The Moorings, Issue #76

THE MOORINGS ISSUE 76

APRIL 2019

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

GOING, GOING,

GONE!

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, AKA Shipmates Terry Barker and Dave Bishop lead Rayleigh Branch in their annual fundraising Auction.

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

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Extract from the Semaphore Circular March 2019 Dear Shipmates, Welcome to the March Circular, mind you, as I sit here and type this, it feels more like the middle of June! Talking of June, its set to be a busy month.

6 June 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, one of the most remarkable Allied wartime operations. With the Royal British Legion taking the lead, they are planning significant commemorations to mark D-Day 75, both in Normandy and across the United Kingdom. They have chartered a ship, the MV Boudicca, to provide a fully funded tour for 300 D-Day Veterans.

Each veteran is able to bring one carer who will also be fully funded. A nice touch and I know a good number of our RNA Shipmates are taking advantage of this fabulous gesture. The RNA will be represented in Normandy by our National President who, supported by our France Nord Branch, will lay a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance in Caen before sprinting back for our National Conference and we will be leaning into activities in Portsmouth when details become clearer.

I’ve been up to St Neots this week for a recce with a few of the Central Office team and it looks like Area 6 are putting together a fabulous National Conference in a great venue at Wyboston Lakes for us over the weekend of 7-9 June. Thank you to Geoff Apperley and his stalwart team for all your efforts. We will have exclusive use of the Conference Centre but that doesn’t mean we can stay up all night singing shanties! Michelle’s got her eye on the spa!

I also had the very great privilege of representing the RNA at a lunch in the First Sea Lord’s London flat to mark the 90th Birthday of Sir Donald Gosling who has been a great fan of the Navy and naval folk all his life. I was able to reiterate our very great thanks for the significant contribution he made towards the RNA’s project to commission the Naval Service Memorial at the 4

National Arboretum which was unveiled and dedicated in 2014. I took the opportunity to present him with the last of our special commemorative ties which depicts the rather colourful memorial.

I suggested he might want to keep it should he ever need to be interviewed by Channel 4’s Jon Snow! He was genuinely thrilled and promised to wear it.

CONA (Conference of Naval Associations) are having their Spring Conference at HMS Excellent on 7 March and top billing will be the current CO of HMS Queen Elizabeth, Captain Nick Cooke-Priest. He will present on his recent experiences having joined the ship in New York for her Fixed Wing 1st of Class Flying Trials. Should be hugely interesting. Sarah Clewes is still accepting attendance requests from the broad array of Associations.

16 March sees the Jutland Wood planting event at Langley Vale.

Names please to Nigel if they haven’t been passed already.

There’s a buffet lunch provided, and Nigel has promised to liberate some Pusser’s for the occasion. 10:00 arrival for 10:30 start with wellies and coats suggested Rig of the Day. Some announcements on the equipment front this month. The third of the next generation of SSBNs has been named as HMS Warspite. She joins the previously named, HMS Dreadnought and HMS Valiant. Needless to say, the announcement brought some conjecture in Central Office as to what the fourth and final boat might be named. Should the ‘ship naming committee’ continue down the early SSN names, we might see another Courageous or Conqueror, or, if they take the route of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships, we might see another Barham or even, dare I say, the mighty Hood?

On Thursday 28 March, the Portsmouth Naval Base Commander, Rear-Adml Jim Higham has graciously invited the local RNA Branches to the highlight of this year’s boxing calendar, the Inter Services Boxing Match at the HMS Nelson gym. All are welcome and while entrance is free you might want draw some pocket money for a refreshment at the bar.

Also, in the world of ASW, some great news on the MPA front with P-8A Poseidon aircraft being introduced into service next year to fill a capability gap which has existed since the withdrawal 5

of the Nimrod in the 2010 Defence Review.

On the personnel front, the MOD announced that those leaving the Services will be issued a Veterans ID Cards in recognition of their service, and as a show of gratitude from the Nation. By the end of the year, all veterans will be able to apply for this card, to mark their time in the military. They will act as a tangible link to your career in the Armed Forces but, where needed, they will also help veterans to easily verify their service to the NHS, the local authorities and Service charities. More info on how to apply will follow when we get it.

Parish Notices: · End of Year reports should be coming in along with 2019 membership subscriptions. ·

Don’t forget to register your Conference Delegate and book accommodation with CONA travel.

·

Do please book up for open days, we have vacancies on all our dates.

·

The LIBOR buses are there to be used and can be booked for longer periods by Areas or branches. Only cost is fuel and a car license to drive. Give it a go.

·

The annual report and accounts, Conference Agenda, raffle tickets etc., will be mailed out to Branches in the next few months.

Finally, hats off to our intrepid Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, who visited 40 Cdo doing their Arctic training in Norway. Not only did he “Up Spirits” with a wee tot of Pusser’s finest, but he rather gallantly did the famous ice-breaking recovery drill – brrrr! I’ll tell you about my experience on a mini Artic survival course with the Booties one day, although that might be one for the Mess Dinners rather than crudely committing it to paper!

Best wishes from the Central Office Team, Bill Oliphant

General Secretary

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Out and about:

As you know we have a very busy social programme lined up, so I have listed the events that need paying for below:

Bluebell Steam Railway: Thursday 11 April 2019

We now have a full coach of 24 which means that everyone will need to pay £25.00 in addition to the £5.00 deposit previously paid. Payment now due.

Race Night: Friday 12 April 2019

Tickets for our Race Night will again be on sale at our meeting on 3 April 2019.

As always the more people that attend the better the night will be. Our dynamic duo Dave Smith and Eddie Dray along with their helpers put in a lot of effort to provide this entertainment so I would appreciate it if you could make the effort to attend.

Tickets will be £10 which includes entry and a Fish or Chicken & Chips supper or £5 for entry only. Last date for food order will be Friday 5 April.

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New Hall Vineyard: Tuesday 23 July 2019

We currently have 19 people attending this visit, so have five places available. This visit will be a great day out learning about different wines and having a good taste of them too. On completion we will be having lunch at the Royal Oak pub where I have negotiated a lunch option for £8.50 with the following choices: · · · ·

Burnham smoked ham, 2 eggs and chips Whole tail Scampi, chips and peas 6oz Burnham big boy burger with cheese, onion and chips 3 Cheese Ploughman’s with salad, pickles and French stick

If you would like to go let me know and pay the £5 nonrefundable deposit. Once the final number of attendees is known, I will let everyone know the cost of this visit and collect payment.

Formal Mess Dinner: Saturday 3 August 2019

By now you should all have received a menu/booking form and wine list for our Mess Dinner on 3 August. Tickets are £45 for guests and non RNA Rayleigh Branch members. RNA Rayleigh Branch member tickets are £40 which includes a £5 discount. We will be selling tickets for this event at our Branch meetings, but urge you to book early as we expect tickets to sell very quickly and we only have 100 tickets available. Booking is open exclusively to RNA Rayleigh Branch members and their guests until completion of our meeting on Wednesday 17 April. After that meeting we will be offering tickets to other RNA Branches.

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Payment in cash or a cheque made payable to RNA Rayleigh Branch. If anyone requires a taxi to and from Saxon Hall then please book this with S/M Mike Sandbrook when you hand in your menu/booking forms.

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HMS MTB667 Memorial Service: 5 March 2019

Shipmates from Rayleigh Branch joined other No.5 Area Branches at Brightlingsea for the annual Memorial Service at All Saints Church.

The graveside service was to commemorate the crew of the MTB 667 that lost their lives while the boat was in harbour in 1943.

The service was conducted by the Rev. Caroline Beckett.

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All photos courtesy of RNA Dagenham.

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New Member Inauguration:

Shipmate Gary Daisley reading the ‘riot act’ and welcoming aboard new shipmates Linda Todd, Claire Todd & Liz Smith with Branch Chairman Jim Hammond presenting membership cards and their Associate Membership badges on 20 March 2019.

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St. George’s Day Parade: Sunday 28 April 2019 Arrangements have been completed for the Annual Service and Parade which is to be held on Sunday 28 April 2019, to celebrate St George’s Day. The Service will take place at St John’s Church (next to the Royals) in Southend. As always, the Mayor and local Members of Parliament and other dignitaries will be joining the Royal Society of St George, veterans associations and youth organisations in this event. All Standards are welcome to join and medals may be worn.

Muster is at the Navy and Military Club in Royal Terrace from 10am, ready to march off at 10:30.

The Church Service will commence at 11:30. Following the Service, the Mayor will take the salute and the Naval & Military Club will host its usual Reception.

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Auction Night: 6 March 2019 This year’s Branch Auction benefitted by being open to guests as well as branch members this year.

A decision which resulted in a record breaking £312 being raised for branch funds in support of this year’s Mess Dinner which is to be held on 3 August (more details on page 8).

The event was very well attended and S/Ms Terry Barker and Dave Bishop made the proceedings extremely light hearted, with Dave fully entering into the spirit and immersing himself in his new career as a top clothes fashion model!

As an added bonus with the stage area clear of the usual top-table clutter, there was a photo opportunity for all uniformed attendees.

Back row LtoR: Dave Mead, Alan White, Bill Vernon, Mike Burnham, Dave Mead,Terry Barker, Ray Fenn, Gary Daisley, Eddy Dray. Front row: Eddy Callis, Iain Hendry, Cliff Severn, Harry Irons, Dave Smith, Mike Sandbrook & Ken Benson.

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Diary Dates

Bluebell Steam Railway visit Tuesday 11 April 2019

Uckfield, East Sussex (S/M Mike Sandbrook)

RACE NIGHT!!!

Cine Horse Racing Friday 12 April 2019 (7:30pm start) Tickets from S/M Mike Sandbrook.

St. George’s Day Parade Sunday 28 April 2019

Muster 10:00 Naval & Military Club, Southend March off at 10:30 for St, John’s Church

RNA v RBL Darts Match

Friday 3 May 2019 (first arrows at 8pm) S/Ms Dave Bishop & Dave Harding

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RNA No.5 Area Meeting Saturday 4 May 2019

Hosted by Norwich RNA Canary Social Club, Norwich, NR1 1RT (2pm)

TV Show Games Night

Friday 24 May 2019 (7:30pm start)

Tickets from S/M Mike Sandbrook.

Rayleigh Trinity Fair

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

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