36 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2010

Forge he’s a jolly good fellow

THE remarkable story of one of the most extraordinary characters to serve in the Corps comes under the spotlight this summer at the Royal Marines Museum. Maj Guy ‘Griff’ Griffiths was a Royal Marine pilot who bombed U-boats, forged documents for ‘The Great Escape’ (the real thing, not the film...), provided information to British Intelligence, edited the Corps journal Globe

and Laurel and produced

breathtaking artwork as well as endearing comical

illustrations (such as the self portrait above).

Until October, the Eastney museum is staging an exhibition of his artwork, plus film footage from his life as a PoW and interactive displays to tell his colourful story. n We’ll have a feature on Griff and his work next month.

Duke returns to Dartmouth

MORE than 70 years after he first attended – and had a fateful encounter with his future wife – the Duke of Edinburgh returned to his alma mater for the highlight of its year. Lord High Admiral’s Divisions at Britannia Royal Naval College

in Dartmouth are regarded as the most important of the passing out parades held at the spiritual home of the Senior Service’s officer corps. As such the guest of honour is either the Lord High Admiral – the Queen – or a senior figure deputising for her, in the case of 2010’s divisions her 88-year-old consort. Seven decades ago, the then Prince Philip was the best cadet in his

Image © Trustees of the Royal Marines Museum

entry at Dartmouth. In 2010, he presented the Queen’s Sword to the latest cadet to impress college staff most both in the naval and academic fields: S/Lt Assaad El-Turk of the Lebanese Navy (he also received the Admiralty Binoculars for exceptional performance by an international officer during training). S/Lt El-Turk was one of more than 150 young officers who passed out following seven intensive months of training. “Technology has taken huge strides in recent years,” the Duke told the junior officers. “But people are still people and the sea is still very much the sea. “No doubt you know all you need to know about technology. You will only know about people and the sea from bitter experience. I wish you all successful fulfilling careers and, above all, I hope you all thoroughly enjoy yourselves.” After the parade was completed and the passing out officers had made the traditional slow march up the steps through BRNC’s main door, there was an official reception on the quarterdeck and lunch in the Senior Gun Room. Once everyone was suitably satiated, college staff and cadets formed up to cheer ship for Prince Philip’s departure. Three ranks deep, they followed the orders of the ceremonial training officer, WO Scott Stephenson, raised their caps in salute and cheered.

Snow de Cologne

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to Cologne.

Under the musical direction of Band C/Sgt Johnny Morrish, band instructor at HMS Heron, performers from all nine volunteer bands, plus volunteer band instructors from HM Ships Neptune, Nelson, Collingwood and Illustrious made for the Rhine.

IT’S not just Blighty which had a ferocious winter – as 43 members of the Royal Navy Volunteer Band service found making their annual pilgrimage

The first trick was to get across the Channel – the heavy snow disrupted crossings; the precipitation stayed with the musicians for the rest of the week in Germany.

Although the highlight of the trip is the Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) carnival – like Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Rio, except on a Monday... and in Germany... in the cold – there were performances up and down the Rhine. The first gig on Friday morning was at Deutsche Welle radio in Bonn where the debut performance of Dance Fever went down very well with a medley of 70s tunes featuring a lilting saxophone solo of Reunited played by Sarah Watson from HMS Seahawk. A little free time in Cologne followed and several members visited the imposing cathedral. The twin-towered cathedral which dominates the city skyline forms the centre point of celebrations of the carnival period, which runs from November until February each year. That evening four ‘dinner gigs’ followed with a set that included a rocked-up version of Bach’s

Toccata in D Minor and Lord of the Dance with a

beautiful piccolo solo played effortlessly by Anne Wyatt from HMS Drake band. The weekend was to prove exceptionally busy: a gig on a boat on the Rhine early on Saturday afternoon before five more evening engagements.

Sunday saw performances all day long following an early start at a multi-lingual church service in the Cologne’s Minoritenkirche, ending with a concert attended by nearly 1,000 people in the suburb of Mülheim am Rhein on the right bank of Germany’s great artery. There was another early start on Monday for the big parade. Almost two million people lined the streets of Cologne to see a procession comprising 10,000 people, in excess of 300 bands and hundreds of floats.

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The cheers and singing that could be heard as the band slow marched, at the head of the parade, made it evident how important the carnival is to the people here. The burning of the Nubel (an effigy) at midnight signifies that the carnival is well and truly over. Traditionally it’s a solemn affair, typically accompanied by the funeral march, but this year it was more upbeat. Just before heading back on the long coach

journey home, the volunteers performed a particularly slippery black-ice rendition of the

Hokey Cokey.

from HMS Heron Band who won this year’s Cologne Trophy for sterling services on the tuba and bass drum.

Back in the warm(er) climes of Faslane, the Congratulations must go to WO1 Tim Adlington

l The RN Volunteer Band marches through Kolpingplatz on the edge of Cologne’s old town

Pictures: PO(Phot) Paul A’Barrow, HMS Illustrious

musicians of HMS Neptune Volunteer Band staged a two-hour extravaganza. The two-hour performance in the Neptune Building Supermess’ Conference Suite was the first official function staged at the venue. The band covered a variety of styles on the night, from wind band, marches and big band numbers, to the popular tunes of ABBA, Robbie Williams and even Van Halen. “It was a great opportunity for the band to demonstrate their talents and also showcase the four pieces of music I have picked for this year’s annual Volunteer Band Festival in Portsmouth,” said Band C/Sgt Mark Flintoft who led the performance.

“What is unique to Neptune is that we have a fantastic big band – no other RN volunteer band has one.” n THERE are two evenings of the very finest musical entertainment this summer on Whale Island in Portsmouth. The grounds of HMS Excellent will be opened to the public on Friday June 25 and Saturday June 26 for the ‘South Coast Proms’ performed by the Band of HM Royal Marines. Around 100 musicians from the massed Royal Marines band will perform a mix of classical and contemporary music before closing proceedings each evening with the RN’s traditional sunset ceremony. A firework display will bring the curtain down on both nights’ entertainment. Before the main performances, the RM dance band and RN pipers, will provide the warm-up, while marines jazz musicians will provide the music as guests depart. The proms, hosted by BBC South Today

presenter Sally Taylor, are the finale of the annual Portsmouth Festivities. A free park and ride service will operate between Lakeside at North Harbour – there is no car parking for the public on Whale Island, except Blue Badge holders – and a free shuttle bus will run to and from Portsmouth Harbour station.

children and £50 for a family ticket with proceeds going to Service charities. Details at www.southcoastproms.com while tickets are available from Portsmouth Guildhall box office on 02392 824355.

Tickets are priced £16 for adults, £11 for Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48