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Originally posted by Simon Bolivar
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The dozen RM Bandies sorted out the old fashioned military stretchers & practiced running their buddies around the deck in them. The engineers built the ramp that would be used to carry the injured from the Flight deck to the Triage Area.
On the 17thApril, we were told we would be moving onboard the following day & sailing shortly afterwards. Last chance for that run ashore! Mad dash for town, the older hands how had been there before leading the way. I found my way into the ?Hole in the Wall? bar (see attached photo) & various other less reputable establishments.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16545[/ATTACH]
To put Gib into context, Gib was one of the most popular run ashores for matelots & had been for yrs. Visiting occurred either before or at the end of long tours, or Med Exercises, it was a time to let off steam & as always, there are those who took it just that bit too far & came back sans memories, sans rank!
Some matelots scored with the tourists but basically Gib was a drinking festival. Of course although the local economy benefited, no doubt the locals got hacked with the constant stream of drunken antics. One of the more amusing was Snow White & the 7 dwarfs. This is where on a ?team building mission? in civy parlance. A young officer would go ashore with is senior & junior ratings, they would troop into a pub, drink beers & move on, if the officer fell first, he would be carried home by the dwarfs, where the poor medic would get lumbered with him. Where do you get 7 dwarfs on an RN ship? Well they just get down on their knees of course, you see it is a real pub crawl!
We had been warned of the local Gib police, had a nice trick for drunken matelots. Anyone picked up would be incarcerated for the night, the mattress placed over their back & given a severe
kicking around the kidneys. There were also the traders in the markets waiting to rip you off & the drunker you were the easier that would be. I haggled for three days for a heavy black silk embroidered wrap for the GF & managed to secure that before the last run ashore. We did see a couple of the nurses near the shops but for a crew about to spend the next 3/12 together, the sexes seemed well segregated.
A signal was sent to the Admiralty, 60 hrs after her arrival, ?RNHS Uganda, ready in all aspects for sea ?. Not to start as a hospital but to proceed to sea & prepare for that en-route.
On the morning of the 19th we sailed, All the naval personnel performed Procedure Alpha, lining th esides of the vessel in full No1 uniforms ( the rigs with the gold badges). There was no fanfare, although colleagues waved from RNH & a few Dockies watched us sail away, as our very own Bandies played the usual melody of RN marching music, leaving the protection of the harbor walls; Hearts of Oak, gave way to Rod Stewart. Finally ?We are sailing...?
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On the 17thApril, we were told we would be moving onboard the following day & sailing shortly afterwards. Last chance for that run ashore! Mad dash for town, the older hands how had been there before leading the way. I found my way into the ?Hole in the Wall? bar (see attached photo) & various other less reputable establishments.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16545[/ATTACH]
To put Gib into context, Gib was one of the most popular run ashores for matelots & had been for yrs. Visiting occurred either before or at the end of long tours, or Med Exercises, it was a time to let off steam & as always, there are those who took it just that bit too far & came back sans memories, sans rank!
Some matelots scored with the tourists but basically Gib was a drinking festival. Of course although the local economy benefited, no doubt the locals got hacked with the constant stream of drunken antics. One of the more amusing was Snow White & the 7 dwarfs. This is where on a ?team building mission? in civy parlance. A young officer would go ashore with is senior & junior ratings, they would troop into a pub, drink beers & move on, if the officer fell first, he would be carried home by the dwarfs, where the poor medic would get lumbered with him. Where do you get 7 dwarfs on an RN ship? Well they just get down on their knees of course, you see it is a real pub crawl!
We had been warned of the local Gib police, had a nice trick for drunken matelots. Anyone picked up would be incarcerated for the night, the mattress placed over their back & given a severe
kicking around the kidneys. There were also the traders in the markets waiting to rip you off & the drunker you were the easier that would be. I haggled for three days for a heavy black silk embroidered wrap for the GF & managed to secure that before the last run ashore. We did see a couple of the nurses near the shops but for a crew about to spend the next 3/12 together, the sexes seemed well segregated.
A signal was sent to the Admiralty, 60 hrs after her arrival, ?RNHS Uganda, ready in all aspects for sea ?. Not to start as a hospital but to proceed to sea & prepare for that en-route.
On the morning of the 19th we sailed, All the naval personnel performed Procedure Alpha, lining th esides of the vessel in full No1 uniforms ( the rigs with the gold badges). There was no fanfare, although colleagues waved from RNH & a few Dockies watched us sail away, as our very own Bandies played the usual melody of RN marching music, leaving the protection of the harbor walls; Hearts of Oak, gave way to Rod Stewart. Finally ?We are sailing...?
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