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NAVY NEWS, JUNE 2011

Family heroes

MOD HQ wins top award

A NEW MOD headquarters building has won a prestigious prize at the Partnerships Bulletin Awards in London.

The Joint HQ building at Northwood in Middlesex was judged best operational project, beating seven other public private partnership (PPP) contenders to the highest accolade available to the Private Finance Initiative/PPP industry.

The judges particularly commended the way in which the project teams, from Carillion, Scott Brownrigg and the Northwood Development Project, had worked together in partnership to achieve their common aim.

The building is one part of a five-year redevelopment of the whole Northwood HQ site, and was officially opened by the Queen in May last year.

It is the new home to the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), which is responsible for all UK joint overseas military operations.

Cdr Simon Brown RN (retd), speaking for the whole team, said: “We are proud that on this sitewide project we have absolutely delivered all the requirements not only of PJHQ but also other units onsite including Commander (Operations), the Multinational HQ, HMS Wildfire and others.”

THE DEDICATION of wartime memorials is not just a chance to formally recognise heroes of the past.

after the attack, and Mme Jeanne Baudray, as a young girl, was with a group of fishermen who fed the raiders.

Every one of the Cockleshell For some it is a personal, family matter – as demonstrated by Heroes was represented by at least one family member. the dedication of the Frankton Maj Hasler’s widow Bridget, Memorial, on the mouth of the his son and daughter, and Gironde River in France.

The memorial pays tribute to grandchildren were there, as was the daughter of Lt Dick Raikes, all involved in the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ canoe raid which attacked the CO of HMS Tuna.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir shipping in Bordeaux Harbour – not just the Royal Marines who Mark Stanhope was one of the principal guests, and minehunter carried out the raid, but also the sailors of submarine HMS Tuna, HMS Shoreham provided a uniformed guard and helpers. which delivered the combatants The memorial, at the Pointe to their starting point, and the de Grave, was nurtured by Erick French Resistance and civilians Poineau, the President of Frankton who helped them on their way to Souvenie, the Anglo-French the attack and to escape. group dedicated to perpetuating Some of the latter were present the memory of the raid. at the ceremony – Mme Amélie It comprises four stones Dubreuille and her husband sheltered Maj ‘Blondie’ Hasler, becoming progressively more the leader of the raiding party, upright, representing a force rising and his colleague Mne Bill Sparks from the sea. l The front stone of the Frankton Memorial (above left); (left) AET Duncan Kiltie, of RNAS Culdrose, pays his respects at the memorial – his mother is the niece of Sgt Wallace, who died on the raid; (below) Angus Hasler (7), grandson of Maj (later Lt Col) ‘Blondie’ Hasler, admires the stone he helped unveil

Give to receive SHIPS, units and establishments are being offered the chance to win one of eight £1,000 cash prizes for their welfare fund from the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC).

All they have to do is get people signed up to the Payroll Giving Scheme.

Whichever entrant gets the highest percentage of sign-ups wins – enter the first round of the competition before June 30 to stand a chance.

There are winners all round; for a minimum of £5 a month, which comes out of salaries before tax, individuals receive automatic sports insurance, and it helps the charity which could support Servicemen and women, their oppos and family through bereavement, injury and hard times.

As of April the leaderboard showed HMS Vigilant (Port) at the top, followed by Excellent, Daring, Victorious (Stbd), Bulwark and Iron Duke/814 NAS in joint sixth place.

For more details see your unit Payroll Giving Scheme representative or go to the charity website www.rnrmc.org.uk

Centre opened THE Fleet Air Arm Museum’s newly-redeveloped Swordfish Centre has officially re-opened.

Building work began last year with a refit of the conference area, where a new ceiling, lighting and floor were added.

Attention then turned to the restaurant, which has been completely refurbished.

The museum’s policy of buying goods and services locally wherever possible means the new centre has been worked on by local builders and craftsmen.

Pictures: AB Will Haigh (HMS Shoreham)

Clearer view of the sea The Royal Navy will be helping to shed some light on the crucial role that the sea plays in the life of every British citizen.

Maritime charity Seafarers UK is co-ordinating Seafarers Awareness Week from June 6-12 in a bid to help cure the ‘seablindness’ that afflicts the nation.

And the Royal Navy will be playing its part to ensure the message is writ large that British trade and interests rely overwhelmingly on open sea lanes.

For example, some 95 per cent of UK trade is carried in ships – including vital sources of energy such as oil and gas, much of it through strategic ‘choke points’ such as the Gulf of Aden – and there are 14 British Overseas Territories to be protected.

Now in its third year, Seafarers Awareness Week is a nationwide communications campaign which will include the findings of research revealing how the role of sea-goers is overlooked by most Britons.

Seafarers UK has made a video showing how the UK would suffer if food, fuel and goods were not shipped in, and an interactive web TV show and radio interviews will support the initiative, as will print and social media messages.

Seafaring organisations will also be playing their part in the drive by producing their own promotional activities.

RN and RM units are being encouraged to use the week as a platform to highlight the relevance of the sea to their own community. h w w w.seafarer sawareness

week.org

Holland One is a legend

Memorial agreed A MEMORIAL project sparked by an article in Navy News has moved a step nearer completion with the granting of planning permission.

The memorial (shown in an artist’s impression, right) is to the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties or COPP, a unit of fewer than 200 men who won more than 90 medals and commendations in under three years of active service worldwide.

The volunteers trained at Hayling Island Sailing Club, and it is on the seafront of Hayling, near the club, that the 4m standing stone will be erected on a small mound.

The COPP unit provided covert beach reconnaissance for Allied landings, including the D-Day beaches in Normandy.

The unit was created by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the great

uncle of the COPP Heroes Memorial Fund patron the Prince of Wales.

Robin Walton began the project when he read about a Russian Convoys memorial in this paper, and got in touch with COPP veteran Jim Booth through

Enigma exhibition is revealed

A NEW exhibition has opened at Bletchley Park commemorating the 70th anniversary of the capture of an Enigma machine and codebooks from U-110 on May 9 1941.

The exhibition features photos of the capture – the first time all known photos have been exhibited together at the same time – and the full story of the episode, including details from historian Hugh Sebag-Montefiore’s bestselling book Enigma: The Battle for the Code.

There will also be accounts by participants, including survivors of the U-boat.

A special 70th anniversary edition of Hugh’s book, updated to coincide with the exhibition, is available at Bletchley Park, which was once owned by Hugh’s ancestors.

The seizure of codebooks from U-110 was crucial to cryptographers, as it allowed the naval Enigma code to be broken, giving the Allies a crucial

advantage in military operations, such as the sinking of the battle-cruiser Scharnhorst at North Cape in December 1943. h Two artefacts from leading Bletchley Park figures were due to be handed to the museum as Navy News went to press.

A hand-drawn Monopoly board, featuring properties carrying the names of Cambridge streets, was used in games by Alan Turing and created by William Newman.

And a silver tankard presented to William’s father, Professor Max Newman – who led the Newmanry, a team which cracked the high-grade German Tunny cipher, and was Turing’s friend and mentor – is also due to go on display shortly. h A memorial to mark the vital work of staff at the wartime home of the Government Code and Cypher School will be dedicated later this year at Bletchley Park.

another article.

Through Prince Charles, a 15-ton block of granite from the former Duchy estates in Cornwall has been offered to the fund for the centrepiece of the memorial – a gift from Liskeard stonemason Ian Piper.

Anniversary cheer

HMS WARRIOR has further reason to celebrate the 150th anniversary of her first commissioning.

The revolutionary ironclad, commissioned while still fitting out on the Thames on August 1 1861, has been accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), indicating that it has met nationally-agreed standards for all UK museums over the way she is run, how the collection is looked after and the services provided for visitors.

Warrior is the third attraction on the Portsmouth site to receive accreditation, joining the Mary Rose Museum and the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

THE National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire is holding a series of special open evenings as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations.

The open evenings give visitors the chance to explore the 150acre wooded parkland site and – hopefully – see a spectacular sunset into the bargain.

They will also hear about the current state of the £8m NMA Appeal and landscape plans.

The remaining four of the six evenings are on Thursday June 2, Tuesday June 14, Wednesday July 6 and Thursday July 21, opening between 6pm and 10pm, last entry 9pm.

Entry to the site, at Alrewas near Lichfield, is free, though donations are welcome.

For more information on the evenings, and the appeal, which will fund a Veterans Pavilion and other improved infrastructure, see www.thenma.org.uk

THE Royal Navy’s iconic Holland One has joined a list of engineering legends such as the world’s first railway locomotive and the Channel Tunnel.

The UK’s first operational submarine has been awarded an Engineering Heritage Award by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, recognising the boat’s pivotal role in modernising the RN and her restoration by the RN Submarine Museum in Gosport, which preserved the vessel.

Launched in 1901, the boat was a rudimentary marriage of petrol engine, electric motor and storage battery which set the pattern for the development of the submarine.

After 12 years of service it was decommissioned, and sank while being towed to the scrapyard.

It was rediscovered almost 70 years later, raised and restored to go on permanent display.

Other pioneering projects on the IMechE heritage list include Trevithick’s Penydaren locomotive and the Bombe, an electromechanical decryption device created at the Bletchley Park code-cracking centre during World War 2 by Alan Turing. h The next Third Thursday Talk at the Museum sees author Simon Jones explore underground warfare during World War 1 (June 16).

The following month has Vice Admiral Sir Tim McClement talking of his time as First Lieutenant in HMS Conqueror, including the sinking of the Belgrano in 1982 (July 21) h w w w.submarine-museum. co.uk

PORTSMOUTH Historic Dockyard will be celebrating Armed Forces Day this month with a series of free events hosted by the National Museum of the Royal Navy, as well as the chance to see HMS Daring and HMS Gloucester.

On Saturday June 25 the Victory Arena will become a 1940s-style street party, and veterans will be on hand to relate their stories.

And on the Saturday and Sunday the two destroyers will be open to the public – operational commitments allowing.

Sunday June 26 also sees the

celebration of the centenary of the ‘Dockyard Museum’ in Portsmouth, the ancestor of today’s museum, which was opened on June 28 1911 in the Great Ropehouse.

The museum was the brainchild of Secretary to the Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Royal Dockyard, Mr PescottFrost, who recognised the fact that HMS Dreadnought was ushering in a new era for the Navy and that relics of the age of sail needed to be preserved.

For details see www. historicdockyard.co.uk

Arboretum opens late

Party in Portsmouth