Taff Jones, a sailor’s sailor. Idwal Morris Jones, was born 22 September 1924, the son of Janet and John Morris Jones of Treddafydd Isaf, Bodorgan. Educated at Gwalchmai and Llangefni County schools. This is his story: I joined the RN as a Boy Seaman in January 1940. If the war had not started my ambition […]
The passing of the port by Ron Robb This essay was awarded third prize in the Naval Officers Club Literary Prize competition, 2001, and was published in the Naval Officers Club Newsletter Number 47, 1 December 2001. Ron Robb receives his prize for this essay from Vice President John Da Costa at the 12 July […]
The Pusser and his men By Ron Robb This article was another distinguished entry in the 2001 Literature Prize competition. The RAN’s Supply and Secretariat Branch has a proud and very long history. Its progenitor was the Royal Navy Supply Branch and nowadays it is an amalgam of several former specialisations. Originally, a range of […]
Naval Officers Club Prize: Reserve Entry Officers Course (REOC) At the Naval Officers Club’s 51st Annual General Meeting, 3 April 2007, the President, RADM David Holthouse, announced the resolution of a long search for a suitable way for the club to demonstrate its support for the naval family of which we are so proud […]
Women serving in the RAN The subject of women serving in the armed forces has been contentious for centuries. Not long ago there were accusations that a USN female pilot had been pushed beyond her limits, with fatal consequences, after the crash of her F14 Tomcat following a possible single engine failure on finals approach […]
Nelson’s gold medals Lord Nelson’s full title, at the time of his death, was Vice Admiral of the White, The Right Honourable Horatio, Viscount Nelson, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. He also was Baron Nelson, of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk; Baron Nelson, of the […]
VADM Pierre Charles Jean Baptiste Silvestre Villeneuve (1763-1806) Five years younger than Nelson, VADM Villeneuve commanded the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar. He was born into a Valensoles, Provence, aristocratic family and joined the French Navy when he was 15. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not resign with the onset of […]
VADM Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli (1756-1806) Compared with Villeneuve, about whom much has been written, his junior Spanish counterpart at Trafalgar, VADM Gravina, remains a brave but shadowy figure. Gravina was born not Spanish, but into a noble Sicilian family. He first went to sea at age 12 and quickly developed a reputation as […]
VADM Francois Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, Compte de Brueys (1753-1798) VADM de Brueys, commander of the French Fleet during Nelson’s Battle of the Nile in Aboukir Bay, was five years older than Nelson. Born in Uzes he joined the French Navy at age 13 and experienced rapid promotion during the revolutionary wars. He caught Napoleon’s eye […]
FADM Viscount St Vincent, John Jervis KGCB (1735-1823) Born in Meaford, Staffordshire, the son of a barrister, John Jervis was given £20 by his father when he joined the navy as an Able Seaman in the week of his 14th birthday, and not a penny of support after that. He rose to become an Admiral […]
