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‘ONCE NAVY, ALWAYS NAVY’

Woking hold St George’s Day parade

WOKING branch have held their annual St George’s Day Parade with a march through Old Woking High Street for a service at the ancient Church of St Peter’s. The march was led by 15 standards of various local veterans’ associations, of which three were national standards – the Fleet Air Arm, Merchant Navy Greenwich College and HMS Glory Association. Sea Cadets from Woking unit joined the parade, and as one standard bearer was sick Cadet Robin Eladias volunteered to carry the Union Standard at the last moment. This was the first time he had carried a standard, and after a very brief period of training he did “an excellent job”. On arrival at the church prior to the service the standard bearers formed a guard of honour to greet the Mayor and Mayoress of Woking, Cllr Mike and Ann Smith. The service was led by Canon Peter Thompson, and readings were delivered by Cllr Smith and the chairman of the association, S/M Ian Fraser. The Ladies Bisley Choir, as always, ably led the singing. Following the service the Mayor inspected the standard bearers and commented on their fine turn-out.

Funeral for X-craft man

A WARTIME submariner who devoted much of his life to a Sea cadet unit in the Midlands has died at the age of 87. S/M Keith Hornby Priestnall joined the Royal Navy and eventually served in X-craft – midget submarines – during the war, including at least one mission against German ships in Norway and preparatory work for the D-Day Landings. He left the Service shortly after the war, with the rank of lieutenant commander, and by 1950 had become Commanding Officer at Burton Sea cadet unit – an organisation he was to be involved in for 60 years. Lt Cdr Priestnall also had close business links with Burton’s famous brewing industry; he set up a company producing beer mats – and was instrumental in the creation of a national museum of brewing in Burton. Former Commander-in-Chief Fleet Admiral Sir Trevor Soar delivered a eulogy at the funeral of Lt Cdr Priestnall, who died on February 16.

Wildfire parade

THE annual Wildfire III parade and service hosted by Queenborough and District Naval Ensign Association at Queenborough will be held on the 8th September at Queenborough, Kent. The parade will muster outside Queenborough Church at 1.30pm with the service in the park at 2pm. For further details please contact Janet on 01795229338 or e mail janet.flew@btinternet. com

GI baby finds family across the Atlantic

A RECENT trip across the Atlantic by RNA National Chairman S/M Chris Dovey saw him return home with more than the usual clutch of souvenirs.

Chris came back with a whole new family... Chris was what came to be known as a GI baby – the result of a liaison between his mother and an American serviceman stationed nearby at Ludlow in Shropshire. The couple met at a dance in the spring of 1944, but his father’s unit moved suddenly, secretly and without warning in May 1944, part of the preparations for the Normandy Landings. Chris was born on St Valentine’s Day in 1945, but knew little about his father other than a name – Edgar Householder – and the fact that he was with a US Army Air Force unit. “I have been trying to trace my father over the last 40 years without success, being ignored initially on three occasions,” said Chris. One day, commuting home, he heard a radio programme about GI babies which referred to an organisation called TRACE (Trans Atlantic Children’s Enterprise), so Chris pulled over into a layby and scribbled down the details. Through TRACE he was put in touch with a research officer at the US Military Archives in St Louis. “I found six names that matched my father’s, but none were either the right age or were part of an Air Force unit, and no record could be found of one being stationed in Shropshire in 1944,” he said. “However, I was told that the St Louis Archives suffered a major fire in 1973 and just over a third of their records were lost. It was probable that the records I needed were destroyed in that fire. “I felt like I had hit the buffers

l S/M Chris Dovey (left) as a 24-year old lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and his father, Edgar Householder, at the age of 20 again.” One possible line of enquiry arose when Chris’s wife saw an article in a newspaper about an American plane which had crashed into the Mediterranean off Italy in February 1944 and the wreckage had been found. One of the crew was named Householder, but his first name was Robert, so that was that. He continued with his attempts to trace his father, but with no luck – until early this year. “In late January this year I was doing some research on the internet for a friend who was trying to trace a former US Navy colleague. “I came across a website I had not encountered before and got some useful information. “Having got what I needed for my friend I tried putting in my father’s name. “Up popped two names in Fort Collins, Colorado, with addresses about 12 miles apart. “One, Edgar Householder Snr, was 88, born April 23 1924, which was the right age for my father as my mother told me he was almost exactly the same age as her (born

April 14 1924) and he had been an air mechanic. “The other, Edgar Jnr (Ed) was 61, and I guessed was probably the son. “I wrote to him, partly because I didn’t know if the elder was still alive, but also that if he was it might come as a shock me writing to him if he was my father. “I had a very supportive letter back from the son saying his father had died in 2001 but they were intrigued by my story and would help in any way they could – and he actually sent some photos and service documents of his Dad’s.” Ed said some of Chris’s information chimed in with that his father had told him, which encouraged Chris to investigate further. “My wife and I had already booked to spend five weeks in Toronto with our son James and his family, so I arranged to fly down to Colorado with my son,” he said. “He had been working in Canada for ten years and had also tried searching for my father through American contacts. “We had a great three days with the Householder family and on

Strait Street examined STRAIT Street. The Gut. Names from a thoroughfare in Malta that are redolent of another time, another Royal Navy. These bywords for hedonism form the subject matter for a new book by Dr John Schofield and Emily Morrissey; Strait Street – Malta’s ‘Red-Light District’ Revealed. Dr Schofield, Head of the Department of Archaeology and Director of Studies, Cultural Heritage Management, at the University of York, said: “Straight Street (end especially that part known as The Gut) divides opinion, just as it has always done. “Drawing on original research, a new study takes an ‘archaeological approach’ to the street, drawing away its many layers of social and political complexity to reveal the hidden histories that lie beneath the surface. “This is also a study in cultural heritage: what the place represents today, and what it meant to people in the past.” Part of the original research was gathered through a request for information in Navy News. In their closing statement, the authors assert that Strait Street and The Gut, in Valletta, were always “marginal places”, but hope their book’s approach can help promote “the acceptance of Strait Street and the hope that one day it will live again as a

the first full day there Edgar Jnr – Ed – agreed to do a sibling DNA test with me. “I had the results one week later and we have identical Y chromosome genes, which only come down through the paternal line. “I now have a legal document stating that Ed and I are half brothers. “During our visit Ed took us around to meet the wider family and also took me to his father’s grave – also my father’s grave, as it later transpired. “Alongside was the grave of his brother, one Robert Householder who was killed on Valentine’s Day 1944 – one year exactly before I was born – in a plane crash in the Mediterranean off Italy. “If only we had followed up that newspaper article...” “Ed and I have kept in touch since, and also with a half-sister, and their children, and we plan to develop our new-found family relationship with reciprocal visits between Colorado and UK. “I also intend to apply for a US passport and to help my son qualify for one too as he spends at least two days a month flying to the States on business.” Chris is now looking forward to developing my American roots and introducing his half brother and sister to his four half brothers here. “ My only real sadness is that my mother died in 2009,” he said. “She always said my walk always reminded her of my father – a comment Ed made to me when we first met in Fort Collins as he had seen me walking into the Starbucks Café where we had agreed to meet up. “She was married for 58 years to my stepfather Joe, who was a wonderful father to me, and even if Edgar Snr had still been alive he could never have taken away the love I had for Joe.”

l Murray Haddow (ex-HMS Caprice) receives his Arctic Star from Rear Admiral Chris Hockley, Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland

Veterans return to Wester Ross

AN ONLINE petition has been launched to try to prevent the scrapping of the former HMS Plymouth. The Rothesay-class frigate, which was in the thick of the action during the Falklands Conflict, had been used as a museum ship in Glasgow and Merseyside, but in recent years her future has been increasingly clouded by doubt – until it was announced last year that she would be scrapped. The epetition can be found at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk

FORTY Arctic Convoy veterans travelled to Wester Ross to receive their Arctic Star medals – and were overwhelmed with the welcome they received from the local community. The survivors of “the worst journey in the world” could not speak too highly of their gratitude for what was a memorable and enjoyable visit to the place where their wartime journeys to Russia began. Talking over the microphone at the ‘Meet the Veterans’ event at Aultbea Village Hall, 89-year-old Gordon Grayson from Sheffield praised the organisation and the warm welcome given to all of his fellow veterans. “We are all hugely impressed with our visit back to Loch Ewe and cannot thank you enough for the kindness and hospitality shown – and particularly all the local volunteers who have made this a truly memorable occasion for us all,” he said. The Memorial Service at Cove was attended by the greatest number of visitors ever to the site of the Russian Arctic Convoy memorial stone at the mouth of Loch Ewe, with the medal ceremony following at Poolewe Village Hall. The packed audience witnessed the official presentation of the Arctic Star medal by the Lord Lieutenant, Mrs Janet Bowen, Defence Minister Mark Francois, Keith Brown, Scottish Minister of Veterans, and Rear Admiral Chris Hockley, Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. The event was part of a weeklong programme put together by Jacky Brookes, of the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum Project, who said she was delighted with the success of the initiative. h See next month’s Navy News for more details of the Wester Ross gathering.

MEMBERS of the HMS Impregnable / HMS Drake Association paid a visit to HMS Raleigh as part of their annual reunion in Plymouth. The members, who all served at the shore establishment located at the old St Budeaux Barracks in Plymouth, were treated to a tour of the RN Submarine School. They also joined families and friends of the latest recruits to complete the ten-week intensive initial naval training course, to watch the passing-out parade. The visit brought back fond memories for former CPO Tom Cochrane, who met his late wife Edith at HMS Raleigh. Edith was a member of the WRNS and worked as a chef in the galley. Tom said: “She was serving the

meals and I took a fancy to her. “I was sent to the Mediterranean for two-and-a-half years and I wrote to her every day. We had many years of happiness together.” Originally wooden training hulks moored in the Hamoaze, in 1936, HMS Impregnable was established as a shore base and was used to train Royal Navy Signalmen during World War 2. Later it became an accommodation centre for the WRNS, taking the name Drake. Mary Haycock, association secretary, said: “Devonport is our base and we’ve been holding our reunions here for a number of years. “We like to arrange something different for our members each time and someone suggested we come to HMS Raleigh.”

Plymouth plea

Drake and Raleigh

l Straight from the Gut – echoes of the past survive in Valletta, Malta marginal environment, vital and sustainable, as a lively, chaotic, and colourful place – Valletta’s beating heart, but this time for the benefit of all.” The book can be ordered from Midsea Press (Malta) at www.midseabooks.com/publications_ detail.aspx?pid=13479 for a price of 22 Euros.

h RNA HQ, Room 209, Semaphore Tower (PP70), HM Naval Base, Portsmouth PO1 3LT. h admin@royalnavalassoc.com h 023 9272 3747 h www.royal-naval-association.co.uk 34 : JUNE 2013