Joining a new ship or establishment has a set requirements that you must adhere to, as does leaving. You don’t just turn up, where would you sleep? There are spaces or messes that are usually available for those drifting in …. I had to dredge through my old grey matter for a few moments then …. transit mess! I remembered. But, what the heck is a Mess?
Joining the military generally involves another seam of learning, the language or vernacular. The Royal Navy had and I hope still has, an entire language of terms to understand.
Mess – A mess is a group of crew members who live and eat together aboard a ship, or the place where meals are taken.
Mess Deck – The mess deck is the living and eating area for enlisted crew members.
Messmates – Messmates are sailors who share living and eating spaces aboard ship. They form close social groups. This arrangement supports morale and cooperation.
Jack’s Speak – Note! This uses the true Jack language and may offend some but is much more realistic. Not everyone uses all or any of this terminology. I also noticed a few missing 🙂
Meanwhile, back at the camp.
HMS Seahawk is a large air base in Cornwall and is split into 3 main areas with a few satellite areas elsewhere.
The main body of that image shows the airfield site with the main road running from low right all around the perimeter. The area of buildings top center is the accommodation site and just visible top left is HMS Seahawk 2, where the training and maintenance areas were.
Having “joined” I was assigned to a mess in Seahawk 2, where the chockhead training took place, for the most part but there wasn’t a course starting just yet so, once again, I was a spare part again so I had a few jobs while I waited.
I remember being sent to work in the Reg Office, where our police worked. They’re not police just a branch of the RN who manage discipline and such like, not always the most popular folks 🙂 but just matelots the same as the rest of us. The Joss (head reggie) called me into his office one day and asked me to run over to the NAAFI and get him a jar of Coffeemate and handed me some money. Off I went, just across the road, bought the required item, wandered back and left it and his change on his desk. Now, the Joss or Master at ARms to give him the full and proper title is a very important man and one to be feared by some so, when he stepped out of his office shouting “where are you, you horrible little …..?” I freaked a bit and EVERYONE turned to see what was wrong, especially as I shuffled towards him … “What the F is this? Holding a jar of coffee aloft. (Anyone spotted my mistake yet?)
“Erm, your coffee sir?” “Coffee??????? I asked for Coffeemate! I don’t call you mate!” I think the whole Reg office was howling, laughing at this little irk that had screwed up 🙂
Also, I had to run back to the NAAFI and explain the the NAAFI ladies what I’d done so they had a good laugh too. Everyone knows who the joss is! Ach well, it’s all a learning curve right?
I was also a bit of an oddity to some on an Air Station, I was still wearing my Boom Defence, pin and shackle badge which either they didn’t know what it meant or, they wondered why a fish’ead was on the base.
All part of life’s rich tapestry and all character building stuff to me.
Finally a new box of trainees arrived from HMS Ganges, the other training establishment like HMS Raleigh and so, I now had a course to start. Before the new group arrived, I’d been given quite a bit of leeway. Trainees are treated differently from Ship’s Company, all part of the learning process so, for example I came and went as I pleased and still had some civvies (civilian clothes), when the course arrived, that all changed. Back to being a “sprog”
I do remember coming back through the main gate at SH2 one night and the duty QM, (duty person manning the gate) pulled me aside and told me the duty PO wanted to see me!!!! Instant panic. What had I done wrong??
I walked inside the guard house and a PO turned and asked me my name, where was I from? Turned out he knew my dad from way back, he had also been and airman and this PO had worked with him. I didn’t know him from Adam but it was a relief so I went on my way.
We started our training course, once again, all new faces, new instructors, new learning curve, all relating to aircraft, airfields, flight decks and such like. If you have flown anywhere in the world, all airfields have basically the same setup, the lighting, the aircraft management etc. OK, there’s a big difference between Heathrow and Ark Royal but I think you get what I mean.
Part way through the course, a few of us were taken aside and interviewed or had a chat with the Chief Instructor. Turned out we had better educational qualifications and so had a few more options open to us as we progressed. One of those options was to change trade ….. yet again, if we wanted to. To join the SE trade. Now, my dad had been an SE, I had an insight into what the job entailed albeit from an earlier time so, I with a couple of others said yes, we’d like to at least see the options. A date and time was arranged for the three of us to visit the SE section on the airfield site.
Now, I’d been “hanging around” waiting for these guys to start so i could join the course with them so, i thought I was a wee bit special. I was late turning up at the SE section !!!! I rushed in to see the others standing with a Chief SE, already being briefed on what the job was all about. I mumbled an apology but, the Chief told me to wait in his office! Oh poop!
I shuffled from foot to foot waiting for him to come in and when he did, he shut the door behind him (that’s not good!) and then said “Young Scott! DO you remember me?” What? What the…? He had been a “run ashore” oppo of my dads way back, he and his wife used to visit us and she had actually lived with us while waiting for accommodation. I’d sat on her knee for goodness sake! I knew their first son!
Phew, no bollocking (that’s getting told off) and i was back to join the others asap.
We had a full tour around the section, chats with some of the killicks and lads working there before we were ferried back to SH2 and our original course.
All three of us decided we wanted to “go SE” so, the appropriate paperwork was shuffled, forms were signed and when our Pt.1 chockhead training was finished, we went on our way. Another move. Another trade change.
By the way, I must clarify that chockhead is the term for an Aircraft Handler. All FAA badges bore an aircraft symbol with the letters of the trade below, once you qualified, in this case it would have been AH but, not for us three.
We were shipped off to HMS Daedalus! Might as well have been Patagonia …. this time? Nope, just Hampshire, right on the South coats, in fact where I had first encountered the RN.
My dad had also been based at Daedalus and was trained at the outlying RNE Seafield Park, the SE school (RNSES).
So, from c1961 to 1975, I was returning to the same area to start a new course….. AGAIN! Also, I still had that pin and shackle on my arm, still a baby fish head, for now.
All of this so far had taken from March 18th to October 25th 1975. Was this going to be it?
Would I finally get a trade badge? 🙂
Find out in the next installment, meanwhile stay safe and well and I hope to “see” you again soon.
