At 14 he ran away to join the Royal Navy and 'signed on' for 12 years. Heard so much about HMS Ganges though and it sounded very good for developing 'real sailors ' but as much as I hate to admit it I suspect it would have been too much for me . Welcome Guest. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please We were ushered in as a group of naked boys and told to wash thoroughly. LEADING SEAMAN Served from 1961 - 1970 Served in HMS Ganges. The showers at Ganges were just one bare room with several shower heads, no privacy. The site was closed in 1976 and was used as a maaried quarter estate by the RAF. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It had to be neatly folded and stacked, each item one above the other, with each item measuring exactly nine inches wide and one inch flat. Old men on the HMS Ganges Facebook page and it helps keep alive my time spent there. HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships from 1779 onwards, but in 1905 it was chosen for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich, where about 500 boy recruits were. He had the misfortune to be placed under the care of two particularly brutal and drunken instructors whose continual bullying and abuse proved too much for this emerging free spirit . last entry 16.30 We are also please to welcome visitors at any other time by prior appointment - please telephone 01473 788315 or 01473 788723 to arrange this. I joined Ganges 30th June 1955 also as a boy telegraphist. Rather than do the two as a pongo I signed on the dotted line for a dozen , best thing I ever did and I regret not staying in for the full time . HP10 9TY. He went on to be an SD subby. Not to the required half-moon, but to the first platform, where, when authoritative eyes were averted, I dashed to the other side and climbed back down.. One person found this helpful. It was hoped that Developers Haylink Ltd would start work early this year, but their plans were scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic. At about 60 feet was the Devil's Elbow, the most dangerous and frightening part. Looking pretty in candy-striped pyjama bottoms and naked chests, we were ordered across the parade ground, through the snow and ice, to the 'heads', that grown-up potty land, which had neither doors nor partitions around the bowls for privacy, to partake in our morning ablutions, a most embarrassing experience. Now i know why! HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships since from 1779, but in 1905 it was chosen as title for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich where about 500 boy recruits were stationed. . However, in the meantime we were still at the mercy of our instructors. and I got seven days 9s. The former treasurer of a naval veterans' organisation has been jailed for 18 months after nearly 80,000 was withdrawn from its accounts. 4 reviews When Peter Broadbent entered HMS Ganges, the toughest training establishment for young recruits to the Royal Navy, he was a naive 15-year-old Yorkshire schoolboy, entranced with the idea of seeing the world, proud of his drainpipe trousers and DA hairstyle, and eager to meet girls. Roe told me "I don't like you." I had thought that our group were the only sailors, if we dared call ourselves that, in this annexe, but I was soon to discover there was a continuous rotation of faces, each at various stages of initiation, a small factory taking in baby civilians at one end and throwing out almost sailors into the real HMS Ganges at the other. A planning application for the site was submitted and outline permission was granted in 2015. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. and for those of you who served at ganges and who have't joined the association go on..nothing to lose and you'll find a lot of old shipmates there!! Initially, training continued to be carried out on the vessel, but after the completion of a shore-based facility at Shotley, the ship was sent to be broken up. On October 28 the White Ensign was lowered for the last time and the ships figurehead was transferred to Royal Hospital School, Holbrook. I was out of there in an instant, but never said a word to anyone, I was just happy it was over and I had qualified. A Gannett Company. HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships from 1779 onwards, but in 1905 it was chosen for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich, where about 500 boy recruits were stationed. Im quite sure few if any boys receiving cuts ever thought to run away again. One not only suffered the punishment such as doubling up and down the steps of laundry hill with a 303 rifle held high. To get out of the showers we had to stand before our instructor legs apart arms raised for inspection. BBC Blue Peter presenter John Noakes attempted to climb to the top of the mast. Richard Dunn. On the parade ground the order went something like On the command fix! The left hand went behind the cheek of your left buttock and twisted the bayonet and scabbard upward. The HMS Ganges training base, which opened in 1905, closed in 1976 and has remained derelict. #42. The culprit was brought before the Commanders table, the punishment was awarded as six or twelve cuts. Joined Ganges Feb '61..went through the same as everyone else. Sad to see such an establishment close as it was so full of history and meant so much to so many. This was where the roped rigging jutted out some ten feet - above it, the platform. Martin Foster, 54, of Haig Road, Uxbridge, had already admitted two charges of fraud by abuse of position. I did climb that mast. "A lot of the boys came from foster homes, or Barnardos. He deserted on numerous occasions and willfully disobeyed orders . Sailors' uniforms were a familiar sight in our area until HMS Ganges closed in June 1976. Yes, I got it wrong! (LogOut/ H.M.S. The greatest fear was of messing up, this meant the whole class was punished. As a matter of interest how many of you did your 22 and beyond not many I suspect therefore you look back with nostalgia, fcuking hated the place and made certain I never treated any of my guys the same as the youngsters were treated there. A history of the Royal Navy Training Establishment HMS Ganges. However lessons, culminating in a test, were much more difficult. The one chippy bugger who thought it good fun to make you spar with him in the wash room (Annexe) I met up with in the Far Flung and gave him more than he gave me. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 13 March 1653 - Death of Simon de Vlieger (c. 1601, Rotterdam - buried 13 March 1653, Weesp) Simon de Vlieger (c. 1601, Rotterdam - buried 13 March 1653, Weesp) was a Dutch designer, draughtsman, and painter, most famous for. Developers Wavensmere Homes and Galliard Homes plan to build almost 300 homes on the site and include a restored mast in the development. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. CEM1 Served from 1972 - 1978 Served in HMS Ganges. Probably running away was the worse decision, they were always caught and returned to the camp. Martin Foster was treasurer for veterans who served at HMS Ganges training base in Sufffolk. joined in '63 Dreadnought in the Annexe and Duncan in main camp, Went swimming at Vincent before colling-grad got its pool, and sailing if my memory is not totally shot, I sometimes considered climbing to the top of the mast a tossing myself off. The previous evening I'd arrived at HMS Ganges training annexe, with an assortment of other would-be-sailors, and was placed in the capable hands of a spotty-faced junior instructor and a bullet-proof gunnery instructor who wore crossed guns on both lapels. My instructors were Nobby Clarke and Ted Roe. It was at Shotley Point that the wooden ship HMS Ganges was berthed from 1899, and used as a cadet training ship for the Royal Navy. "Boys came into Ganges at age 15 and went into the navy as men at 16. Work on the scheme, which would see 285 new homes, a 60-bed nursing home, a large retail space and areas for medical services, will not be started until a spine road through the site, which will take the bulk of construction traffic away from main roads, is built. Rumour had it many years ago a boy did fall, bouncing off the safety net and through the Post Office roof. I was at Ganges in 1955 and went to visit Shotley in 2005 and was surprised to see police signs near the old swimming baths. Mr Youngman, who joined the navy aged 15 in 1965, said he had previously climbed up to the top of the mast but "couldn't wait to get back down". The skipper was HS McKenzie who went FOSM. Captain Tremlett, the Senior Officer of training ships, was ordered to investigate the situation and reported that Commander Stevens 'had given punishments . HMS GANGES AT HIGHNAM COURT, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, 1940 - 1942. AboutPressCopyrightContact. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Each evening after we had cleaned the mess, we took everything out of the locker rolled each item into a nine-inch sausage, tied white tape around both ends, and then placed every item on a blanket. The mast has been a local landmark since it was erected a century ago this year at the end of the Shotley peninsular. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN, Artist's impression showing the view across a residential street at the redeveloped HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate. She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976. 11.00 to 17.00 Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays between Easter and the end of October. Aerial artist's impression of one of the green spaces earmarked for the former HMS. the reason i remember the date is that it was my 15th birthday, We got shipped out to Suez in October 1956 cutting short our training by a couple of months. This was the job of the button boy at HMS Ganges who had to shin up the last fifteen feet or so to climb on the button during ceremonial parades. Report abuse. While I probably believed the stories, I was still determined to quality for my chain. JavaScript is disabled. Ganges will for ever be the legacy of every young boy who passed through those distant gates to emerge as a sailor and a man. Back in the mess, this safe haven shielding us from those torturous sounds, the junior instructors' suspiciously cheerful faces greeted us. Artist's impression showing the view across a residential street at the redeveloped HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate. HMS Ganges as a training ship in the 1900s (Image: HMS Ganges Museum). Some boys failed the initial inspection which only lengthen their time in the freezing conditions. Learn how your comment data is processed. During the third disastrous week, it spent so much time on the deck I thought I might as well leave it there! (LogOut/ Charles Dickens might have penned it the best of times and the worst of times. Jon Sparks. She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976. First time ever looking at any RN sights. Dave Walton RN retired. This page is dedicated to the memory of Tony whose commitment to the Royal Navy and especially HMS Ganges was unlimited. This punishment was something I never witnessed and can only describe from what other boys told me. ", The boys climbed the mast whenever the base received high-status visitors, and as part of their training (Image: HMS Ganges Museum). From it came bloodcurdling cries of command, so frightening that I most surely would have obeyed them myself, if had I understood what they meant. After sewing on a tag and sporting a proud smile as I offered it up for inspection to that gorilla-of-gunner, I was sent scurrying away, ears ringing from slaps and vehement words, asking myself, 'How the hell did I mange to sew the tag on upside-down?'. Mr Jones also offered reassurance around the historic mast, despite fears about its dilapidated state. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. He was sitting on a stool and told me to stand in front of him and begin. Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestrasse 25, D-91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany +49 9831 505-0 abuse@hetzner.com. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's I arrived at Ganges in the late afternoon on March 15th 1955, along with roughly a hundred other fifteen year old boys. She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976. I wrote this song a long time ago. interesting .. photos of the old pool. 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