Poignant date for Concord
APRIL 23 2012 will be a poignant day for crew members of HMS Concord who served in the 1951- 53 commission. For that date marks the 60th
anniversary of the ship’s Y gun turret being struck by a North Korean shell, killing two sailors and wounding several others. One of the wounded, AB James
Evans DSM, was so traumatised that several years later he took his own life – a victim of what we now know as post-traumatic stress. During that three-week patrol
off North Korea in 1952, Concord fired 2,700 rounds, destroying railway lines and gun installations. The
brother of AB Evans
campaigned for his name to be entered on the war memorial in his home town of Sandbach but the bid received no support until a letter from the HMS Concord Association and
Ton-class books mark group’s anniversary
IT’S more than our lives are worth at Navy News to claim any association is the biggest, but we can state with some confidence that there were more Ton-class ships built than
any other class – 118 in total. And when two new books about
the Ton class were launched in Portsmouth, more than 140 guests turned up – proof of the enduring appeal of these ships
small, wooden in which so many sailors
learnt their skills after World War 2. “With about 1,300 members,
Admiral Sir
Charles Mills persuaded the local authority to add his name. So wherever surviving members of the 51-53 Commission are on April 23, they will pause for a moment to remember their shipmates ABs Alan Greenwood, John Bravington and James Evans. Concord was launched on May 14 1945 and went to the Far East in 1947 as part of the 8th Destroyer Squadron. She returned to the UK to
pay off into reserve in 1958 and became harbour training ship to HMS Caledonia, before
being
towed to Inverkeithing on October 26 1962 to be broken up. The HMS
Concord
Association was formed in 1995 and decommissioned in May 2010, though members still attend 8th Destroyer Squadron Association reunions in Scarborough. The Association has published a book entitled The Life and Times of HMS Concord, and any former shipmates who did not join the association and would like a copy can obtain one from Alan Ausden, 55 Fairway Drive, Hythe SO45 5GX, tel 023 8084 6765.
we think we’re the biggest RN ship or class association, although our friends in the Algerines run us pretty close,” said Peter Down, honorary secretary of the Ton Class Association (TCA). A project team comprising TCA members Rob Hoole (editor), Peter Harrison, Peter Down,
Stuart Johnson, TCA
chairman John Soanes and TCA historians
Jeremy Stewart, Bob
Dean and Rick Furnival spent three years collating information for the books, Jacks of All Trades and Last of the Wooden Walls, which were published to mark the 25th anniversary of the association’s founding in 1987. When the association appealed help in putting the books
for
together, anecdotes, photographs, and information poured in from all over the world. “We spent the first six months putting together the contents and chapter headings and refined them over time,” said Peter. He added: “Despite the fact
that sailors are very good at standing at the bar and talking, getting them to pick up a pencil and put it to paper is a different challenge.
“But despite that, we got £50 PRIZE PUZZLE
l Cdr Martin Mackey (Commander Second MCM Squadron), Capt Mark Durkin (Captain MFP), Capt Mike Barrow (CO of HMS Glamorgan in the Falklands) and John Soanes (Chairman of the Ton Class Association) at the Ton Class Association book launch
enough material to fill the books ten times over, some of which will go into future editions of our magazine Ton Talk.” He added: “Ton-class ships
served all over the world. 37 were transferred to other navies and we’ve had contributions from as far afield as Australia,
New
Zealand, Malaysia, Argentina and the USA, both from retired Royal Navy men and some from those other navies.” The Prince of Wales famously
served in a Ton-class – HMS Bronington – and as President of the association, wrote the foreword to Last of the Wooden Walls, in which he said it was one of the best times of his life – despite the ships’ reputation for rolling, even on wet grass. The two books were launched
at the Princess Royal Gallery of the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth, where the guests included a group of Norwegian minesweeper veterans,
officers from the current Mine Countermeasures
force,
senior and
three young Royal Marines from Lima Company 42 Cdo, which was involved with Ton-class patrol ships in the Limbang Raid in December 1962 at the outset of the Indonesian Confrontation. The chairman of
Rear Admiral John Lippiett – who commanded HMS Shavington in the mid-1970s – presented copies of the books to some of the guests, including Lady Cox, widow of Admiral Sir John Cox, the association’s first president. Rear Admiral Lippiett said: “Many of us cut our teeth in
these much-loved ships and I wish we, like the Norwegians, had preserved a minesweeper.” He added:
“But we have to
look forward, not back, and we are always keen to welcome to TCA new members who served in Tons.” Alongside
the the TCA, 90 or so
members of the TCA and wives who attended the launch were representatives of the RNA, the Algerines
Association
and Sea Cadet units supported by the TCA, plus the builders of of
three
radio-controlled generations
countermeasures h
models vessels
of mine from
World War 2 to the present day. We intend to review Last of the
Wooden Walls and Jacks of All Trades in our May edition.
l The final hours of the Graf Spee off Montevideo in December 1939
Falmouth pays tribute to Falklands
FALMOUTH branch are hosting a lunch to mark the 30th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict this month.
The lunch will be at the
Falmouth Beach Hotel on Saturday April 14, 1230 for 1300. Guest speaker will be Admiral
Sir Michael
Principal Naval Officer on the Atlantic Conveyor, who went on to command RN Air Station Culdrose and was later appointed Second Sea Lord.
Tickets for the lunch are £15
each, and can be obtained from the branch secretary S/M Ron Burdekin, tel 01326 221851 (home), 07810 404418 (mobile) or email ronburdekin@yahoo. com
Space is limited, as the
restaurant has a maximum capacity of 150. On the same day, before the
lunch, a short memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the War Memorial in Kimberley Park, Falmouth, with a muster at 1045. The service will be conducted by branch chaplain Rev Stephen Tudgey.
Standards of RNA branches and other organisations are welcome, as are approaches by others who wish to lay a wreath. Those who wish to attend in
any capacity should also let S/M Burdekin know in advance.
John is mourned
CHATHAM branch lost one of their longest-serving members when S/M John Rudd crossed the bar shortly before Christmas. John joined the Mob in 1948,
retiring as a Chief Writer in 1970. He served in HMS Hermes,
and was Lord Mountbatten’s chief writer in HMS Surprise. His
stints in stone frigates
including Ceres, Pembroke, Rooke and in Malta allowed him to indulge in his passion for hockey, a sport in which he represented the Royal Navy.
by Parkinson’s disease in his latter years,
Although increasingly affected John continued to attend
Chatham meetings when he could, thanks to the efforts of his wife Audrey, and he attended his last meeting just ten days before his death at the age of 81.
Club celebrates
THE mystery ship in our February edition (right) was W-class destroyer HMS Wizard, which was converted to a Type 15 frigate. Mr P Musker, of Chester, wins
the £50 prize for providing the correct answer. This month’s mystery ship, above, commissioned in the spring of 1985, was designed for deepwater team minesweeping and assigned to a Scottish RNR division. But under a review in the 1990s
she and many of her sisters were withdrawn from RN service and subsequently sold abroad – this ship was sold to the Bangladesh Navy, with whom she is still in service today. (1) What was her name in the
Royal Navy, and (2) What is her name in the Bangladesh Navy? Complete the coupon and send
it to Mystery Picture, Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH. Coupons giving the correct answer will go into a prize draw to establish a winner. Closing date for entries is May 16 2012. More than one entry can be submitted but photocopies cannot be accepted. Do not include anything else in your envelope: no correspondence can be entered into and no entry returned.
The winner will be announced in our June edition. The competition is not open to Navy News employees or their families.
MYSTERY PICTURE 206
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My answers (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
www.navynews.co.uk A. T
THE Naval and Military Club, one of London’s oldest private members’ club, has celebrated its 150th birthday. It is known unofficially as the In and Out Club, because of the prominent signs marking
the
entrance and exit of the original Piccadilly site. Established in 1862
by a
STEPHEN and Jonathan Harwood, son and grandson of Cdre
(later Admiral Sir
Henry) Harwood, gave a talk at Catherington in November 2010 on the three South Atlantic battles in 1914 and 1939. At the Battle of Coronel on
November 1 1914, Admiral Graf Spee,
leading a German
squadron that included the two armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, attacked a British squadron of cruisers under Rear Admiral Cradock, sinking two ships and killing Cradock. At the Battle of the Falkland Islands on December 8 1914, Admiral Sturdee,
with the
battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible, sent out by Churchill and First Sea Lord Admiral Fisher to avenge Coronel, killed Admiral Graf Spee and sank his ships. In World War 2, Cdre Harwood
Three battles commemorated HQ open days
commanded the British cruisers Exeter,
the Battle of the River Plate on December 13 1939, after which Captain Langsdorff scuttled the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the River Plate off Montevideo on December 17 and committed suicide.
Ajax and Achilles at
Funds were raised through the talk for the installation of a plaque to remember all who died in these three battles. This was dedicated by Rev Hill at All
Gill
Catherington, where a wreath was laid by great grandson Harry Harwood (pictured below).
Saints Church,
group of Army officers, its naval and military heritage remains a vital part of its character though membership has long since been opened to the wider public. Past members have included Capt Robert Falcon Scott and Naval
Intelligence Officer Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.
THE RNA is opening up its headquarters again this year for three open days – although one is already at full capacity. April 27 and October 5 still
Layard,
have spaces available, though the July 6 event is fully booked. For more details contact RNA HQ on 023 9272 3747 or email
nigel@royalnavalassoc.com
Doors remain open
AFTER 34 years the Nautical Club in Birmingham is still going strong – contrary to some beliefs. The club is ‘home’ to more than
15 naval associations, representing groups including the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Marines, Wrens and engine room personnel. It is open every day except Monday and Thursday.
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