Pomp and circumstance...

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Pomp and circumstance...

by Usksider ^Pro @ Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 – 10:41:09

Yesterday we witnessed the Trooping of the Colour for her majesty the Queen's official birthday...

Being ex-military I always get a certain amount of pleasure from these occasions; we Brits do the pomp pretty well don't we.

While yesterday's performance was primarily a happy occasion, I always find myself reflecting on the ones who can never return... the fallen... so I also find myself feeling somewhat humbled too.

I guess being an ex-sailor it's not surprising it is those sailors lost at sea that spring first to my mind; particularly those I knew who died during the Falklands Campaign...

This year I found myself draw in a particular direction; that of the world of the submariner. I never served on one of these hideous beasts, but I do have the greatest respect for those who did.

The idea of spending my life beneath the waves never appealed to me... not even the extra pay was an incentive as far as I was concerned... somehow 'boats' never seemed safe to me.

There's a memorial in Portsmouth listing those RN submarines lost at sea... I dread to think how many men lost their lives when all these boats sank...

(click both images for larger views)
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26 Comments to Pomp and circumstance...

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- roblavender
- Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 11:00:44
yes it is a respect that we can share to all those who gave their lives but I can only guess that the submariners found the excitment of the challenge greater than us that floated on the surface, ALBEIT, sometimes only for a while....
- - Usksider ^Pro
  - http://www.usksider.co.uk
  - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 11:05:10
  Yeah... I guess there was a certain something to being a submariner, but sardines always come to mind when I think of those old boats.
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- xmillyxxx ^Pro
- Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 13:16:05
That is a beast of a boat..Looks rather daunting to me ! Sad when you think how many lives were lost back then .. x
- - Usksider ^Pro
  - http://www.usksider.co.uk
  - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 18:51:26
  Sadder still when you think about the submarines that have sunk worldwide and the associated number of deaths...
  - - xmillyxxx ^Pro
    - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:08:33
    Yes.. Very sad.. Many lifes lost at sea then and now. x
    - - Usksider ^Pro
      - http://www.usksider.co.uk
      - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:14:10
      I still grieve for lost friends...
      - xmillyxxx ^Pro
        
        Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 21:34:52
        
        Of course you do hun.. It will always be there.. x
        
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        Usksider ^Pro
        
        http://www.usksider.co.uk
        
        Monday, 15. Jun, 2009 @ 06:44:24
        
        Yes that's true... the Navy is like one big family
        
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        xmillyxxx ^Pro
        
        Monday, 15. Jun, 2009 @ 10:59:55
        
        Just as it should be x
        
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        Usksider ^Pro
        
        http://www.usksider.co.uk
        
        Monday, 15. Jun, 2009 @ 14:16:23
        
        Absolutely
        
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- jenray ^Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 15:00:38
looks very ugly that hulk...hmmm...and I agree...very brave men who went down in them...don't understand how anybody would choose to be confined in a tin can beneath hundreds of feet of water.. Saw a bit of the trooping of the colour on the news last night...the horses are gorgeous aren't they...uniform in colour and size and so beautifully looked after...I'm afraid I'm not pro the Royal family at all, but the pageantry of it is impressive...thought Philip looked ridiculous in his busby...always brings back great memories seeing Pall Mall...my bro and I used to scoot along it keep up with the marching bands that came out of the barracks or the Palace...on lovely hot summer days...we only lived round the corner from it... Good days...GBHs...XXX
- - Usksider ^Pro
  - http://www.usksider.co.uk
  - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:01:24
  There's a lot to be said for all the pomp and ceremony... and the hue amount of money that sort of thing brings to the coffers. I'm not a royalist either, but I do appreciate how much they mean to the country.
  
  Yes those damn old boats... no facilities and even less room... must've been a terrible feeling knowing you were sinking and the chance of escape was so slim.
  - - jenray ^Pro
    - http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
    - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:48:39
    I would have thought it was an utter nightmare knowing there was no escape...just awful...must be a particular type of individual who can tolerate such enclosed spaces and be prepared to die horribly too...GBHs...XXX
    - - Usksider ^Pro
      - http://www.usksider.co.uk
      - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 20:01:14
      Even surface ship crews live below the water-line... I spent a couple of years on an old carrier living 20 feet below water level and thinking, if this was an 'at war' situation I'd probably drown if we were torpedoed... but yes, it's a whole different ball-game for a submariner.
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- jackfrost ^Pro
- Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 15:17:21
We Will Remember Them

By George Luck DSM

When Britain seeks to carve it’s name on History's bloodstained roll;
It can point with pride to its submarines "Dear God" you took your toll.
It was said they were damned un-English a weapon to be abhorred.
But in a world where you fight for your freedom that's a view you just can't afford.
So in trying to balance life's budget when we sit down and add up the cost.
High up on the list is the price we paid; the eighty two boats that we lost.

The first on the roll was the "Oxley" then "Seahorse" "Undine" and Starfish"
"Thistle", "'Tarpon" and "Sterlet," then "Unity" and "Seal" was God's wish.
One after the other went, “Odin" then “Grampus" "Orpheus" and "Shark
The "Salmon" the "Phoenix" and then came the "Thames" no wonder the future looked dark
The "Narwhal" the "Oswald" and "Spearfish" and little "H49" too
The "Rainbow", "'Triad" and "Swordfish" our country was paying it's due
"Regulus", "'Triton", "Snapper" and "Usk", "Undaunted", "Umpire" as well
"Union", "Cachalot.", "P33" all sailing their own road to hell.

We lost "P32" and the “Tetrarch” the “Perseus” and “P31”
"The "Triumph", the “Tempest" and “P38" and sadly the list just goes on
There was “P39” and "P36" “Pandora" and "Upholder" too"
“Urge", "Olympus" and "P514", ."Thorn" and “Talisman" long overdue
"Unique", "Unbeaten" and "Utmost." then the turn of “P222"
"Traveller", "P48" and "P311" Lord is this what you want us - to do?

Then came "Vandal", "Tigris", "Thunderbolt.", "Turbulent.", "Regent." as well
With "P615” "Splendid", and “Sahib” all bowing to fates awesome knell.

The "Untamed", the "Parthian" and "Saracen" then X-Crafts "9", "8" and "5"
Followed by "6" then "7" then "10" yes Lord they'd done their last dive
"Usurper" the "Trooper" the next was "Simoon", "X22" also was lost.
And the Ex-German "Graph" then made her last dive we earned freedom at a terrible cost
"Stonehenge", "Sirtis" and "Sickle" Please God! just how many more?
Then "Stratagem" went to her resting place on that far distant hostile shore.

And so we near the end of the roll our White Ensign proud at Half Mast
Right to the end our submarines paid for the "Porpoise" was the last.
Each year we gather at Fort Blockhouse and ask that their memories be blessed
For we stand proud and tall as old comrades with those dolphins pinned on our chests.

So we who survived now pray to our God "Let our boys grow up to be men" If we paid the price unflinchingly Dear Lord don't ask them to pay it again.

George Luck DSM

Editors note: This poem was contributed by RN submariner Peter (Pedro) Dickenson who told me the late Mr. Luck was a WWII RN submariner and had earned the Distinguished Service Medal. Peter said the 82 boats lost named in the poem are mentioned in chronological order of their loss. The poem is read each year at St. Nicholas' Church - an 812 year old sailor's church in Liverpool - during the annual Submariner's Memorial Service.
- - Usksider ^Pro
  - http://www.usksider.co.uk
  - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:06:20
  What a wonderful poem... and how grand to see it posted here; thank you Jack
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- jollyweez
- Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:10:04
Terribly claustropohic too. Bit like those turret gunners on the planes. Can't just run and hide. Must take nerves of steel. Bit like that silly astronaut movie where he is half-way up and he starts shouting, "I don't want to go! I've changed my mind!!"
My son-in-law was in the U.S. Navy and ended up in a submarine for almost a year. He could write to his wife but she never knew where the sub was. It could be anywhere in the world. A nuclear sub and top secret.
David and I have seen Das Boot twice. Then, there was a great movie with Sean Connery in a submarine.
Nobody can put on a show like our British soldiers can. I am always proud to see them too. Nothing like it in the world
It is good to remember. I am a member of the Gallipolian Society, for a couple of our family members were killed/wounded over there. Now that was hell on earth. So many men have given their lives and still doing so.
Thanks for reminding us all on this lovely sunny day. We are here, thanks to people like you and those already gone. JW
- - Usksider ^Pro
  - http://www.usksider.co.uk
  - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 19:21:00
  Das Boot is such a stunning movie, I've forgotten how many times I've watched it. So easy to transport yourself into the time frame and become part of the crew....
  
  You know, so few people seem to know about Gallipoli... it's a pleasure to meet someone who does. Sheer hell and no mistake.
  
  I'd hate to have been consigned to a submarine; your son-in-law has my utmost respect.
  - - jollyweez
    - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 20:02:04
    Well, thanks! That was so nice of you to say so. I posted photos of the two fellows who served. Albert Barrett was in the Somerset Light Infantry & killed near Suvla Bay. John Jackson absconded from the Navy into the Essex Regt. 2173 C Company. Earned several medals, DCM & Croix de guerre - more bragging! sorry...If you look at John Jackson's face, my grandfather, you can see he is a bit worn out. You can see the suffering - he died of shrapnel wounds about nine years later.
    He was known as the crazy Irishman. Although wounded and told to stay in the trench, he kept getting out and dragging screaming wounded fellows baack into the trench - over and over again, including several French soldiers. Nobody could stop him until he passed out.
    - - Usksider ^Pro
      - http://www.usksider.co.uk
      - Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 20:17:09
      Finally made it in to your media... no idea why I couldn't access it earlier.
      Fantastic temps you've been having... your tomatoes look a tad dry!
      
      I remember feeling absolutely chocked when I first sailed trough the Dardanelles... looking at beaches... and was beside myself when I finally visited Suvla Bay. Did you know you can still unearth things even after all these years just by scratching the topsoil? Must've been a terrible place to be...
      - jollyweez
        
        Sunday, 14. Jun, 2009 @ 21:57:38
        
        Yes. Everything they used can still be found. Plus bones, scraps of military cloth. Rusted weapons. Many bodies were never found. Albert Barrett's body was never found, but somehow grandad had some of Albert's belongings, papers and a photo of my young grandmother, along with the scratches on it from shrapnel. Albert Barrett is mentioned on the Helles Monument and it is there that the Turkish leader said the kindest things about the 'boys' and told their mothers not to grieve. They all belonged to Turkey now and were loved.
        It took about six months until the grave-layers were allowed onto that place in order to bury our boys. I think many of the bodies had been displaced by then. The soil there was so hard it was almost impossible to dig graves, let alone trenches. Plus, there was no water and they suffered thirst. I bet your New Zealand friend would have a few stories, because the Aussies gave their all over there. It was hell on earth if you read any of the books. Winston was well hated for years and finally redeemed himself in WW2.
        Thanks for your interest - being a soldier I am sure you can feel it. Only a soldier would know the sorrow, agony and terror.
        
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        Usksider ^Pro
        
        http://www.usksider.co.uk
        
        Monday, 15. Jun, 2009 @ 07:10:57
        
        I think it is probably impossible for us to imagine just how bad conditions were and even harder to appreciate the sense of duty and trust the soldiers felt at the time. I couldn't imagine today's youth blindly climbing out of a trench system to meet certain death without question; discipline was so different a century ago.
        
        Churchill made a mistake, there's no doubting that; had the campaign succeeded he would have been held a hero of course despite the losses. Winston's mistake was no worse a mistake than those made by the commanders on the spot, or those of the commanders at the Somme, Ypres and the rest. The difference between them was Winston attempted to make retribution by serving in the front line himself... while the so called commanders remained many miles away from the danger zone safe in their châteaux.
        
        The Australians are never likely to forget are they; the celebrate Anzac Day on 25th April.
        
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        jollyweez
        
        Monday, 15. Jun, 2009 @ 16:26:11
        
        A nice, deeply felt summary, Uski, to that fiasco in 1915. The sorrow will always be there and the wailing wind will forever blow over the graves of our dear young boys.
        There are some touching inscriptions on war graves in Gallipoli. One is on the grave of J.Y. Twamly, Royal field Artillery:
        "Only a boy but a British boy.
        The son of a thousand years."
        
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        Usksider ^Pro
        
        http://www.usksider.co.uk
        
        Tuesday, 16. Jun, 2009 @ 06:58:57
        
        That is so wonderful... someone had a poetic way with words.
        
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- ravingmad
- Monday, 15. Jun, 2009 @ 15:50:16
I love watching the Trooping of the Colour, and similar exhibitions of pomp and ceremony. To me that's what makes Britain so special.
- - Usksider ^Pro
  - http://www.usksider.co.uk
  - Tuesday, 16. Jun, 2009 @ 06:55:06
  Yeah we're really good at all that stuff... we had to be good at something didn't we?
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