NEWSLETTER - June 2008
Hello again. After some false starts, summer seems finally to have arrived. Please check that the details of your address/email are correct. My main computer with the SANO data base on it has died so I have had to modernise an earlier version.
LUNCH/LECTURE 31 MAY
Twenty five members and guests heard the talk by Lieutenant Lee Hazard RN, entitled The Royal Navy – a decade past and present. It was a fascinating update on how the Navy has changed in the years following the Strategic Review of 1998. His main theme was how our Navy and Royal Marines plan and operate to protect the UK's vital interests in an increasingly interconnected, but also more troubled and volatile world. He described how the Navy is creating a balanced fleet of sufficient size, numbers and capability to meet all our tasks while exerting reach, presence and influence wherever needed, and how our personnel are trained to succeed, not to fail. Lt Hazard also drew on his own experience to explain the essential role that we have played in Sierra Leone and are playing in Afghanistan. In summary, his talk was both informative and witty, and a good contrast to many of the gloomy stories about our armed services which we have heard in recent years.
VISIT TO HMS NELSON WARDROOM AND RM MUSEUM 19 JUNE
Twenty eight members and guests enjoyed this outing, not least because of the glorious weather. The Wardroom at HMS NELSON was as hospitable as ever, with an excellent lunch served in the efficient yet discreet manner that we expect from RN trained stewards. The only negative feature was, as in previous years, the uncertainty that hangs over the future of the building. According to the staff, the latest plan is to turn it into a five star hotel; perhaps the downturn in the property market might delay, or even stop, this unwelcome development. Our visit to the Royal Marines Museum at Eastney was honoured by having the entrance fee waived. The Museum fully justifies its description as a proud and welcoming Museum set in striking Victorian surroundings. Its highlight is the exhibition, recently opened by Prince Philip, on the Making of a Royal Marines Commando. This graphically describes the arduous tasks involved in becoming a Royal Marines Commando; it also illustrates perfectly the point made by Lt Lee Hazard about how our armed forces are trained to succeed.
(Photographs of the visit are included in the Special Notices).
RN PRESENTATION TEAM/BARBECUE SATURDAY 12 JULY
You are reminded that we have arranged for the Royal Navy to give a presentation on Saturday 12 July 2008. The entertaining and thought provoking multi – media presentation lasts approximately one hour, and will be followed by a barbecue lunch. The RNPT require a minimum attendance of 40 so please try to attend, and bring guests if you wish. Cost for what should be a very special day is £19.50 per person. Please contact Ian Wright for more information and to make bookings.
PROGRAMME FOR 2008
The following dates are confirmed.
Date Event
Saturday 13 September Ladies lunch
Saturday 18 October Trafalgar Night Dinner
Saturday 15 November Lunch/lecture
Friday 5 December President's Evening
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DOUGLAS COLWELL MBE VRD** RNR
Some 180 mourners, including the President, both Vice Presidents, the Chairman, the Treasurer and the Secretary, and many other members of SANO, attended the very moving service for Vice President Doug Colwell, held at Woodvale Crematorium, Brighton, on 30 May. Ian Wright writes the following tribute to Doug.
Douglas Colwell was born and grew up in Brighton, where he met Norma who was to be his wife for 58 very happy years. After training as a teacher at Borough Road Training College, where he specialised in physics and music, two of his passions in life, he joined the Royal Navy as an Instructor Officer. (One of Doug's many amusing anecdotes described how he managed to pass the hearing part of the entry medical, despite being somewhat hard of hearing; the day of his medical, 14 November 1948, coincided with the birth of the Prince of Wales and all the bells in London were ringing in celebration, so nullifying the hearing test.) On leaving the RN in 1955, Doug joined SUSSEX Division, serving in many posts with great distinction, and receiving the VRD (with two bars), and the much deserved award of the MBE. In my view, he would have made a very good Commanding Officer of the Division, had his abilities been better appreciated in high places. His expertise as a trainer was recognised by the staff of CINCNAVHOME and he was appointed leader of a number of training design teams producing, with the late Mike Billingham, RNR training material of very high quality, including a superb weekend course in Instructional Technique which served as a template for many other high quality courses. On leaving the RNR after some forty years of service, Doug became Wardroom Mess Secretary of HMS SUSSEX and then succeeded Pip Noël as Secretary of SANO. Doug's patriotism, commitment and sense of duty made him an example of service to everyone who knew him. He was also great company, with a cheerful, expansive personality which matched his stature and which enlivened many a Mess Dinner. He will be deeply missed and we send our deepest sympathy to Norma, Alison, David and all their family.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
You are reminded that there will be a memorial service for Daphne Child at 1100 on Saturday 26 July at St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield. Please let Warwick (tel 01435 873 252: warwickchild@onetel.com) know by 12 July if you intend to attend. Some members may have missed the notice about the death of one of our most decorated members, Lt John Perkins DSC* RNVR. Full details of the life of a brave, charismatic (and occasionally irascible) man can be found at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2140985/Lieutenant-%27Polly%27-Perkins.html. As well as his bravery, he will be remembered for (probably) being the originator of the tradition whereby Norway sends a Christmas tree to Trafalgar Square every year.
VETERANS DAY
Friday 27 June was Veterans Day (see http://www.veteransday.org.uk.) Your Chairman and Secretary helped the celebrations by manning a SANO display stand in New Road, Brighton. The motives for holding the Day are excellent but more publicity and a larger arena are needed to make it more effective in Brighton and Hove. It should also be held at the weekend to enable school pupils to share the day with veterans. For those of you who know about Facebook, the leading social networking site in the country, MOD has launched a "Veterans Day" Facebook Application. You can access the Application via the 'I support UK veterans' Facebook group. You will need a Facebook account to access this service.
TAILPIECE
The recent announcement by the Federation of American Scientists that the US has removed its last nuclear weapons from the UK brought to mind the arrival of the first US nuclear supply ship. When she arrived in the Clyde, she was met by a tiny demonstration of Scottish CND members in various canoes and kayaks. These were dismissed by the CO of the vessel as the protests of 'a few damn Eskimos'!
Best wishes.
Ian