NEWSLETTER - July/August 2008
Hello again. This issue has a holiday theme to match the fine weather. Apologies to any one who did not receive the June issue because of my data base problems. Please let me know if you want a copy.
RN PRESENTATION TEAM SATURDAY 12 JULY
Forty members and guests attended the RNPT's presentation at the Hove Club. As expected, this was a highly enjoyable and informative account of the RN today. Running through the talk by Commander Justin Hughes and his team was the “golden thread”, the quality of the people who serve in today's Navy. These people, combined with high class technology and the best training, make for what is still a world class navy, despite current difficulties. Perhaps the most significant point was how the RN has changed since the Strategic Review of the mid 1990s to meet the changed treat and become a member of a joint service force to deal with the global threats to UK security, and to act as a force for good in the world. The questions to Cdr Hughes and his team reflected the concerns about the strain on the Navy imposed by currents operations in Afghanistan, the Gulf and elsewhere. The presentation was followed by an excellent buffet lunch; the planned barbecue was cancelled due to doubtful weather. All in all, this was an excellent day for which thanks are mainly due to Pat Saunders for making the arrangements with RNPT.
LADIES LUNCH SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
Our next event will be a ‘Ladies Lunch’. Please do not be put off by the title; all members are very welcome whether they bring a guest or not, as are all guests, male or female. Meet in the Bar at the Club at 1230, with lunch at 1300. Cost for a three course meal and coffee will be £18.50 (wines separate). Bookings to John Woods no later than Monday 8 September please.
PROGRAMME FOR 2008
The following dates are confirmed.
Date Event
Saturday 18 October Trafalgar Night Dinner
Saturday 15 November Lunch/lecture
Friday 5 December President's Evening
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
SANO sends its warmest congratulations to one of our members, Captain Mike Mansergh RN, who has just been selected for promotion to Commodore. Captain Mansergh will replace Cdre Andrew Cameron as Commodore Portsmouth Flotilla, with effect from 1 September. We welcome Commander Christopher Welland OBE RN as a new member. Cdr Welland joined the Navy as a cadet in 1964 and served until 1999, during which time he had two seagoing commands.
HMS SHOREHAM
SANO has heard from Lieutenant Commander Nick Borbone, currently CO of the ship. He tells us that the ship's company will deploy this month as part of the UK's commitment to have two MCMVs continuously deployed overseas. The intention is that SHOREHAM's crew will deploy as a group and conduct a crew swap with their counterparts on HMS RAMSEY. RAMSEY's team will return to the UK for leave before taking over SHOREHAM in the autumn when Lt Cdr Borbone will be succeeded by Lt Cdr Andy Lamb RN. We have sent our best wishes to Nick Borbone for his future career in the Navy. We look forward to meeting Lt Cdr Lamb during the ship's next visit.
NCS BRANCH RECEPTION
The annual NCS Branch Reception will be held on Saturday 27 September 2008 in the Reserves Bar, The Naval Club, Hill Street, London. The event is open to all serving and retired NCS/NCAGS officers. Cost will be £15 per person; dress code is lounge suit/blazer for gentlemen and afternoon dress for ladies. Cdr Paula Vokes RD* DL WRNR is arranging the event and her contact details are available from the Secretary.
NEMESIS: THE BATTLE FOR JAPAN, 1944-45
This book by Max Hastings, published by Harper Press at £25, will make for fascinating summer reading. Tag Taylor has reviewed it for SANO and writes: This huge book is a must for anyone interested in the Second World War and, particularly, for those who served in the Far East. It is 598 pages long, very well written and equally well researched. I found it very difficult to put down, but equally difficult how to convey its main features. My first, and still the most telling feature of the book, is the sheer size and might of the US war effort both in manpower terms and their material strength. This was coupled by an understanding of what could be achieved diplomatically, along with a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve after the war. Hastings gives a full view of the battles fought and won, the vast amount of manpower and equipment used, along with the difficulties faced, to invade and capture the Philippines, Okinawa and Iwo Jima. But the war could be won only with the capitulation of Japan. The prospect of invading the Japanese mainland, in view of these battles, was alarming. While the bulk of the forces were getting ready for the invasion, they did not know that two things happened simultaneously: firstly, the production of the atomic bomb, and secondly, the arrival of the B29 Super Fortress, the only aircraft that could deliver the bomb. We all know that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, causing huge casualties and massive damage. What Hastings reveals is that the Japanese High Command, including the Emperor himself, were equally divided on whether to accept defeat. With no news coming from Japan, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, this time with the decisive result. With the fighting stopped, the Peace Treaty signed, it was time to take stock and see where we are now, sixty odd years on. It is accepted that the Peace Treaty enabled the Japanese to be accepted in the United Nations and to be a leading world economy. There is, however, one thing which one finds hard to come to terms with, and that is the horrific treatment of prisoners of war and the populations of occupied countries, such as China. No apology has ever been received and until one is announce, my generation, and I hope the next will never forgive them.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: IAN FLEMING AND JAMES BOND
Here is another item for summer entertainment. This exhibition, at the Imperial War Museum (www.iwm.org.uk) until 1 March 2009 (£8; £7 concessions), links Ian Fleming (former Commander RNR) and his most famous creation, James Bond (former Commander RN). It shows how Fleming, who was drifting aimlessly through life in the 1930s, was transformed when he joined the Naval Intelligence Department in 1939. As well as giving him the material for the Bond novels and short stories, the Navy gave his life, and the exhibition, a purpose. It is divided into rooms that reflect Fleming's life, and the items that feature in the Bond books: the exotic locations, the food and drink, the cars and guns, and, yes, the many glamorous women. However, perhaps the best display, for non-gadget lovers, is a table describing the Bond villains, especially their revealing character flaws; did you know that Oddjob, Goldfinger's bowler-hatted assassin, ate cats?
TAILPIECE
Much of the Met Office work during the Second World War was secret, perhaps for the best. Mary Buchanan, writing in a 1994 issue of the magazine Weather describes the first meteorological fax transmission in Britain, sent from Bomber Command HQ. Twenty VIPs watched as a wavy line appeared which at first was thought to be the North Coast of Iceland. After some curves and two eyebrows appeared, everyone realised it was a pin-up girl!
Best wishes
Ian