HMS Cardiff - when these boys came to town you knew itNow there is one thing that the toughest armed forces in the world all agree on. Parachute Regiment, Royal Marines, French Legionnaires and American Green Berets all say the same.
When it comes to living life and having a good time, no one does it better than a Royal Navy Matelot. They will drink your beer and steal your girls and still leave you with a smile.
HMS Cardiff and her crew saw action all over the world. Now decommissioned she is not the proud sight she once was. So let us remember her and her crew as she once was and they once were.
God Bless the men who served on her. Pussers Rum all round.
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How far back are you going GA? The present lot would be more likely to infest the Gay Bars and you wont find many Para's, Marines, Legionaires or Green Berets there! Bring back the Royal Tournament and the Field Gun races and lets get some self respect back into the senior service. I just read a recruiting poster for crew required for HMS Pallas, 36 guns, sailing from Plymouth in January 1805 (not one of the Trafalgar squadron). How about this? "None need apply but seamen, or stout hands, able to rouse about the Field Pieces, and carry an hundred weight of PEWTER withut stopping, at least three miles" The Captain, Lord Cochrane, had no difficulty in quickly filling his ship with prime hands. Lord Cochrane was the role model for Jack Aubrey, the hero of Patrick O'Brien's epic novels of life in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, surely the Navy's finest hours. I have no doubt that our naval men, in those days, were the creme de la creme. Carry a hundredwight of Pewter for three miles!! Today they could hardly walk three miles carrying their handbags!! Ask the Iranians if you doubt it. Do I sound like an old cynic? One of the miserable old gits? Maybe I am. But still a patriot. Celtic Morning
ReplyDeleteJust come back to this after a few hours away, expecting to find plenty of posts asking me if I had forgotten WW2 etc. Certainly had not, tough seamen, both Royal and Merchant fleets, Battle of the Atlantic, Russian convoys, Evacuation of Dunkirk etc. I just hope todays naval men are of the same calibre. The Iranian group are probably not a typical sample. At least, I hope not! Celtic Morning
ReplyDeleteJust come back to this after a few hours away, expecting to find plenty of posts asking me if I had forgotten WW2 etc. Certainly had not, tough seamen, both Royal and Merchant fleets, Battle of the Atlantic, Russian convoys, Evacuation of Dunkirk etc. I just hope todays naval men are of the same calibre. The Iranian group are probably not a typical sample. At least, I hope not! Celtic Morning
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post, especially loved the picture
ReplyDeleteI've been having wifi/laptop problems for a while now but I just caught a connection and came to check out what's new. Thanks for this GA - God bless you too.
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