judgement.

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition. The winner is to be announced at the Branch AGM on 6 February 2019.

7

HMS MTB667 Memorial Service: 5 March 2019

Branch Standards and members of No.5 Area will again be at Brightlingsea for their annual Memorial Service to the crew members who lost their lives aboard MTB 667 in Brightlingsea Creek on 5 March 1943.

Shipmates may be interested to read a brief history of the events surrounding MTB 667 provided by S/M Jim Hammond and why Brightlingsea hold an annual Memorial Service.

Brightlingsea at the time was known as HMS Nemo, under the command of a Royal Naval Captain. The newly constructed Motor Torpedo Boat 667, had been brought to Brightlingsea in early March 1943 from the builder's yard at Burnham-on-Crouch for final fitting out, trials and storing and most of the Ship's Company had been sent on leave prior to departure abroad. A skeleton crew remained aboard to look after the boat and supervise minor modifications to be carried out in Aldous Shipyard.

The first sailor to go aboard MTB667 on the morning of 5 March 1943 found that some of the crew were dead and the rest very ill.

An urgent signal for medical assistance brought a party of naval personnel including Surgeon Lieutenant Haywood. He found three men were dead from some unknown cause and the others in poor shape. The bodies were removed to the mortuary and the sick men were sent to Naval Sick Quarters at 'Ashmore' in Church Road. Subsequent investigation revealed that the casualties were the result of inhalation of methyl bromide. A toxic gas, which had leaked from the boat's fire extinguishing system.

RNA Brightlingsea Branch's past president, the late Joe French a native of Brightlingsea, was tasked with arranging the funerals whilst serving as Leading Writer to the Captain HMS Nemo at the Manor House. A Naval funeral took place at All Saints Churchyard Brightlingsea on 9 March 1943 for Chief Motor Mechanic Charles Edward Harris and Motor Mechanic Frederick William Phair. The body of Petty Officer Cox'n Heaney was taken elsewhere. At the time of the annual Remembrance Service we also remember S/Lt J. Dean who was killed when he fell between 8

an Italian "I" Boat and 667 when attempting to board during an action in the Adriatic. We also remember all other service personnel resting in All Saints churchyard of whatever nationality and in particular the grave close by Harris and Phair of which there is very little confirmed information. Shipmate President Joe French never forgot these sad incidents and when the RNA Brightlingsea Branch was formed in the early 1990s started the Annual Service of Memorial at which the Commanding Officer MTB 667 Lt. Cmdr. C. J. Jerram R.N.V.R. was present in those days. Jerram had a distinguished career aboard 667 being the 28th Flotilla Leader of American built boats in the Adriatic and at the retaking of Greece.

9

From the Archives: Rayleigh Branch c1986-96

With grateful thanks to Ann French (Frank Paxton’s daughter), we are able to publish for the first time in many years, the image of S/M Frank Paxton, one of Rayleigh Branch’s founding members and its inaugural Chairman.

The first recorded meeting of Rayleigh Branch was back in March 1986 in the Royal British Legion memorial hall where it has remained ever since, but as early as June in the same year, Rayleigh Branch had been fully received into the Royal Naval Association. Thank you Frank and thank you to Ann too.

Clockwise: 1-Frank as most would have seen him in No.1 rig for a branch meeting.

2-On a Double-Seven weekend in Portsmouth. 3-Standing-in as Branch Standard Bearer. 4-With wife Margaret at his side, in best ‘bib and tucker’ for an RNA function.

10

From the Archives (No.5 Area): 25 September 1982

This photo is from a working newspaper archive.

“New Standard” - Eastern Standard Newspapers Ltd.

Captain Colin Osman (left) with (left to right) Capt. James Rayner with S/M’s Reg Missen, Malcolm Harrison and Mrs Mary Wragg admiring the new Royal Naval Association Standard acquired by the King’s Lynn Branch in memory of Mrs. Wragg’s husband.

Have you noticed this?

Dotted around the RBL Hall in Rayleigh, you will find tiny clues about the history of the RNA in Rayleigh and Rayleigh’s involvement with the Royal Navy during the war years. Look out in the next issue of The Moorings for further sightings of significance.

11

The Queen’s New Ships:

Type 26 Frigate. A Global Combat Ship

The Type 26 Global Combat Ship is a 21st Century warship that will replace the Type 23 frigate as the workhorse of the Fleet, undertaking the Royal Navy's three core roles; warfighting, maritime security and international engagement on the world stage.

Additional two names for the Royal Navy’s Type 26 City-class frigates were announced on two separate occasions on 22 November 2018. The UK Defence Minister Stuart Andrew also announced that the fifth Type 26 frigate would be named Sheffield during a visit to Chesterfield Special Cylinders in Sheffield, a key supplier to the multi-billion-pound Type 26 program.

During a visit to Newcastle on the same day, UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson revealed that the sixth ship in the class would be named HMS Newcastle. HMS Sheffield will be the fourth ship to carry the name, with the first ship carrying her name in 1935.

Cruiser HMS Sheffield played a vital role in Scandinavia during the Second World War and assisted with the evacuation of Andalsnes in 1940. The second HMS Sheffield, a Type 42 destroyer, was lost during the Falklands War. The third was a 12

Batch 2 Type 22 frigate ordered in 1988.

HMS Newcastle is the seventh Royal Navy ship to bear the name.

The two ships will join HMS Glasgow, HMS Belfast, HMS Cardiff, HMS Birmingham and HMS London. The final name has yet to be announced.

All of the Type 26 frigates will be built on the Clyde, supported by suppliers across the country and securing decades of work for more than 4,000 people. The first three ships have already been ordered for ÂŁ3.7bn.

Branch Service Certificates:

Certificates celebrating RNA membership and affiliation to Rayleigh Branch will again. form part of the Reward & Recognition aspect of this year’s AGM. 2018 saw certificates for 30 years awarded to Len Hobbs and Anthony Paxton, with 25 year recognition awards being handed to Bob Hill & Bill Pye. This year we will see a number of 20 year certificates being issued, with the outlook of further 25 year recognition award certificates going out in 2020.

13

14

Diary Dates

RNA Rayleigh BRANCH AGM Wednesday 6 February 2019

RBL, London Hill, Rayleigh. 8-10pm

HMS MTB667 Memorial Service Sunday 5 March 2019

All Saints Church, Brightlingsea.

Auction Night

Wednesday 6 March 2019 Proceeds to Annual Mess Dinner - All welcome!

Mess Deck Supper

Friday 15 March 2018 (8pm) Tickets from S/M Mike Sandbrook.

Bluebell Steam Railway visit Tuesday 11 April 2019

Uckfield, East Sussex (S/M Mike Sandbrook)

RNA v RBL Darts Match Friday 3 May 2019 (8pm)

S/Ms Dave Bishop & Dave Harding

Rayleigh Trinity Fair

Sunday 9 June 2019 (11am-5pm) Rayleigh High Street

15

16