Wars and ConflictsΒ permalink
Navy/Army Enlistment
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Message 1.Β
Posted by pc1973 (U13716600) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
Just doing some research about my Grandad who fought in WW2 and one thing I found out was that he really wanted to join the Navy but was rejected due to 'lack of education' and ended up going into the army.
Now I know that he left school at 14, like most people then I understand, he had a trade as a butcher.
Was this fairly common? I mean why is the bar set higher for the Navy it's not like he was applying for ships navigator or anything, I mean how much education do you need to be a powder monkey or stoker?
And if anyone can tell me if this is still the case today?
Regards,
PC -
Message 2
Posted by Spruggles (U13892773) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
pc1973
It's all a matter of logistics. How many men do you need to run the Nay's ship plus replacements as opposed to how many you need for the RAF and Army. I think you will find that the Army is much more manpower intensive than the others. Therefore the other two services can afford to be more selective. It may well be that the time your Grandfather applied all the allocations for the Navy were filled(depending on the year or whether he was a volunteer or conscripted ... yes that did make a difference)and of course how many more were likely to be needed in the Army. Even the medical qualifications were modified as the years progressed(especially after the fall of Singapore for example). -
Message 3
Posted by petaluma (U10056951) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
Spruggles, exactly, its claimed a front line soldier needs 7 to support him, unsure if its the highest of all the services. In Vietnam it was 14 to one for the American forces and at times went to 17 to one. During the north Africa effort Churchill claimed the German forces had less numbers in support than the British, and wondered why the British needed so many under similar circumstances. (he was disappointed at the progress made before Montgomery took over) The 7 to 1 would be all uniformed personnel not civilian numbers.
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Message 4
Posted by NICK (U1182021) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
Now this surprises me'as I volunteered at 17 years of age in 1940 with a mate and we both worked at Nestle's milk factory as stackers he was
just turned eighteen and we were excepted by
just passing a medical, there was no question of
education at all in fact they were very glad to
have lads volunteering so early,I ddo'nt think
there is much education needed to stack boxes
of milk. -
Message 5
Posted by Spruggles (U13892773) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
Nick,
I did draw a distinction between volunteers, conscripts and the time of application. I think that there was much guesswork in the art of logistics during those early days of the war.
Was it the Navy you volunteered for? If so, would you like to share a few observations/memories with us. I knew a chap who was HMS Achilles. Most interesting man! -
Message 6
Posted by NICK (U1182021) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
Well now I kept a diary from the day that I joined until the day I was demobbed in 1946 and I
was made by my daughters and a few that have read
it to write it all down and I think made nearly
two hundred sheets of fulscap typing and some if the photo's were published in the local paper in
Derby, I can give you just a little of what I
actualy went through possibly the main ones in my opinion. Being in the action against the great Bismark lying just off the old H.M.S Rodney and wathching hers and my ships shells smashing into Bismarks superstructure until she was a smoking wreck'and the picking up 84 of her crew out of just over 100. the landings at Madagascar,then
what I considered to be the worst of all'Three
Malta Convoys and watching ships blown to pieces and taking one in tow and being dive bombed while doing it, and being at action stations for five
days dead tired and hungry in one action living on ships biscuits and soup or Kye as we called it all this trying to get conviys through to Malta
in one night action operating out of Malta we
and one other Destroyer sank Eleven enemy ships in
a three hour action which was printed in all the
Sunday newspapers.lots more actions operating out of Malta bombarding enemy coast and sinking of
ships far to many to mention and my last piece
of action was you guessed it D'Day aboard a heavy Cruiser we escorted a massive convoy out of Greenock down the Irish sea and joined up with masses of ships coming from the south coast and over we went all the big warships opened up a very heavy barrage of shells at the shore battereies on the French coast,on the second night my ship was hit by a bomb on the after magazine hoist the bomb going over the side and doing some considerable damage which although taking on water we stayed for one more night before returning to Pompy for repairs and back we went. There is loads more in this diary as I said far to much for me to cover ths is just a bit of the war in which I lost a lot of good mates -
Message 7
Posted by stalteriisok (U3212540) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
hi nick
superb - u really need to get it published
pity u have missed the ww2 peoples history - i think its finished now - but i would be very interested if u want to post it on here
just a point re bismark - what did u think when u heard the Hood went down - what a ball crunching moment surely
st -
Message 8
Posted by NICK (U1182021) on Thursday, 2nd July 2009
Hi once again, I put quite a few things on the
Ww2 People History.
About how we all felt when we heard about the sinking of the Hood well we were on our way home from Capetown when we heard the news and the whole
crew were realy mad about it and shocked at the
number of the crew that was said to have gone
down with her.so you can guess what we felt when
the Bismark turned over showing her brand new
red painted bottom and sank'infact one Matelot
said thats it the Hood has been avenged, but to see all the dead bodies floating in that rough sea
and the hundreds of men still trying to get abord our ship when we sighted what was said to be U'Boat periscope was a bit heart breaking to us seamen as we would have also been expected to be
saved if we had been in there position. -
Message 9
Posted by Spruggles (U13892773) on Friday, 3rd July 2009
NICK,
Greetings and thanks very much for your post. May I reiterate stalteriisok's post and request that you try to get it published or perhaps leave a copy in the Imperial War Museum? I hate to think that your experiences will not be shared by a wider audience that they deserve.
I used to ask ex service men and women to sum up in one short sentence or paragraph what service life meant to them. As you can imagine I received quite a mixed bag, mainly humorous and several completely unprintable!
Regards Spruggles. -
Message 10
Posted by stalteriisok (U3212540) on Friday, 3rd July 2009
hi again nick
can u post some links on ur tales on ww2 peoples history - would love to read them
can u also post here your ships u served on -
Message 11
Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Friday, 3rd July 2009
My grandfather, a farrier, vounteered for the Navy, who turned him down because of his varicose ulcers (caused by a horse kicking him as an apprentice). He was called up and accepted by the Army, who said "Your limp does not matter - where you are going, the ground is too uneven to walk straight". His employers (the local County Council) and his MP took an interest - and he was finally classed as medically unfit - and his job was also reclassified as "essential war work" - most of his time, then and for decades later, was spent on keeping antiquated and delapidated machinery going to repair the roads etc. When he finally retired, within six weeks every single roadside mowing machine the county roads & bridges department owned was out of action - apparently the personnel department regarded a welder as a suitable replacement for a master farrier & general smith. Welding patches onto broken blades (Grandad used to forge-weld and rebalance them) had left every mower with shot bearings.
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Message 12
Posted by NICK (U1182021) on Saturday, 4th July 2009
Well now I do'nt know about the tales as we used to get up to all sorts some funny and some down
right scary' so I will have to have a think about
that, as regards the ships that I served on' well
the first was one that I took passage on an
Armed Merchant Cruiser the "Mooltan" I was 18 at
the time and my first taste of enemy bombing a ship,my second a County class Cruiser H.M.S Dorsetshire. then a Destroyer H.M.S.Javelin next
A Destroyer depot ship H.M.S.Woolwich and last of
all H.M.S.Emerald another Cruiser.
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