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T.S. Vindicatrix |
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Association HQ |
The Bosun's Dittybox
A miscellany of odd bits of news and links which might be of interest to Members of the T.S.V.A.
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Shipping Companies Houseflag Lapel Badges
Blue Star Line.
Port Line (Only a few left).
Shaw-Savill.
N.Z.S.Co.
Union-Castle.
Royal Mail Line.
Houlder Brothers.
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The National Archives, Kew
The latest set or records at the National Archives to be digitised and placed online are those of the Ship Movement Cards of WW2. Click on the link for further details.
In my experience of having had access to them at Kew, this should be a worth-while project as the pages are closely strung together with a treasury tag, in bundles over 4" thick which prove to be very unwieldy to open and almost impossible to copy.
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"In
1939 the Admiralty issued an instruction to the Board of Trade
stating that masters of merchant vessels were not to enter
destinations or ports of call on the ships’ logs or the crew lists
and agreements, for reasons of security. However, it was still
important to know and record the movements of merchant vessels and
to this end the series of cards within
BT 389 |
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http://www.maritime-memories.co.uk/
Maritime Memories aboard the 'Discovery' for 2010
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BBC West "A Day Out", circa 1978
I've come across this link to a BBC regional programme, featuring a trip along the Sharpness canal which features a half hour video clip which will open in 'Real' player by default. It can be made to go full screen by right-clicking on the video and selecting the 'Zoom' option. Sadly, the Vindi didn't get a mention, but you may enjoy running it, just for 'old times sake'.
To read the write-up to this programme, click on this link
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"Vindicatrix"
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Due to a
steady stream of requests for copies of the book 'Vindicatrix' the
author, Roy Derham, is considering a reprint which, to reduce costs,
will have a soft cover as opposed to the original which was a hard
back. This reprint will only go ahead if sufficient numbers
indicate their interest as the initial outlay is considerable. |
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"Watching the ships go by"
One of our members has sent me this link to an interesting site on which you can trace the passage of ships around the UK waters. Give it a try, but it can be a bit addictive.
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Operation Grapple
During the 1950's a number of nuclear tests were exploded in the Pacific, including Christmas Island. There has been publicity, indeed a court case, concerning sickness among those members of the armed forces who were present at the explosions. But RFA's were regular visitors to the area, including tankers on three-month station duties at Christmas Island. Were any merchant seamen aboard those ships affected by radiation? Are there any health defects amongst their children and grandchildren? at least one veteran thinks its a possibility! If any "Grapple Veterans" out there believe it is possible please make contact
Subscriptions for 2009
All members are respectfully reminded that unless they have paid in advance or pay by Standing Order, their Annual Subscriptions are due by the First of February. For UK members it remains at £5. Overseas Independent members, £7, and for overseas members who pay through their Branch, still £3 at least for this year. The offer of Life Membership for UK members for a one off payment of £50 is available. Due to the ever changing cost of postage it is not possible at this stage to offer Life Membership to overseas members.
Cheques made out to TSVA please. and sent to
The Griffiths Partnership, 7 Rose Hill, Lovedean, Hants. PO8 9QU
Always quote your TSVA Membership No. which is on your Membership Card, and is also printed on the address label of the envelope in which your Vindi News is sent.
Standing Order Mandates are available, on request
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Time-lapse sequence of the tide at Sharpness
I've found this time-lapse sequence of the tide coming in at Sharpness on You Tube. How many times did Deckies stand and gaze at this, while keeping watch at the top of the gangplank? Nowadays, at the Reunions, the tide usually appears to be 'out'.
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Undated Squad Photos from about 1947
I have been sent 6 undated Squad Photos from around 1947, and thought to include a John Bailey (R395146) from Brighton. If anyone would like a download of them, please contact me via This Link
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The Merchant Seaman's War Memorial Society, Alford, Surrey
I have been asked by Trevor Goacher, of the Society, to make readers of this page aware that the 'Springbok' website has now had a revamp and the new version can be found by clicking on this link, where you will be able to read of the services that they can offer former Merchant Seamen and Women.
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Dave Partridge's "The Grey Sailor"
Those members who attended the Saturday Church Service at the Reunion this year, will have heard Dave read out his poem "The Grey Sailor". If anyone would like to receive a download of it, please click on this link.
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I have received a request by the Merchant Navy Memorial site, to draw the attention of readers of this page to their site. this can be accessed by clicking on this link
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Merchant Seman's Records at the National Archive, Kew
Many who read this site, will be aware that I often obtain copies of MN Service Records from the National Archive, in particular from sections BT372, where all the loose forms and documents concerning their time at sea, are kept, and also in section BT382, where there are duplicate entries from their Discharge Books, listing all the ships on which they sailed.
On the Friday 25th April '08 I was perturbed to receive a courtesy phone call from the head of the Copying Dept. at Kew, telling me that, as from that day, 'hands on' access to files in those two categories has been blocked to visitors to Kew, but they will provide you with copies, after they have obscured finger prints on the old four-panel Seaman's ID Cards and also Nat. Insurance Nos. wherever they appear in either BT372 or BT382 files. The exception to this is by visiting Kew to produce documentary proof that the records you are requesting are you own, or can prove to their satisfaction that the named seaman has died, or was born more that 100 years ago.
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Merchant Navy Pensions
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News from The National Archive, Kew
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http://www.ancestorsonboard.com/ have added the 1940 to 1949
decade to the UK Outbound Passenger Lists. Passengers in this
decade included 'Home Children' to Australia and war brides to North
America. |
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The National Arboretum
The National Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire, has recently been in the news, with the dedication of the Armed Services Memorial, in memory of all those who have been killed in conflicts since the end of WW2. Located in another part of this 60 hectares site, is where the men and women of the Merchant Navy killed in WW2 are remembered by the planting a wood of some 2,536 oak trees, representing the number of British flagged merchant vessels lost to enemy action during World War II.
To read more about the National Arboretum, visit their website, via this link
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The last sea-going voyage of the Vindi- June 1939
Members will have read in a previous edition of the Vindi News of my discovery of the Crew Agreement at the National Archive, Kew. Anyone who visits the National Archive and who has a Reader's Ticket, can examine the document for themselves and also two previous ones for voyages as the 'Arranmore', commencing in 1901, (the one when she was shipwrecked at Port Elisabeth), and also the one commencing in 1907, at the end of which she paid off in Hamburg and passed to German owners. The relevant files Nos. can be traced by entering in her Official No. of 102634 on the Catalogue Search Engine of The National Archives website. I plan to bring my copies of all three Crew Agreements to the Reunion should anyone wish to look at them and I also have a download available for Members of pages 1, 3 and 4 of June '39 trip.
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Before they were famous
Three Vindiboys who became better known in later years in the field of entertainment
Vindi '45 CateringYou can hear Ken Colyer playing, in the company of Chris Barber , Monty Sunshine and Lonnie Donnigan in this clip on You Tube and also this filmed interview with Ken by the now late George Melly
You can also read his own account of his time at the Vindi and at sea by clicking here
R690634 Hunt A. (Gareth) L. Vindi '57/'58 Deck
You can see a clip with Gareth Hunt in a typical car chase sequence, with Joanna Lumley and Patrick McNee from the New Avengers TV series
Vindi '60/'61 Catering------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
If any Vindiboy is interested in exploring the history of the canal of which once we knew a small portion so well, can I bring to their notice a wonderful pictorial record of it in a series of 200 photographs, dating back to when it was first dug. In the text, the book's author, Mr. Hugh Conway-Jones, describes some of the early struggles to get the canal completed and of it's changing fortunes over the years of its existence.
What came as a surprise to me was that there was once a Cadbury factory on it's banks, where pre-production processes of raw materials were carried out, before being forwarded on the their main factory at Bourneville, also that there was once a gas works, situated on a site where the canal entered the new dock at Sharpness. Another surprise was to see pictures of two small submarines, making their was up to Gloucester Docks in 1937.
I am indebted to Mr. Conway-Jones for the use of the picture below, which surely every Vindiboy will recognise by the building on the left hand side, also by the coal chute on the distant far bank. Note the gas lamp on the tow path.
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If anyone is interested in owning their own copy of this nostalgic book, they can be obtained by clicking on this link to Tempus Publishers Ltd. Stroud. Mr, Conway-Jones has his own website where you can read more about the canal, here
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Vindi Items on EBay
An auction on EBay for a Francis Frith postcard of the Vindi, taken, looking towards the starboard bow from the coal chute on the opposite bank; went for a staggering £49.50. The buyer could have bought an A4 framed sepia print of the same picture, cheaper, by going to the firm that now hold the Francis Frith Archive of pictures Photograph of Sharpness, the Training Ship Vindicatrix c1955
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"The People's War" Archive on the BBC Website
My thanks to Jamie Letford, a Vindiboy of '49, for drawing my attention to this Archive on the website of the BBC . There is a particular section of 10 pages, concerning those shipmates of ours who served in the Merchant Navy during WW2. It's worth a visit to the site, just to refresh our memories. The People's War Website on the BBC.
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"Sea Breezes" Magazine
My thanks to Bob Andrews for sending me a copy of an article about the Vindi, which appeared in "Sea Breezes" about the time the time she was closed. If anyone would like to have a copy of it, contact me by this e-mail link. My thanks also to "Sea Breezes" for granting me permission to re-publish.
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FSN Ship Plans
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Seafarers Benefits Advice Helpline
Can I draw the attention of readers of this page to this service operated by the Greenwich Citizens Advice Bureaux Ltd (GCAB) and funded entirely by the Seamen's Hospital Society. Further information on the services they offer can be gained by visiting their website http://www.seabal.org.uk/
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Mrs. Drysdale
Those who have received their copies of the July edition of the Vindi News will be aware that "Mrs. D" has been undergoing a course of 'cosmetic surgery'. This was undertaken on two visits to her, by a yacht restorer/woodcarver, together with Roy, acting as his 'mate'. If you have time to spare whilst at the Reunion this year, be sure to pay her a visit in the Reception Area of the Waterways Museum in Gloucester Docks.
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We were recently contacted by the authorities at the Arboretum , saying that they were no longer able to house it, and that it should be moved, forthwith. We were fortunate in being offered a new berth at 'Springbok', where she has now joined the other fleet of models they have. Many thanks to Trevor Goacher and the Management at the Merchant Seamens War Memorial Society. My thanks to Bill MacDonald for the photo.
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British Pensioners in Austrailia
I have been asked to post a notice re the campaign in Australia, to again have their UK Pensions index-linked. Although not a wholly Vindi or MN matter it will concern a lot of former seamen who now live in Austrailia. You can read more on this attached Word Document or by visiting the BPiA website
TSVA South Australia Branch
The Branch, in association with John Williams (not the Liverpool one) has published a limited edition framed water colour print of the Vindi, by Australian artist Fred Baker, also a souvenir card featuring the same picture and two old photographic prints of her, in her Arranmore days. If you would like to buy a copy of either, click on the picture appropriate to your choice, to send me an e-mail for a download of an order form. John is donating a proportion of each sale to the funds of the Branch. Information on how copies may be obtained can be had by visiting their Branch website of http://www.vindicatrixboy.com/
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"Sent Home" from the Vindi
My thanks to Jim Richmond in Tasmania, and to Norman Brice in the UK for forwarding it on to me, this piece which previously would have appeared on the 'A Vindiboy writes' page. It concerns the obscure reason as to why a Vindiboy might be sent home. Rather than showing it in full on this page, I'm attaching it as a 'Word Document''
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Collecting Dole Money at the Vindi
On the subject of collecting 'Dole Money' during our time at the Vindi, I also can remember the two table system performed in the recreation hut at the camp. During my stay as a 'Deckie' in 1949, my Kit Account records that I added £4:14:0 to my £5 Deposit, and after the deduction of £6:8:8 for my kit, I paid off with the princely sum of £3:5:4. I think that any Dole Money was dependant on how much you had contributed in 'stamps' on your card during any employment you had, prior to joining the Vindi. Leaving school at 14 and joining the Vindi when I was turned 17, I had three years of contributions. School leaving age was raised from 14 to 15 in 1947, and from 15 to 16 in 1972.
I can't remember if the initial 'signing on' was done at the camp, or if we had to troop down to the little Labour Exchange, by the Post Office. I think that some must have done, as witnessed by the many names inscribed on its red brick wall which are still visible to this day.
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In 1936, the school leaving age was raised from 14 to 15, (to be implemented in Sept. '39), but this was postponed on the outbreak of WW2. It wasn't finally raised until 1947, and raised again to 16, in 1972.
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For those who wish to trace the names of their family members who were lost, there is a search engine engine on the website of the
which also carries the names of Merchant Seamen. Click on their logo to take you there.
Medal entitlement for WW2 Merchant Seamen
Anyone wishing to search for a record of who was listed for entitlement to a WW2 medal while serving in the Merchant Navy should visit this page of the National Archive site at Kew. Searching is free, but they do charge £3.50 for an online download of the record. After having obtained a download, you will find the key to understanding the abbreviations used on it by visiting this page .
It is doubtful if these records will show the entitlement to the recently announced Arctic Star, for all those who sailed on the convoys to Russia. I would suggest that you make direct contact with the:-
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Registry of Shipping and Seamen |
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----------------------------------------------- Shell Tankers A site for all those who sailed with 'Joe Shell' is http://www.helderline.nl Just enter the name of the ones on which you sailed, to see if there are any photos or if other crew members listed have sailed at the same time as you. ________________________________________________ To any who either came from, or sailed out of Liverpool, can I recommend the pen-portraits of Liverpool life by '61 Deckie John Williams. I believe that I have read the latter part of his tale about being put ashore in Japan in some other publication, possibly Sea Breezes, but to read the whole piece, go to "Iron ships and wooden men" and then dip into some of his other, non-maritime recollections of living in the city. John is negotiating with a published to get his stories in print and would welcome contact with anyone who is interested in buying a copy. --------------------------------------
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