Niall Cox Posted 12 August , 2003 Share Posted 12 August , 2003 Glad to have this section, as I thought questions were only about the Army. Can anyone recommend any reading about conditions in the Navy at the time of the Great War. I realise that each man had a job, and sort of went about that job on ship in the same manner day to day, but what happened on enlistment as a 'Boy'; what was training like at establishments like 'Impregnable', how did it get decided when they would change ship, as they seemed to do so frequently; did they have a more regular leave pattern than the Army? Just interested in the Navy equivalent of 'Life in the Trenches' Niall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 12 August , 2003 Share Posted 12 August , 2003 I am not sure this will answer yr direct questions of everyday life but this web-address will give you access to a great deal of general information on the maritime history of WW1 and the minutiae of some aspects of Naval life http://www.gwpda.org/naval/n0000000.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Cox Posted 13 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 13 August , 2003 Signals Thanks - something to start to get my teeth in to. Niall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tintin Posted 13 August , 2003 Share Posted 13 August , 2003 Dear Niall, Unlike military history naval history seems to be almost exclusively about equipment and tactics, little on the men or organisation.Most of what I have found out about the latter side comes from fiction. There was a very good non-fiction book published in the 1960s called, I believe, "Men of the Dreadnoughts" On the fiction side there are three books by Alexander Fullerton (who was himself a submarine officer) "The Blooding of the Guns" (Jutland), "Sixty Minutes for St George" (Zeebrugge) and "Patrol to the Golden Horn" (Dardanelles). They all give a full picture of operations and the latter is based on the epic voyage of a real submarine through the narrows to the Turkish inland sea. The claustrophobic atmosphere is well conveyed. The early part of "HMS Saracen" by Douglas Reeman covers the Dardanelles and shows how harsh life could be in the Navy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 13 August , 2003 Share Posted 13 August , 2003 Rum, sodomy and the lash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Cox Posted 13 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 13 August , 2003 tintin Thanks for that, I hadn't really considered fiction, but I think going that way is a really good idea, so thanks for the suggestions. Paul Blimey, where do I sign??!! Niall [already with his sailor suit on] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 13 August , 2003 Share Posted 13 August , 2003 Rum, sodomy and the lash! Would you kindly explain this comment Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 13 August , 2003 Share Posted 13 August , 2003 QUOTE (paul guthrie @ Wed, 13 Aug 2003 14:13:43 +0000) Rum, sodomy and the lash! Would you kindly explain this comment Isn't that a typical Friday night down in Portsmouth Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted 13 August , 2003 Share Posted 13 August , 2003 Isn't that a typical Friday night down in Portsmouth Will Any night really. A three badge Killick once told me when he joined up it was all "Rum, Bum and Baccy, now it's all juke box's jelly babies and jiving" Roger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 13 August , 2003 Share Posted 13 August , 2003 Yeah OK, but all joking aside, the forum rules preclude us from making such innappropriate comments. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hussar Posted 14 August , 2003 Share Posted 14 August , 2003 Yeah OK, but all joking aside, the forum rules preclude us from making such innappropriate comments. Michael Speaking as a Naval type, I can't see the problem in quoting A.) The title of an album by the Pogues. B.) The titles of at least 2 books on Naval History, and C.) Paraphrasing the Great Orator and one time First Lord of the Admiralty ( see, I even managed to get this back on topic!) Winston Churchill "Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Clarke Posted 14 August , 2003 Share Posted 14 August , 2003 Isn't that a typical Friday night down in Portsmouth Will I believe so... ... and the local newspapers sell like hot cakes on Saturdays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 14 August , 2003 Share Posted 14 August , 2003 It helps if you quote yr source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Burns Posted 14 August , 2003 Share Posted 14 August , 2003 Hi Hussar, I figure what could be safer than checking the forum in the morning? Now I've got " A Pair of Brown Eyes" stuck in my head! Take care, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munce Posted 15 August , 2003 Share Posted 15 August , 2003 There are worse things to get stuck in your head, Neil! Back to the topic at hand, there's a fascinating account of life in the RN to be found at: http://www.naval-history.net/WW2MemoirAndSo00.htm It's WW2 era rather than WW1, but I'm sure a lot of the details of service life were pretty similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Cox Posted 17 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 17 August , 2003 munce That's fascinating stuff indeed. Albeit in the thirties, just what I had in mind. Thanks a lot. Niall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tintin Posted 18 August , 2003 Share Posted 18 August , 2003 From the earlier humour this might amuse readers Standing Orders at the Royal Naval Division Depot, Crystal Palace stated "The Fairy Archipelago is out of bounds" (Crystal Palace was a sort of theme park before the war and many of the attractions remained in place when the RN took it over) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 18 August , 2003 Share Posted 18 August , 2003 Niall This first title will give you a general out look of life in the R.N. Title: Sober men and true : sailor lives in the Royal Navy 1900-1945 Author: McKee, Christopher Date: 2002 ISBN/Control No. : 0674007360; Although the second title moves away from the the WWI, it will still give you an insight into the life in the R.N. In my opinion, life in the R.N. had not changed much by this time. And I must stress that I DO NOT agree with rebellion in any form whether it be riot or mutiny. Title: The Invergordon mutiny : a narrative history of the last great mutiny in the Royal Navy and how it forced Britain off the Gold Standard in 1931 / Alan Ereira Author: Ereira, Alan Date: 1981 ISBN/Control No. : 0710009305; Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Cox Posted 19 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 19 August , 2003 Thanks to Arthur and all the others for compiling my reading list. Although a lot of the books are still available new, I normally do a secondhand booksearch for most things. Strangely, although 'Sober men and True' is about the British Navy, every second hand copy I could find was in the USA - perhaps they had to read it themselves to believe it Niall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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