Victory Day Celebrations HMS Belfast

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ivorthediver
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Victory Day Celebrations HMS Belfast

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Let me start by thanking Tim our saviour from boredom who created amongst other prized centres of information..... our Forum .

As a few of you already know it was my privilege and honour to attend this event and in my own way describe the events that took place on this remarkable evening .

For those of you who don't know Tim very well... he is a very self a-facing modest Gentleman of the old school and values which we all know and were spoon fed on as we grew up , but daily being eroded by the time of "progress " as the tide of PC culture spreads its net over our daily values and diluted as the tide ebbs and recedes .

For those of you who know me , my apologies , and may I ask for your forbearance as I stumble through this area of activity to which I am unaccustomed , for whilst I am not backward in coming forward , I am overshadowed by such as the company of Ex servicemen of the calibre present at this ceremony , from many differing walks of life and countries of origin , called to arms at different ages to defend their respective countries at War in differing time zones and periods of History .

Once HRH Prince Michael of Kent was piped aboard and he inspected the Guard of Honour formed by the Sea Cadets on the quarter Deck he was ushered down to the assembled guests in the Ships Company Mess Hall

The theme chosen by Tim on this event was that of "In it Together " which his opening speech laid a crumb trial for the gathered speakers to pursue and recollect their personal memories which acted as the anchor for these recollections to draw against and was well found.

Tim's Welcoming address was as follows :-

Your Royal highness , dear friends ........
It is a great pleasure to Welcome you all here this evening to celebrate this 74th anniversary of the Victory that liberated Europe.

"In It Together"

This is the theme of our event this evening.

I want to tell you about the connecting power of history , your history.... and my own history
Some of you are old enough to remember my late father .

When he knew that his life was coming to an end he asked me to take over his activities with the veterans , " Look after the old boys and don't let their memory be forgotten " disregarding the fact that he was an old boy himself.

He used to say to me that you can either believe in fate or your life will be full of unexplained coincidences

So , the connecting power of HISTORY .........


In January 1940 my father was a very junior officer in the Royal Navy, and his ship was sent to Halifax , Canada to bring back one of the first Convoys .

I would like to welcome our representatives of the Royal Canadian Navy and even some from the great Naval Base of Halifax

Within a few months Norway suffered the indignity of invasion. and my fathers ship was sent to the defence of Norway where they stayed throughout this sad campaign....WE Have with us tonight a delegation from Norway representing veterans and war sailors from that country including TRYGVE Hanson of the legendary destroyer STORD.

Not long after the Norwegian invasion it was Russia's turn .

By this time my father had transferred to a different ship assigned to the Kola run-in which he made 12 Russian convoys.......So now I hold out my hand to our splendid Russian guests , many old friends from previous victory day celebrations .

During this time of course he served in a Royal Naval ship manned by royal naval officers and men, amongst these was veteran Tony Ditcham serving in the equally legendary destroyer SCORPION.
Tony was a young lieutenant and a gunnery officer, Terry Lewin was also a young lieutenant and a gunnery officer

By the beginning of 1944 Lewin's ship was assigned to the first multinational task force to close the Western approach to the channel in the build up for D-Day....again serving with Canadians and the ships of the free Polish Navy .

During all this sailing and fighting he managed to find time to meet and marry my mother.
My Mother was born and spent the first half of her youth in the Caribbean so it is with equal pleasure that I welcome our Jamaican friends especially Neil Flanigan RAF who joins us again and I am happy to tell you that our Jamaican Allies have thoughtfully brought with them an ample supply of their national product with which they are so indelibly associated .

Fast forward almost 4 decades and Britain found itself in a war the other side of the world.

Among the splendid ships that sailed south never to return was the beautiful HMS COVENTRY .
A ship launched by my Mother , commissioned by my Father , I am proud to introduce to you tonight five members who survived the loss in
action of this ship

So there you have it through my father , through history I am connected to all of you here , AND if I am connected with you..... you are
connected with each other .....

FATE ? Coincidence? or just the connecting power of History ? you decide .....


Now it is a Genuine pleasure to welcome back among us his Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent and ask him to join with me in welcoming you all here tonight .


This was the starting point at which various chosen guests gave us their recollection's following " HRH Prince Michael of Kents " response [in Russian I might add ;)

To be continued :-
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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ivorthediver
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST

Unread post by ivorthediver »

The continuation ........


This event was both educational and inspiring in that several long held views and misconceptions were aired and corrected .

I have been fortunate to have meet various members of the Royal family in my life , and civil Dignitaries which have all been enjoyable and on some occasions mildly unnerving , having said that my regard for people who have made an impression on me must fall to the lower echelons of life where their activities have both impressed and belittled my passage through life , some of these were present at the evening in question .

It was not possible to hear every thing that was said due to localised chatter and interpretations by others assisting these souls , but some of the recollections made of life during occupation by the enemy made your hair curl and demanded your total respect and admiration of the people concerned, and their will power to both survive and recall such terrible events in their life that others would be warned of such tragic occurrences

I have been told by several sources now of the regard that our nations efforts during the war ARE and continue to be highly regarded by the recipients to such an extent that not only the veterans themselves who fought are honoured but the families of them [ dear Jim the brush first told us of this ] and it is my understanding that in Russia the children and their children's children are taught to hold these peoples actions in the highest regard ........would that this were as apparent in the youth of today in our own land :( .....as all I hear of is disrespectful and attention seeking louts of both sexes who should be ashamed of themselves and not worthy of citizenship anywhere in Europe........ let alone our country :x

I am of an age now where I try to see good in all but am disappointed each day , with very few exceptions ....but maybe thats just me ....

I only wish that the camaraderie and companionship that prevailed on that night between so many differing nations could not be generated and dispensed...... as the World would be a much safer and enjoyable place to live in and the desire to remain in it would be far more widely felt .......but perhaps I am getting to old and wishful

WE were very fortunate to have started our evening in the company of Seymour Taylor and his daughter and his recollections of the Artic convoys which I wish could have gone on all night long , but events interrupted our dedicated attention .
We were then introduced to Maria Veretinina who's wonderful renditions we were to hear later on , and to hear of her nervousness at singing Vera Lynne songs later on which were hastily written and clutched in her hand ....she certainly had no need to have worried as it was word perfect throughout bless her .

I then had to get up to the quarter deck for the Sunset ceremony , which was very moving as it was my first but hopefully not my last for a few years yet to come .

Upon our return we were victualled , and left some wine with which to toast , and after the food was inspected by my ever attentive wife for the presence of Garlic ,to which I have an allergy to ,we progressed to toast time , at which point our dear comrades from HMS Coventry opened up and tale's followed from all present .

We rubbed shoulders briefly with others from both the Norwegian contingent and our very popular Jamaican group on the next table [ more of that eye opening event can be viewed in the WARDROOM thread :lol: ]

We then had Russian traditional songs from the Russian Souvenir ensemble which I thought for one moment our tables crew might join in a Cossack dance but they were the soul of discretion and the evening concluded with very many happy departures amongst what felt like life long friends at this stage :) :)

It was a wonderful evening and well worth the expense of the travel down from Cambridge and the associated costs , but my only regret is not having had the opportunity of sitting down with more of the Russian delegation with an interpreter to listen to them and their recollections in more detail ....Had I been able to converse with them it would have been my priority ......but alas my ignorance of the language and the time available precluded that .

I took many photo's on deck but have yet to decide on how to transfer them to our Forum so may have them transposed to a CD and then seek Tims Advice on the best method .
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by timlewin »

well done Ivor, it was a pleasure to have you with us; tomorrow I will put some of the myriad photos up, and links to the reports on BFBS Norwegian and Russian State TV. It was a good "run ashore" albeit still onboard! but before this the Russians had been to Greenwich and Chatham DY where they were received with great enthusiasm, the following day they had the ceremony at the Soviet Memorial next to the IWM, a concert in the evening, and the following day, The Tower of London. Yesterday, Saturday, they attended the memorial service for Tim Elkington (See obits) who died on 01 February, the last pilot to serve in the Battle of Britain and the Russian Front. They got home earlier this evening. The White Ensign lowered at Sunset was presented to the Museum in St Petersburg, there were tear and much joy, they accompanied the solemn remembrance of the not returned.
timlewin
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by timlewin »

party atmosphere with the Russian verterans...
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timlewin
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by timlewin »

the programme for the evening with the details of the veterans;
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ivorthediver
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Here are a few that I am sure Tim will identify........ other than our lad from the artic convoy Seymour Taylor of course [ the last one ]

I felt sorry for some of the heavily decorated guests with all that metal on their chests
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"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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ivorthediver
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Here are some of the photo's from the quarter deck most of which I had yet to speak to so did not know them [ other than our boss of course ]
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ivorthediver
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by ivorthediver »

A few more for Tim
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ivorthediver
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by ivorthediver »

and yet more for you Tim .......
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jbryce1437
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Re: Victory Day Celebrations HMS BELFAST 8th May 2019.

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

Many thanks to Ivor and Tim for the insight into the celebrations on HMS Belfast.
I share your disappointment with the youth of today Ivor. As my old man would say, they all need a good kick up the a**e.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
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