Promotion..........

Promotion in the Royal Navy is, like civvie street, dependent on other people's views.

The Navy operates within a divisional system with a divisional officer looking after a group of lower ranks ( a division ). Within this division will be a number of officers, non-commissioned officers(nco) and junior ratings. A chain of command exists within this setup and is, actually, a reasonable way of doing things.

You do remain, however, dependent on the view of your divisional officer when it comes to promotion. It was this fact that, ultimately, decided my future for me.

Promotion through the ranks comes from passing the right exams and courses, combined with a six monthly assessment of character and efficiency. The latter is crucial, from this assessment a number of points are awarded - these points determine when you get promoted. So, pretty important then.

When assessing character and efficiency an individual is usually compared to other people of the same rank and job - so an MA will be compared to other MAs within a division. So far, so good. But - what happens when you are the only one with your rank and job?

On joining the Leeds Castle in 82 I was the only medic on board so could not be compared to other medics of my rank. The approach from my divisional officer on board, the first lieutenant (jimmy), was to evaluate my performance as a medic - the only way to do it, really. A medics role is totally different to say a seaman or a mechanic on board a ship.

By the time I joined the Leeds Castle I was an officer candidate; in fact, this is what got me the gig in the first place. On leaving the ship, after the conflict, my conduct was VG (Very good) and my performance Superior, with a glowing report from the first lieutenant - this is good, meaning that high points would be awarded towards promotion to Petty Officer.

This level of assessment continued until I joined HMS Yarmouth. Still an officer candidate my DO dropped my assessment to Satisfactory - this was, of course, enough to put back my promotion a good six months. He, apparently, thought it appropriate to compare my to seamen on board who spent the day painting and doing seamen type things. Of course, my responsibility was too ensure the health and welfare of the ship's company was maintained.

So, one individual affected my promotion prospects because he failed to understand the role of a medic on board a frigate. This, ultimately, made up my mind to withdraw as an officer candidate and to leave the RN prematurely after 14 years of service.

Mind you, there are plenty of ineffectual and frankly poor managers littering civilian companies - so no surprises there then!

Make my day - punk.....!

16th June 1982.

We are acting as the guard ship at Ascension Island.

This is particularly boring although the sun shines constantly.

A party of us go ashore for a tour of the defence stations on the island and a shoot in the afternoon. Yes - the fools allow me to fire a weapon - bloody crazy if you ask me!

Let me explain - a naval medic gets to carry a weapon, in this case a 9mm browning pistol, in a combat situation. The objective, of course, is to protect any casualty you have in your care. Yeah - right! I agree with this in theory but reality bites. If I see any enemy approaching me, regardless of casualties or not, I will definitely have a pop!

The shoot in the afternoon goes well. I am, in fact, a pretty good shot. That is providing, the target is no more threatening than a stationary oil drum. God knows what would happen if presented with a moving target.

So, there you have it, fear not, Leeds Castle's very own 'Dirty Harry' is on hand. Blimey!

Anyone for a dip.......?

11th July 1982

We are again in the TEZ and spend the day transferring stores to RFA Fort Grange. This was to prove quite an eventful day.

The weather was very cold and the seas a little choppy, but not too bad. The flight deck is covered with a thick sheet of ice, making moving stores extremely difficult - however, we press on.

The stores are being transferred via the ship's sea riders and with the aid of a Sea King helicopter from the Fort Grange. Quite an impressive site seeing this large aircraft landing and taking of from our flight deck!

The crew works hard getting the stores shifted and all proceeds well until mid afternoon when the Sea King has a mishap. It had just taken off from our flight deck and had moved away some 30 yards, or so. It obviously had developed some sort of engine problem because it just dropped from the sky! Fortunately, not from a great height - if it had done, the outcome may have been different.

The aircraft's flotation bags deployed as it hit the water and then it just sat there for a while bobbing in the water. Our sea rider responded rapidly and recovered the crew with minimum fuss. A good job - well done. The aircraft's crew were all fine with no injuries. They had not been immersed, so no problems with hypothermia or water ingestion. In fact, they were drier than the sea rider crew that picked them up!

There was a further bit of drama when the Fort Grange's sea rider capsized while trying to attach a line to tow the ditched aircraft back to their ship. This crew were then rescued by our sea rider crew. Again, no injuries.

I can't quite remember the fate of the Sea King - I suspect it sunk.

So, another eventful day demonstrating the skills of the well trained men of the Royal Navy!

Is it a bird, is it a plane....?

1982 in the TEZ, South Atlantic.

Well, I'm back were I started these ramblings - I'm in the crows nest again - taking the middle watch duty (midnight to 0400).

Again I'm up here keeping lookout for signs of enemy aircraft. A pretty boring, but necessary job. I continually scan the horizon looking for tell tale signs of aircraft above. We are particularly concerned about Hercules bombers who have already bombed a tanker; these planes have a range of 1800 miles so are an obvious threat.

I've been up here for a couple of hours and am feeling pretty tired. It's difficult to keep awake and concentrate but I manage it.

The ship is rolling gently as we make our passage. Wait a minute! Is that a light? As the ship rolls a light high in the black sky comes into view and then fades again. As the ship rolls I see this light a couple of more times. Bloody hell! Could that be the light from a high flying plane - does anyone else see it?

I phone the bridge and talk to the officer of the watch to report what I see. A couple of minutes pass before he gets back to me. Well, I feel a bit of a pillock.

The light in the sky that comes into view when the ship rolls is, in fact, the moon! Amazing what tricks fatigue can play on the senses.

Mind you, the officer of the watch thought that it was better to be safe than sorry!

Leaning......

Well, here we are, steaming from ascension to the TEZ with more supplies to deliver throughout the fleet.

The Leeds Castle from the superstructure to aft is all flight deck - this probably accounts for half of the length of the ship. Pretty big for a ship of this size.

On this particular foray South, we are stuffed to the gunnels with stores - it seems that every nook and cranny has found a home for something. This means that stores have been stacked and secured on the flight deck.

These supplies take up a significant area of the flight deck and are stacked 12-15 feet high or more. No problem while the seas remain relatively benign.

As we get further South the conditions deteriorate with increasingly stronger winds and heavy swells. During this weather things take a dramatic turn.

It is early in the morning, maybe 5 or 6 am - it's still pretty dark outside. The seas are heavy and the winds strong. I am awoken with a start. 'All hands to the flight deck' is piped over the tannoy. As I struggle to get aft, I can't help but notice that the ship is listing severely to starboard - we are, in fact, at a crazy angle!

As I reach the flight deck it is now obvious what the problem is - the stores have slid across the flight deck and now lie starboard. The only thing keeping them from Davey Jone's locker appear to be the guardrails. The crew is turned to and gets rapidly to work.

We spend the next few hours shifting the stores back to a centre position on the flight deck. We then make sure they are firmly strapped down - panic over.

Mind you - it was a little hairy for a while. Being no seaman, I have no idea how severe a ship can list before it capsizes - I sure as hell didn't want to find out. I'm no Gene Hackman!

It could have been me..........

HMS Antelope took part in the Falklands War. On May 23, 1982, while Antelope was on air defence duty at the entrance to San Carlos Water, protecting a beachhead established two days earlier, she came under attack by Argentine A-4 Skyhawk jets. Not long after the ship exploded while bomb disposal worked onboard.

This was a particularly sobering experience for me. Let me explain...

Back in 1980, I think, my mate Andy Till and I were serving at the naval airbase - HMS Osprey in Portland. Now, both of us had not yet had a draft to a ship - this is 7 years after joining the Navy. This was not particularly unusual, there were a lot of medics and not too many ships. Nevertheless, both Andy and I were keen to serve on board a seagoing warship - after all, that's what we had joined and trained for.

The Navy attempts to send you on draft (new posting) to the ships or establishments you asked for. Often this is not possible. Andy and I both put down Antelope as a choice for our next draft.

At the time, I had been dating my girlfriend, Sue, for a month or so - nothing too serious at this stage (she is now my wife of 26 years and counting). Whilst having a beer or two at HMS Osprey's club, the Flying Fish, I happened to mention to Sue that I had put in for the Antelope. Well! She rushes out of the club in tears. Now, what the hell had I done? Women, eh!

It was obvious that our relationship was a little more serious than I had thought. So, I withdrew my request for the Antelope. Subsequently, Andy got the Antelope as his next draft. So there you have it, my best mate sailed to the Falklands in 1982 on the Antelope and the rest is history. Fortunately, Andy survived the fate of the Antelope, at least physically. I saw him a few years later - he wasn't the same happy go lucky guy I used to know.

There are no guarantees that I would have got the Antelope if I had left my request in place - there is a good probability that I might have. I do know, that Sue, inadvertently, stopped me making what could have been a fatal mistake....

Footnote. The Antelope had been in the TEZ for one day before it was crippled.