A glorious day yesterday filled with pride

[Francis1947]

Not sure this will be allowed on this Forum but I will give it a go. If it isnt of interest to anyone ,please just ignore. I wont be offended.

As a long standing Saints fan of many years I realise the sense of sheer utter disillusionment on what has happened to the Club that many of us has followed over the years.

The dreadful mismanagement of Southampton Football Club over the last 4/5 years has been utterly shameful and been hard to take. Add in the greater picture that I think many people feel over what is happening to these isles of ours. The despair and malaise of so many things that seem to be collapsing now. The NHS, GP appointments, the never ending illegal Immigrant crisis, Our Chancellors infamous " Black Hole " and many many other things including the state of our roads.

So, yesterday, I experienced a day of pure joy and pride. Having served in the Royal Navy for 22 years I decided to motor down to Pompey yesterday ( Yes ! I know ! ) and watch the Prince of Wales depart on a major deployment to the Southern Oceans of this world. She will be joined by warships from Canada and Norway and will take part in large scale exercises in the Sea of Japan and the Pacific with units of the Australina and US Navy. He deployment will be for 8 months and her young crew will not see Blighty again before Christmas.

The POW will take on two full Air Wings of F35 B's once she is out in open water. One from the RAF and one from the newly instated Feet Air Arm. She also had a Wing of 16 Merlin and Wildcat helicoptors that were already on board when she sailed.

There were thousands there to wish her well and the hope she sails in calm seas and following winds . ( forgive me....an old Navy expression ) Many of the folks there were famiies of the crew and it was truly emotional.  Wives, husbands,parents, kids....all waving farewell. And I believe from having a quick chat with some of the Families that over 80 % of her young crew have never been deployed before

Many many Union Jacks and Crosses of St.George and Saltires and Flags of St.David and not a Trans Flag, a Unite Union Flag or a Hamas or Palestina flag in site !

Just pure joy and may I say pride and just a little bit of Patriotism on show for just a wee while.

Dont think this should be on a Football website but I just felt like writing this as I enjoyed the day being a very old Sailor and harking back to my deployments from Portsmouth Navy Base.

Please ignore if uninteresting.

[Turkish]

Before anyone complains this is not saints related i know for a fact at least one saints fan was onboard.

Good on you mate, glad you enjoyed the day

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

....

Better not lol

Edited Wednesday at 13:02 by ApprenticeBillionaire

[LiberalCommunist]

Nice to know someone found something to be proud of in this country right now. The closest I get, is a walk amongst our nature. 

[Badger]

A good read, thanks for posting it, glad you enjoyed the day. My late father was an 'Old Salt' (as he described himself) and never lost the fascination.

There are many things more important than watching 22 prima donnas kicking  a ball around.

Edited Wednesday at 13:14 by Badger

[Charlie Wayman]

All this military posturing is sadly very reminiscent of what happened in the years leading up to 1914. Who are we trying to impress? Russia, China, US? 

Edited Wednesday at 13:29 by Charlie Wayman

[Sarnia Cherie]

We read and sometimes respond to our fellow supporters on here but know nothing about them as people. It was interesting to read a little about your time in the Royal Navy. If your username is a clue to your dob then we are almost the same age. The world is very different to the one we grew up in and in many ways it hasn't changed for the better. I'm glad you had such a great day out and took the time to share it with the forum.

[Gloucester Saint]

3 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

All this military posturing is sadly very reminiscent of what happened in the years leading up to 1914. Who are we trying to impress? Russia, China, US? 

My sense is that it’s a joint US-UK mission to send a message to Xi over Taiwan, to Trump over the longevity of Anglo-American naval and military collaboration long before MAGA madness which will crash and burn, and to Putin over Ukraine and the Baltic states he is eyeing up.

[East Kent Saint]

Proud of our servicemen but not sure about massive aircraft carriers of a small island that should be part of the European group. Putin and Trump got their wish to split us off and we are largely of small interest to most countries.

As to the current state of our country I think this has been coming since the beginning of the end of empire plus the end of our industrial power , likewise America has trod the deindustrial route which Trump thinks he can reverse 😆 .

I can’t see how this slow decline can be reversed , see Japan for instance . 
We were told that Brexit would release the City to make £M but companies are fleeing London .

Edited Wednesday at 13:44 by East Kent Saint

[Gloucester Saint]

17 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Proud of our servicemen but not sure about massive aircraft carriers of a small island that should be part of the European group. Putin and Trump got their wish to split us off and we are largely of small interest to most countries.

As to the current state of our country I think this has been coming since the beginning of the end of empire plus the end of our industrial power , likewise America has trod the deindustrial route which Trump thinks he can reverse 😆 .

I can’t see how this slow decline can be reversed , see Japan for instance . 
We were told that Brexit would release the City to make £M but companies are fleeing London .

Great post EKS, quite possible to take pride in our forces, coming from a forces family myself, but also recognise that Brexit had made it a damn sight harder to fund our forces and that the ‘black holes’ Hammond, Hunt and Reeves have had to contend are caused by losing 6% of the economy to a very hard Brexit.

By contrast, Trump’s tariffs are damaging but at 0.8% of GDP.

Glad Francis enjoyed his day, and our sailors are going to get a really good grounding over the next few months for long careers where powers like China and Russia are a real threat. I could do without the domestic politics dragged in on the first paragraph. If you voted for Brexit then be honest and own up to the damage it has caused. 

Edited Wednesday at 14:00 by Gloucester Saint

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

All this military posturing is sadly very reminiscent of what happened in the years leading up to 1914. Who are we trying to impress? Russia, China, US? 

Did you prefer watching the ships in 1914 or this week? 

[AlexLaw76]

1 hour ago, East Kent Saint said:

Proud of our servicemen but not sure about massive aircraft carriers of a small island that should be part of the European group. Putin and Trump got their wish to split us off and we are largely of small interest to most countries.

As to the current state of our country I think this has been coming since the beginning of the end of empire plus the end of our industrial power , likewise America has trod the deindustrial route which Trump thinks he can reverse 😆 .

I can’t see how this slow decline can be reversed , see Japan for instance . 
We were told that Brexit would release the City to make £M but companies are fleeing London .

What a fucking boring response to a great post by the OP

[Charlie Wayman]

2 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

My sense is that it’s a joint US-UK mission to send a message to Xi over Taiwan, to Trump over the longevity of Anglo-American naval and military collaboration long before MAGA madness which will crash and burn, and to Putin over Ukraine and the Baltic states he is eyeing up.

Not sure this flotilla is going anywhere near the Baltic or the Black Sea.  

I get it, we support the Yanks in their backyard but they won't support us in ours. 

[Charlie Wayman]

33 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

What a fucking boring response to a great post by the OP

ditto

[East Kent Saint]

Reality can be boring 

[the colonel]

Great post. Keep your chin up. Yes things all look bad from football through to the state of the country. But, not easy I know, I like to look for the silver lining on all and increasingly difficult. Generally people are good and those that would do the country harm have the upper hand because it is east to criticise when things are down. 

I'm lucky to travel all over the world and based on what I see there is still something very different and special about the British. I know we naturally look at what is bad about us but when I see even simple things like attitudes on using public transport I feel not all is lost. I'm in my 60's and people still offer me a seat when I get on the London Tube, Its not as common as you would used to see. I agree the art of queuing has been lost getting on London buses.  A couple of recent trips in various EU countries, I could not help but notice no one offers a seat or to help those that need it, was virtually none existent. In Brussels, when I stood to allow a young pregnant woman to sit, there was a look of horror then surprise that I cared. She eventually sat down, but not a 'thank you' to be heard.

The world we are living in is increasing dominated by people being selfish. But deep down I believe in the good of people. I still believe there in those silver linings. We all have trails through our lives being occasionally being there for others can bring some positiveness to someone else's life. 

So if others feel this is another boring response so be it, but if some can try to keep smiling when their situation looks to be dire and it can make a little positive difference to another's day.

I didn't really mention football....but I will still be there Saturday. Keep smiling on.

[AlexLaw76]

28 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Reality can be boring 

What reality, it is part of a European effort ffs

[East Kent Saint]

To be fair there is no other country I'd prefer to live in or football club I would support instead of Saints but I am 70 😄

[Hayling Saint]

10 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

To be fair there is no other country I'd prefer to live in or football club I would support instead of Saints but I am 70 😄

i am totally with you on this.

[Farmer Saint]

Let's see how far it gets this time before breaking down.

[Francis1947]

7 hours ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

We read and sometimes respond to our fellow supporters on here but know nothing about them as people. It was interesting to read a little about your time in the Royal Navy. If your username is a clue to your dob then we are almost the same age. The world is very different to the one we grew up in and in many ways it hasn't changed for the better. I'm glad you had such a great day out and took the time to share it with the forum.

Many thanks for your kind response Sarnia. As you said, we all read the various posts here from many contributors. All of us have one thing in common being Saints fans but very few of us know much about each other as individuals.

I am now 77 years of age and I do agree with you that many things have changed in this world of ours since you and I were young men ! Many things for the better and a few maybe not so much eh.

I served in the Royal Navy for 22 years. From the age of 18 when I joined as a Midshipman to when I reached 42 years of age and not only has the World changed in that time but so has the RN. The days of " Splicing the Main brace " ended in 1970 when a tot of rum was issued daily to all non-commisioned ranks and females were allowed to serve on board an active warship in 1993. The rum ration in proportion to water got progessively stronger accrording to rank !  And remember, this was Pussers rum which had an alchoholic content of 75 % !

And this deployment of tbe POW illustrates how the Navy has changed. Not only is it much smaller now with just 19 service warships compared to over 60 when I joined but the Pacific ocean was never a theatre of operations for the RN. We left that vast sea to the US Navy.

My deployments in the 60's, 70's and 80's were to the key theatres of ops at the time, The North Atlantic, the West Indies station, the Med including Gibraltar and the Middle East and Far East where we had a station in Singapore.

My only deployment to Southern seas was to the South Atlantic in 1982 when Mrs. Thatcher made the decision to send a task force to the Falkland Islands .

I served on HMS. Glamorgan, very fine warship and crew. My abiding memories of the 7 weeks we were in Falklands Sound was being very wet, very cold .....and being shit scared ! 

[Sarnia Cherie]

9 hours ago, Francis1947 said:

Many thanks for your kind response Sarnia. As you said, we all read the various posts here from many contributors. All of us have one thing in common being Saints fans but very few of us know much about each other as individuals.

I am now 77 years of age and I do agree with you that many things have changed in this world of ours since you and I were young men ! Many things for the better and a few maybe not so much eh.

I served in the Royal Navy for 22 years. From the age of 18 when I joined as a Midshipman to when I reached 42 years of age and not only has the World changed in that time but so has the RN. The days of " Splicing the Main brace " ended in 1970 when a tot of rum was issued daily to all non-commisioned ranks and females were allowed to serve on board an active warship in 1993. The rum ration in proportion to water got progessively stronger accrording to rank !  And remember, this was Pussers rum which had an alchoholic content of 75 % !

And this deployment of tbe POW illustrates how the Navy has changed. Not only is it much smaller now with just 19 service warships compared to over 60 when I joined but the Pacific ocean was never a theatre of operations for the RN. We left that vast sea to the US Navy.

My deployments in the 60's, 70's and 80's were to the key theatres of ops at the time, The North Atlantic, the West Indies station, the Med including Gibraltar and the Middle East and Far East where we had a station in Singapore.

My only deployment to Southern seas was to the South Atlantic in 1982 when Mrs. Thatcher made the decision to send a task force to the Falkland Islands .

I served on HMS. Glamorgan, very fine warship and crew. My abiding memories of the 7 weeks we were in Falklands Sound was being very wet, very cold .....and being shit scared ! 

Turns out we are the same age but I was a young woman, way back, and now an old dear. I enjoyed the TV documentary Warship when it was on. Very interesting to go behind the scenes and good to see so many youngsters in the service, especially girls. 

[Toussaint]

17 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

All this military posturing is sadly very reminiscent of what happened in the years leading up to 1914. Who are we trying to impress? Russia, China, US? 

What an ill informed comment, I suggest you appraise yourself of the geopolitical situation. China has already declared it is at war with the west, and that was before tarrifs were even in the headlines. They are not alone in their malevolent intentions toward the west. 

Edited Thursday at 06:35 by Toussaint

[Gloucester Saint]

10 hours ago, Francis1947 said:

Many thanks for your kind response Sarnia. As you said, we all read the various posts here from many contributors. All of us have one thing in common being Saints fans but very few of us know much about each other as individuals.

I am now 77 years of age and I do agree with you that many things have changed in this world of ours since you and I were young men ! Many things for the better and a few maybe not so much eh.

I served in the Royal Navy for 22 years. From the age of 18 when I joined as a Midshipman to when I reached 42 years of age and not only has the World changed in that time but so has the RN. The days of " Splicing the Main brace " ended in 1970 when a tot of rum was issued daily to all non-commisioned ranks and females were allowed to serve on board an active warship in 1993. The rum ration in proportion to water got progessively stronger accrording to rank !  And remember, this was Pussers rum which had an alchoholic content of 75 % !

And this deployment of tbe POW illustrates how the Navy has changed. Not only is it much smaller now with just 19 service warships compared to over 60 when I joined but the Pacific ocean was never a theatre of operations for the RN. We left that vast sea to the US Navy.

My deployments in the 60's, 70's and 80's were to the key theatres of ops at the time, The North Atlantic, the West Indies station, the Med including Gibraltar and the Middle East and Far East where we had a station in Singapore.

My only deployment to Southern seas was to the South Atlantic in 1982 when Mrs. Thatcher made the decision to send a task force to the Falkland Islands .

I served on HMS. Glamorgan, very fine warship and crew. My abiding memories of the 7 weeks we were in Falklands Sound was being very wet, very cold .....and being shit scared ! 

In terms of your memory of Southern Seas deployment, I’m currently reading - and enjoying - this book at the moment about how Canberra was borrowed, and adapted, for the Falklands War. I remember being on Weston Shore in 1982 with my parents when she came back, a vivid early memory. The human aspects in terms of how civilian and naval personnel got along is really interesting, and 99% of the Cunard crew wanted to stay on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Strange-Way-War-Falklands/dp/1845137450

Edited Thursday at 07:53 by Gloucester Saint

[AlexLaw76]

4 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

In terms of your memory of Southern Seas deployment, I’m currently reading - and enjoying - this book at the moment about how Canberra was borrowed, and adapted, for the Falklands War. I remember being on Weston Shore in 1982 with my parents when she came back, a vivid early memory. The human aspects in terms of how civilian and naval personnel got along is really interesting, and 99% of the Cunard crew wanted to stay on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Strange-Way-War-Falklands/dp/1845137450

The enormous effort to transform both huge elements of the Navy and civilian ships, in less than a week in 1982, is something we could never achieve today.

remarkable really

Edited Thursday at 11:58 by AlexLaw76

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

20 hours ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Nice to know someone found something to be proud of in this country right now. The closest I get, is a walk amongst our nature. 

Sorry to burst your bubble.

https://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2023/10/state-of-nature-report-2023/

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

In terms of your memory of Southern Seas deployment, I’m currently reading - and enjoying - this book at the moment about how Canberra was borrowed, and adapted, for the Falklands War. I remember being on Weston Shore in 1982 with my parents when she came back, a vivid early memory. The human aspects in terms of how civilian and naval personnel got along is really interesting, and 99% of the Cunard crew wanted to stay on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Strange-Way-War-Falklands/dp/1845137450

My dear wife and I went down to Lee on Solent on Good Friday evening to watch her leave. A very sobering moment.

 

I was also in Portsmouth Harbour when Invincible came home. I was in my Mirror Dinghy. It was a beautiful late September day and I launched her up Fareham Creek but there was no wind and I had to row the first couple of miles.
 

Down at the Harbour  it was bedlam with boats everywhere churning up the water and she came in later than advertised so I slowly sailed down to the Harbour entrance and saw this big ship coming at me with fire tugs spraying all over the place and everything that could move racing to keep up with her. I thought she would come in at a stately few knots but she must have been doing fifteen or so. 
 

I decided to nip behind a couple of catamarans that were anchored just off where Gunwharf Quays are now situated and dropped my sails in the hope of protection from the swells. She was soon alongside with all the festivities and bands playing, a sight that I shall never forget.

Later, as I was working my way back up the Creek her Sea Harriers took off whilst she was tied up alongside. I didn’t know they could do that. Then they did a circuit of the harbour in a farewell salute and headed west towards Yeovilton.

In this photo I am off her starboard side hidden by the funnel.

[Gloucester Saint]

Canberra’s return to Southampton July 1982 for anyone too young to have been there or seen it 

 

[Winnersaint]

Great post Francis. My late dad would have loved that. He was FAA served mainly on HMS Eagle, all three of us were born near air bases me in NI, sister in Yeovil and brother Salisbury (Boscombe Down). Remember him coming back on Eagle just before the World Cup Final in 66, went down to Plymouth to see it dock. 

[Francis1947]

May I make a last post on this thread with apologies to Moderators and anyone who feels this is too self indulgent and it has no place on a football website or its just plain boring !

To answer Alec and WhiteyGrandad on 2 separate messages, yes the Logistics involved in sending almost 40 warships of all shapes and sizes to the South Atlantic in a matter of days was truly impressive and not enough is written about that side of the operation. Abd to think that the RN task force was made up from shops from 4 different bases. 

A number of ships came out of Plymouth headed by the Type 22's Brilliant and Broadsword. A fleet from Pompey including both carriers and type 42's. A number of ships who were berthed in Gibraltar in April 82 including my own HMS. Glamorgan. And finally, although we on the surface fleet had no knowledge of this at the time, I believe 3 nuclear subs from Faslane including HMS Conquerer.

Regarding HMS Invincible not returning home until September. I always had alot of sympathy for the crew of Invincible. However the Admiralty decided she had to stay on station there until HMS Illustrious could come out of refit to take her place.

HMS Hermes had to come home almost immediately as the old girl was almost finished. One of her boilers had gone and she was almost done for. If Galtierie had known her condition and waited for just a few more short weeks, we would have lost a carrier and her air support and probably have lost the war.

I came home on the Glamorgan on I think the 12th of July. We had been over 100 days at sea. No WW2 RN warship had ever done that.

My missus had a pass as all the wives of the crew had, to get into the Dockyard and be pn the jetty when we docked. I hadnt seen her since January when we left on what we thought would be a quick jolly of 3 months to Gibraltar.

Some abiding memories of that day was the crowd lining the Walls to welcome us home and an American warship that was in dock in Pompey. Cannot remember her name but the entire crew lined up on deck and saluted us as we passed by.

We were badly beaten up. We had been hit by an Exocet fired from the island in June and we lost 14 of our shipmates. We learnt that many of the families of our lost crew had decided to come into the Dockyard to welcome us who had made it home. A wonderful thing to do that still has me in tears now.

And when our Captain, Mike Barrow, heard about that he decided to turn the Glamorgan away from the Dock so the families could not see the terrible damage the ship had taken.

Apologies again if this is not of interest to anyone so please ignore or delete. 

 

4 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The enormous effort to transform both huge elements of the Navy and civilian ship, in less than a week in 1982, is something we could never achieve today.

remarkable really

 

[Charlie Wayman]

10 hours ago, Toussaint said:

What an ill informed comment, I suggest you appraise yourself of the geopolitical situation. China has already declared it is at war with the west, and that was before tarrifs were even in the headlines. They are not alone in their malevolent intentions toward the west. 

Did you read what I wrote?

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

6 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Canberra’s return to Southampton July 1982 for anyone too young to have been there or seen it 

 

Me and a mate were up on the Itchen Bridge with all the vast crowds trying to get the best spot to watch it come home. It was some sight.

[Noodles34]

On 23/04/2025 at 13:52, Turkish said:

Before anyone complains this is not saints related i know for a fact at least one saints fan was onboard.

Good on you mate, glad you enjoyed the day

Joe? 
 

[sadoldgit]

6 hours ago, Francis1947 said:

May I make a last post on this thread with apologies to Moderators and anyone who feels this is too self indulgent and it has no place on a football website or its just plain boring !

To answer Alec and WhiteyGrandad on 2 separate messages, yes the Logistics involved in sending almost 40 warships of all shapes and sizes to the South Atlantic in a matter of days was truly impressive and not enough is written about that side of the operation. Abd to think that the RN task force was made up from shops from 4 different bases. 

A number of ships came out of Plymouth headed by the Type 22's Brilliant and Broadsword. A fleet from Pompey including both carriers and type 42's. A number of ships who were berthed in Gibraltar in April 82 including my own HMS. Glamorgan. And finally, although we on the surface fleet had no knowledge of this at the time, I believe 3 nuclear subs from Faslane including HMS Conquerer.

Regarding HMS Invincible not returning home until September. I always had alot of sympathy for the crew of Invincible. However the Admiralty decided she had to stay on station there until HMS Illustrious could come out of refit to take her place.

HMS Hermes had to come home almost immediately as the old girl was almost finished. One of her boilers had gone and she was almost done for. If Galtierie had known her condition and waited for just a few more short weeks, we would have lost a carrier and her air support and probably have lost the war.

I came home on the Glamorgan on I think the 12th of July. We had been over 100 days at sea. No WW2 RN warship had ever done that.

My missus had a pass as all the wives of the crew had, to get into the Dockyard and be pn the jetty when we docked. I hadnt seen her since January when we left on what we thought would be a quick jolly of 3 months to Gibraltar.

Some abiding memories of that day was the crowd lining the Walls to welcome us home and an American warship that was in dock in Pompey. Cannot remember her name but the entire crew lined up on deck and saluted us as we passed by.

We were badly beaten up. We had been hit by an Exocet fired from the island in June and we lost 14 of our shipmates. We learnt that many of the families of our lost crew had decided to come into the Dockyard to welcome us who had made it home. A wonderful thing to do that still has me in tears now.

And when our Captain, Mike Barrow, heard about that he decided to turn the Glamorgan away from the Dock so the families could not see the terrible damage the ship had taken.

Apologies again if this is not of interest to anyone so please ignore or delete. 

 

 

It must have been very tough to return home without so many shipmates. I can’t imagine what it must have been like out there. Deep respect to you and your colleagues.

[Turkish]

9 hours ago, Francis1947 said:

May I make a last post on this thread with apologies to Moderators and anyone who feels this is too self indulgent and it has no place on a football website or its just plain boring !

To answer Alec and WhiteyGrandad on 2 separate messages, yes the Logistics involved in sending almost 40 warships of all shapes and sizes to the South Atlantic in a matter of days was truly impressive and not enough is written about that side of the operation. Abd to think that the RN task force was made up from shops from 4 different bases. 

A number of ships came out of Plymouth headed by the Type 22's Brilliant and Broadsword. A fleet from Pompey including both carriers and type 42's. A number of ships who were berthed in Gibraltar in April 82 including my own HMS. Glamorgan. And finally, although we on the surface fleet had no knowledge of this at the time, I believe 3 nuclear subs from Faslane including HMS Conquerer.

Regarding HMS Invincible not returning home until September. I always had alot of sympathy for the crew of Invincible. However the Admiralty decided she had to stay on station there until HMS Illustrious could come out of refit to take her place.

HMS Hermes had to come home almost immediately as the old girl was almost finished. One of her boilers had gone and she was almost done for. If Galtierie had known her condition and waited for just a few more short weeks, we would have lost a carrier and her air support and probably have lost the war.

I came home on the Glamorgan on I think the 12th of July. We had been over 100 days at sea. No WW2 RN warship had ever done that.

My missus had a pass as all the wives of the crew had, to get into the Dockyard and be pn the jetty when we docked. I hadnt seen her since January when we left on what we thought would be a quick jolly of 3 months to Gibraltar.

Some abiding memories of that day was the crowd lining the Walls to welcome us home and an American warship that was in dock in Pompey. Cannot remember her name but the entire crew lined up on deck and saluted us as we passed by.

We were badly beaten up. We had been hit by an Exocet fired from the island in June and we lost 14 of our shipmates. We learnt that many of the families of our lost crew had decided to come into the Dockyard to welcome us who had made it home. A wonderful thing to do that still has me in tears now.

And when our Captain, Mike Barrow, heard about that he decided to turn the Glamorgan away from the Dock so the families could not see the terrible damage the ship had taken.

Apologies again if this is not of interest to anyone so please ignore or delete. 

 

 

Far from it its very interesting, love this sort of stuff. 👍

Edited Thursday at 22:45 by Turkish

[AlexLaw76]

7 hours ago, Francis1947 said:

May I make a last post on this thread with apologies to Moderators and anyone who feels this is too self indulgent and it has no place on a football website or its just plain boring !

To answer Alec and WhiteyGrandad on 2 separate messages, yes the Logistics involved in sending almost 40 warships of all shapes and sizes to the South Atlantic in a matter of days was truly impressive and not enough is written about that side of the operation. Abd to think that the RN task force was made up from shops from 4 different bases. 

A number of ships came out of Plymouth headed by the Type 22's Brilliant and Broadsword. A fleet from Pompey including both carriers and type 42's. A number of ships who were berthed in Gibraltar in April 82 including my own HMS. Glamorgan. And finally, although we on the surface fleet had no knowledge of this at the time, I believe 3 nuclear subs from Faslane including HMS Conquerer.

Regarding HMS Invincible not returning home until September. I always had alot of sympathy for the crew of Invincible. However the Admiralty decided she had to stay on station there until HMS Illustrious could come out of refit to take her place.

HMS Hermes had to come home almost immediately as the old girl was almost finished. One of her boilers had gone and she was almost done for. If Galtierie had known her condition and waited for just a few more short weeks, we would have lost a carrier and her air support and probably have lost the war.

I came home on the Glamorgan on I think the 12th of July. We had been over 100 days at sea. No WW2 RN warship had ever done that.

My missus had a pass as all the wives of the crew had, to get into the Dockyard and be pn the jetty when we docked. I hadnt seen her since January when we left on what we thought would be a quick jolly of 3 months to Gibraltar.

Some abiding memories of that day was the crowd lining the Walls to welcome us home and an American warship that was in dock in Pompey. Cannot remember her name but the entire crew lined up on deck and saluted us as we passed by.

We were badly beaten up. We had been hit by an Exocet fired from the island in June and we lost 14 of our shipmates. We learnt that many of the families of our lost crew had decided to come into the Dockyard to welcome us who had made it home. A wonderful thing to do that still has me in tears now.

And when our Captain, Mike Barrow, heard about that he decided to turn the Glamorgan away from the Dock so the families could not see the terrible damage the ship had taken.

Apologies again if this is not of interest to anyone so please ignore or delete. 

 

 

Awesome stuff

I read this book years ago, absolutely fantastic (about HMS Ardent)

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781839014659?gC=5a105e8b&gad_source=4&gbraid=0AAAAADsTpAQ1hEtlsG-dO9zpHdgljsISa&gclid=CjwKCAjwwqfABhBcEiwAZJjC3gHuasmb1ieAw8xsvsh6PzXUQwWaNHbAsC8p5eHEMjkAIqQBjPTEFxoCZWwQAvD_BwE

Edited Thursday at 20:29 by AlexLaw76

[Whitey Grandad]

10 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Canberra’s return to Southampton July 1982 for anyone too young to have been there or seen it 

 

I was at my unit in Hamble when she came home and we went down to the shore to watch. I remember it being a very hazy day.

[Turkish]

30 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I was at my unit in Hamble when she came home and we went down to the shore to watch. I remember it being a very hazy day.

I vaguely remember it on the TV I was 5 with no idea what was going on other than we’d won a war miles away. I do remember being in the bath with my toy boats playing warships with the Canberra not realising it wasn’t a war boat 

[Gloucester Saint]

Whilst not a long war thankfully, the human loss shouldn’t be overlooked with the Falklands as Francis mentions with the Exocet hit and losing 14 of his shipmates.

I’ve worked with one ex-serviceman on community projects who has PTSD from having packed away the bodies of Argentinian troops in crates.

I asked him how young, expecting him to say 18/19 and he said ‘no, younger, taking their O Levels or younger’. 

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, Turkish said:

I vaguely remember it on the TV I was 5 with no idea what was going on other than we’d won a war miles away. I do remember being in the bath with my toy boats playing warships with the Canberra not realising it wasn’t a war boat 

I couldn’t understand what the dirty marks were down the side of Canberra (rust of course) watching on Weston Shore. I was coming up for 5 so we must be a similar age. 43 years ago in July but one of my earliest and most vivid memories (along with Bryan Robson’s WC goals v France the previous month lol). 

[Saint Fan CaM]

The Falklands War seems almost like dream now - incredible service from the military men and women at the time. Difficult to imagine the UK being able to defend like that now, largely thanks to manner in which the Government destroyed UK manufacturing.

[Gloucester Saint]

5 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

The Falklands War seems almost like dream now - incredible service from the military men and women at the time. Difficult to imagine the UK being able to defend like that now, largely thanks to manner in which the Government destroyed UK manufacturing.

And part of the reason Galtieri felt able initially was the defence cuts of 1981 even though there were FCO warnings that Argentina might try its luck.

[SoberSaint]

Thank you so much for your post, and more significantly, your service Francis. Yes, non Saints, but enjoyed all the contributions.

[rooney]

7 hours ago, SoberSaint said:

Thank you so much for your post, and more significantly, your service Francis. Yes, non Saints, but enjoyed all the contributions.

Here here!

[Whitey Grandad]

18 hours ago, Winnersaint said:

Great post Francis. My late dad would have loved that. He was FAA served mainly on HMS Eagle, all three of us were born near air bases me in NI, sister in Yeovil and brother Salisbury (Boscombe Down). Remember him coming back on Eagle just before the World Cup Final in 66, went down to Plymouth to see it dock. 

I had a wireman technician called Peter who worked for me over about fifteen years. He was ex FAA and had served on HMS Eagle and one of the Leander class too. He came from near Malvern.

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

Rekindles memories of the day when news came through of HMS Sheffield being hit by an Argie Exocet. We played Cov that evening at the Dell, drew 5-5, but any joy was tempered by reports of those who were killed.