28 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2010
Scott’s binnacle is back
THE binnacle once used by Capt Robert Falcon Scott during the Terra Nova expedition has returned to Cardiff to go on permanent display. Now housed in the refurbished Pierhead building in Butetown, overlooking the bay from which Scott’s ship Terra Nova sailed in July 1910, the binnacle symbolises Welsh maritime tradition. The binnacle is the secure, all-
weather structure which houses a ship’s compass, including a light which allows the gimbal-mounted compass to be read through a small window. This particular binnacle was presented to the Royal Navy School of Navigation by the senior officers who brought Terra Nova back to the UK in 1913 after the death of Scott and his party following his unsuccessful bid to be first to the South Pole. The Pierhead,
part of the
National Assembly for Wales estate, has been converted as a visitor attraction and to “inform, involve and inspire” the people of Wales. It includes a three-room suite
celebrating milestones in Welsh history.
LGBT meeting
THE 2010 Quad Service LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Conference will be staged in MOD Main Building, London, on Friday July 2. Further details will be available
from www.proud2serve.net The following day sees the London Pride gathering and march, and Service and Civil Service LGBT personnel are permitted to march in the parade, the Service members in uniform. The DIN covering attendance
at London Pride is also available on the proud2serve website.
All eyes on Cardiff as big day approaches
CITIES, towns and villages across the UK are gearing up for this year’s Armed Forces Day, with Cardiff leading the way.
on Saturday June 26 is a parade from the city’s castle to Cardiff Bay, allowing thousands of people to line the route and support serving personnel, veterans and youth organisations. Veterans and standard bearers who wish to take part in the parade need to complete a booking and log form and return it no later than May 24. Details of how to apply, and copies of the form, are available to download at the Cardiff Armed Forces Day website www.
armedforcesdaycardiff.co.uk
Static displays and exhibitions – including the Type 23 frigate HMS Kent at Roath Basin (operational requirements permitting) will be open from around 10.00 to 18.00.
The parade will set off from the castle at 11.15 and should take around 45 minutes, though veterans who cannot manage the whole route can join in part of the way through. Following the parade a
drumhead service will take place at Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff Bay at midday, lasting for around 30 minutes.
Other displays at Roald Dahl Plass will include a Royal Marines band performance, a display by a
The capital of Wales was chosen to host the 2010 national event, following in the footsteps of Chatham. Pivotal to the Cardiff programme
Royal Marines Commando team and a silent drill display by the Queens Colour Squadron of the RAF. Dynamic displays should include the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a flight of Harrier aircraft, a fly-past by the Red Arrows, historical RN aircraft and a modern Lynx, a search and rescue display and the Red Devils parachute team. The evening will see
the proceeds going to Armed Forces Day. The first Armed Forces
Day in 2009 proved a huge success with more than 180 community-based events taking place across the UK. The national event at
Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent attracted a capacity crowd of 30,000. Armed
entertainment on the stage at Roald Dahl Plass. Timings and participation by all units and teams is subject to operational requirements. An Armed Forces reunion area
will be situated in between the rear of the Pierhead building and the Wales Millennium Centre, in which there will be a marquee from which packed lunches will be served and adjacent to this a seating area.
Access to this area will by ticket only – again, see the website for details.
And although the main focus will be on Cardiff there are plenty of other events before, on and after June 26 to keep supporters of the Armed Forces occupied. These include a competition for cadet standard bearers in Luton; an Armed Forces Day theme at a cricket match in Brighton between Sussex and Bangladesh in July; an Armed Forces and Veterans week in Blackpool; a Thank The Forces Charity Dog Show and Family Fair at Eastbourne; a candlelit vigil of prayer and music at Eye in Suffolk;
26 JUNE 2010
Armed Forces Days in Bolton and Stow-on-the-Wold; an Armed Forces Day at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu; and the World Slug Racing Championship at the Horseshoe in Shipston on Stour on June 27, with part of
the successor to National Veterans Day, which made its debut in 2006. For more details of events
Forces Day is
www.armedforcesday.org.uk or go onto Facebook. The AFD website also includes case studies highlighting the Servicemen and women in different parts of the country.
Happy birthday, Ma’am
BRITISH Ambassador Jamie Bowden and Cdre Tim Lowe, UK Maritime Component Commander (UKMCC), took the salute during a reception at the British Embassy in Bahrain to mark the Queen’s birthday. The Royal Navy provided a Colour Party from locally-based personnel including sailors from HMS Chiddingfold,
currently
deployed in the Gulf. Lt Cdr Simon Brierley, from the UKMCC HQ, led the ceremonial display that culminated in the traditional ceremony of Evening Colours. The Ambassador hosted the annual reception and invited local dignitaries, businessmen and British residents to the event in the grounds of his residence. The close ties between the
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Cost of fleet in spotlight
AFFORDABILITY is the theme of the tenth International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition (INEC), to be held in Portsmouth on May 11-13. Pressure on defence budgets is both universal and a constant factor since time immemorial, and experts will explore various aspects of the situation under the banner of ‘The Affordable Future Fleet.’
design, affordability, maintenance and support,
There will be sessions on submarines,
environment, electric propulsion and auxiliaries and innovation before the conference ends with a plenary session on manning and training.
There will also be a presentation of the Sir Donald Gosling Awards to three authors under of 40. Among the papers at the
conference will be two on the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, a look at aluminium construction of ships from two American experts and the Dutch perspective on watch-keeping from ashore. The conference, sponsored by BAE Systems, will be held in the Rope Store in Portsmouth Naval Base. For further details see www.
imarest.org/inec
148 Battery to
host reunion
BECAUSE of operational commitments next year,
148
Battery will hold an Amphibious Bombardment Association reunion this summer at Poole on Saturday June 26. Doors open at 1200, and
after drinks and curry lunch the afternoon programme will follow the familiar pattern,
including
short act of remembrance at the Battery Memorial Stone. An evening social function will
embassy and UKMCC present an ideal opportunity for the Royal Navy to demonstrate a ceremonial tradition that dates back centuries, but is still performed on a daily basis on ships and shore establishments across the globe.
l LREG Andy Wallace (left) and AB Jack Hawkins bring down the Union Jack during Evening Colours
follow, starting at 1900. Would those attending please check in, if possible, 14 days before the event with either Brum Richards on mdrhome@ntlworld. com or 01202 468720, or BSM WO2 Richard Bociek on 3CDOX-
29CDO-148BTYBSM@mod.uk
or 01202 202273. They will need your vehicle
registration number and you will need photo ID to get in.
Little ships return
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Delta Switch/Solo
AS the Little Ships are prepared for another sally to Dunkirk, a Royal Navy veteran who took part in the operation has been recounting his experience for a TV documentary. James ‘Lofty’ Christmas was a
05/10
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young rating when he took a Little Ship across the Channel as part of Operation Dynamo – the mission which saw 330,000 Allied troops snatched away from the advancing Germans on the beaches of northern France in 1940. Lofty spent a day on the River Thames onboard the Little Ship MV Fermain V, where he was interviewed by Dan Snow for a forthcoming BBC2 documentary, due to be broadcast on June 5. Fermain V, an open launch built in 1926, was brought from her base in Shepperton by Dennis Cox to HMS President, where Lofty was embarked. The interview took place against a backdrop of the Houses of Parliament and HMS Belfast. The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) is formed by the current owners of the various craft involved, which in most cases ferried soldiers from the beaches to larger ships offshore. Nowadays, the ADLS are seen
at events in the UK and Europe, showing the flag and displaying the ‘Dunkirk Spirit’. Part of their commemorative
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events programmes are the returns to Dunkirk, which have taken place, with only one cancellation in 1970 due to bad weather, every five years since 1965. The ADLS was formed in 1966, the brainchild of Raymond Baxter, who owned L’Orage at the time.
l James ‘Lofty’ Christmas with Dan Snow in London
Ian Gilbert, one of the ADLS co-ordinators for the return, said “This year’s event is the last that we expect veterans to be able to attend.
“Operation Dynamo is a most
important historical event and an extraordinary feat that emboldened the British people to fight on, and should never be forgotten. “We feel extremely privileged to
be owners of these historic Little Ships and to be a part of these commemorations. “We are very grateful to the
Royal Navy for their support and are looking forward to embarking ratings from HMS Collingwood for this year’s event”. The ADLS are returning this
year to mark the 70th Anniversary of Operation Dynamo,
leaving
Ramsgate at 0700 on Thursday May 27 to berth at the Basin du Commerce in Dunkirk, returning
to Ramsgate at 1530 on Monday May 31, and members of the public are invited to wave them off or welcome them back. Upwards of 50 Little Ships are taking part, escorted by frigate HMS Monmouth and patrol boat HMS Raider, barring unforeseen operational commitments. The ADLS will have 25 ratings from HMS Collingwood embarked in their Little Ships, continuing their links with the Fareham base which provides assistance at the annual Veterans’ Cruise, held on the Thames each September. Further details can be obtained from the ADLS website www. adls.org.uk or RN website www.
royal-navy.mod.uk,
or from
email
webadmin@adls.org.uk WO1 Mick Gentry RN can
provide information covering the RN involvement, email nr-ee-
arm2@rncareers.mod.uk
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