NEWSLETTER No. 2/2002
MAY 2002
OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
President Shipmate G.W. Toomey
29 Sunningdale Drive, Chapel St. Leonards,
Skegness, Lincs. PE24 5TJ (01754 872116)
Vice President Mr. A. Edinborough, 32 Warborough Avenue,
Tilehurst, Reading, Berks. RG31 5LA
(0118 9429425)
Secretary Shipmate E.P. Harrison
(Membership Records, 31 Wood Lane, Fleet, Hants GU51 3EA
Accounts & Newsletter) (01252 613052)
Slops Organisers Shipmate L. & Mrs J. Taylor
3 Willow Avenue, Swanley, Kent BR8 8AS
(01322 663661)
Welfare Officer Shipmate R.C. Maynard
G.1 Marine Gate, Marine Parade, Brighton
E. Sussex BN2 5TN (01273-692322)
Archivist Lt.Cdr. K. Batchelor (SCC) RNR
12 Beacon Road, Ware, Herts. SG12 7HY
Bosun Shipmate P. Marchant
Parade Marshal Shipmate A. Quartermaine
Standard Bearers Shipmate B. Hibbert
Shipmate C.M. Allwood
Organising Group Shipmate R. Poole
Members Shipmate A. Price
Shipmate V. Hiscock
Web Master Shipmate F. W. Bartholomew
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Memory is a funny thing. You will all have noticed that the things that stick in your mind are generally the extremes, particularly when it's about the places you've served. Somehow all the rotten bits get forgotten, the good bits stand out and you end up with a romantic view of a place which is probably very little like it really was.
You're probably now saying to yourself "What the h--- is he on about?" What brought this musing on was a recent return to Malta after having last been there some 34 years ago. I've been wondering since about whether it is wise to go back to somewhere for which you have quite fond memories.
Some years ago when I took my wife Margaret out to the Far East to see some of the places I visited when serving in Cossack in the early fifties. I'm sure many of you have done the same. The trouble is that many of the places of your memories have been bulldozed! The same is true of Malta. Dual carriage roads with crash barriers down the centre somehow don't go with what used to be a tranquil island. The ramshackle buses are much the same as they ever were, and driven even more erratically.
Of course what made all those memories were the people with whom you lived and worked, the fun you had, the parties you went to or held - and you were so much younger!
No it's not a mistake to go back. The thing to do is to enjoy the places as they are today. Change is inevitable. The place in your memory is somewhere else.
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Membership Matters
We are pleased to welcome three new members who have joined since the last newsletter in February. They are
Full Members
Shipmate R.J. McLean D57 1954 - 1955 L. Sea. (UC1)
Shipmate W.H. Marjot D57 1950 - 1951 L. Stoker
Shipmate E.I. Wright D57 1957 - 1958 ME1
Associate Members
Shipmate L. Hazell Served in Mohawk and Afridi (Capt(D) in many operations with Cossack (L03)
Mrs. C. Taylor Daughter of S/M A.L. Baker (Stoker in D57 1948 - 1951)
Mr. P. Taylor Son of S/M P.E. Taylor (L. Cook (S) in D57 1958 - 1959)
Miss C.A. Gooch Daughter of the late S/M G. Lilley (Boy/A.B. in D57 1947 - 1949 & 1952 - 1953)
Mrs. V. Bird Sister of A/L.Tel J.A. Dilks (killed in L03)
Those of us who attended the reunion at Eastbourne in April had the opportunity to meet up with a number of these new members. Mrs. Bird, who lives at St. Leonards-on-Sea, along the coast a bit from Eastbourne, happened to be visiting the town and, whilst walking along the prom, saw our banner strung above the door of the Burlington Hotel. She popped her head in and was met by George Toomey. She explained that her brother had been killed when L03 was torpedoed. During the war she was in the WAAF and in November 1941 happened to be travelling north by train. Among her fellow passengers were some of the Cossack's survivors going home on survivors leave. We are pleased to now have her in our company and hope that we'll see her at next year's reunion.
Membership now stands at 262 made up as follows:
24 Full L03 members
161 Full D57 members
71 Associate members
3 Honorary members
However, a word of warning. 71 of those members have not paid their subscription for the current year which was due on 1st May. £5.00 is not a lot to pay for 4 or 5 newsletters a year plus the annual reunion and we don't want to lose you anyway. A reminder chit will be attached to the front of this newsletter for all those from whom subs are due.
We have however lost one more member to the Grim Reaper since our last newsletter.
REUNION 2002
As always, the Friday of our reunion weekend starts a bit hectically as the "workers" try to get everything prepared. The display boards to be erected, the flags and ensigns put up, etc. Fortunately George Toomey had arrived the evening before and was therefore there to get things organised!
The hotel staff worked valiantly with the influx of bodies and, except for a few whose rooms were not quite ready, most were soon settled in. This year more arrived on the Friday and, since the Manager had arranged that the last of the Wallace Arnold guests left that morning, we had the hotel to ourselves for the whole weekend. The weather was good and soon after arriving many were taking the advantage of it to take a walk along the prom.
Dinner that evening was excellent as usual and soon after most had settled down in the lounges to catch up with the news from their shipmates. I felt a bit sorry for the group of musicians playing their hearts out in the corner of the ballroom with hardly more than the odd couple able to drag themselves away for a foxtrot or waltz. They didn't seem to mind though and, as one of them told me, we're getting paid anyway.
During the evening raffle tickets were sold for a draw for two prizes, a ship in a bottle and a perfect scale model of a lobster fishing smack. George always does a trawl of antique shops, boot sales, auctions, etc. for suitably nautical items to be used for such purposes. Unfortunately he never kept the names of the winners but both were highly delighted.
With many having travelled long distances it wasn't surprising that they disappeared off to bed early and, for the first time that I can remember at one of our reunions, the bar was closed by midnight because of a lack of customers. Must be that we are getting older.
Saturday dawned clear and bright and, after a good breakfast, many went off for a walk round town (or were they dragged off shopping by their wives?) or a walk along the front. Others were also arriving and preparations being made for the AGM.
The AGM commenced at 11.30 with two minutes silence during which the names of those members who had died in the past year were read out. On conclusion, we went through our usual procedure where each member stands up in turn and introduces himself by giving his name, the years he served in Cossack and the rank/rating he was at that time or, in the case of Associate members, his/her connection with Cossack. Each new member since the last AGM received a short round of applause. This year we were able to welcome three overseas members - Geoff Embley of L03 from Canada who seldom misses a reunion, Bob McLean D57 1954-55 from Fort Lauderdale, USA and Dave Kendall D57 1952-54 from South Australia.
At the AGM in 2001 the President, George Toomey, put forward a proposal that the that widows of members who died should be given £25.00 each. There was some discussion but it was then deferred for the proposal to be put to all the members in the following newsletter. This was done. The Secretary, Peter Harrison said that few had written to give their views but those that had were overwhelmingly against it. Wives of members in particular had said that the amount was of no great help and that they were more appreciative of a letter of condolence from the Association and the support of other members and their wives. It was unanimously agreed that no further action should be taken.
Pat Gaffney, D57 1957-58, proposed that £50.00 should be donated to the HMS Cavalier working party. He said that he had been one of those working on the ship and funds were needed to pay for sandwiches, etc. for those who gave their time to chip and repaint and so on below decks. Peter Harrison seconded the proposal and it was carried unanimously.
Bob Davenport told members how proud he felt to take part in the Remembrance Day parade at the Cenotaph last November and asked whether it could be arranged for our members to take part again. This was reiterated by Peter Marchant, Les Taylor and Alan Edinborough who also took part. At least ten are required to have a separate "Cossack Platoon" otherwise we would be lumped in with the "odds & sods". The President asked members to raise their hands if they would like to take part. At least ten hands were raised. The Secretary said that he would write to the British Legion to get their agreement.
George Toomey once again pointed out the need for more volunteers to get involved in the running of the Association, in particular a replacement for Geoff Lilley to look after recruiting. Keith Batchelor who had taken over the archives on the death of Reg Doring, had agreed to retain responsibility for the D57 material as well as that for L03. Mrs. Taylor, wife of Peter Taylor (D57 1958-59), said that she would be willing to take on the D57 work. With our thanks for her offer, it was left for Keith Batchelor and Mrs. Taylor to decide on how to work together.
As it was asked whether there was any more business, Larry Hazell our most recent, at that time, new Associate member came forward to the front and presented the President and the Association with three framed cartoons on Naval topics. These cartoons were beautifully drawn and coloured by Larry himself and he wished to thank the Association for allowing him to join. He had served in the Mohawk and Afridi, which were often in company with the Cossack (L03), but since there were no associations for either of those two ships he was most grateful for his inclusion in ours. The cartoons will be on display with our other memorabilia at future reunions.
There being no other business the meeting was then declared closed and 'Up Spirits' piped.
Members and guests gathered in the lounge/bar area at 6.30 in the evening for drinks prior to going in for dinner. Two problems arose at this time. Ron Poole had broken his belt and was having difficulty keeping his trousers up! To the rescue came our Vice President, Alan Edinborough, who quickly produced a spare. Bob McLean, from Fort Lauderdale, had invited his sister and brother-in-law, who lived in Kent, to the dinner as his guests. His brother-in-law, who had been inadequately briefed as to dress by Bob, had arrived in full fig, ie dinner suit and black bow tie. Seeing that he was the only one so dressed he refused to budge from the area behind the glass doors at the foot of the stairs and said that he wouldn't attend the dinner and was going home. Bob grabbed me and asked me to persuade him that it was OK. I could sympathise with him but we have had people turn up so dressed before, as well as in less acceptable dress, and no one has taken exception but no matter what I said I couldn't persuade him to change his mind. Admiral Eberle came down the stairs in the middle of this and offered to go back up and change into his dinner suit to keep him company but even that failed. To the rescue came Alan Edinborough again. He provided a shirt and tie, into which the brother-in-law changed and was thus able, as he said later, to have a very enjoyable evening. Well done Alan.
Just before seven, members and guests took their places at table and the President and his lady processed in with our special guest, Admiral Eberle, led by the standard carried by S/M Brian Hibbert, with the piping party calling the still as they entered the dining room.
On the President and his party arriving at their places the Grace was said by S/M George Bye and everyone took their seats. Admiral Eberle served in Cossack at the same time as the President, George Toomey, and the others at the top table were mainly from the same commission. Among them was Mrs. Kam-moy (Kay) Lilley, the widow of Shipmate Geoff Lilley, and her daughter Catherine.
As readers of the previous newsletter know, I was rather sceptical of the choice of Yorkshire pudding to be served with the pork medallions. However, I must admit they went well together. The puddings had risen well and were rather too crispy but the difficulty for the kitchen to get 168 Yorkshire puddings in a perfect state just at the right time must have been enormous. As usual, the Burlington staff produced an excellent dinner.
Some of our diners obviously enjoying themselves
When coffee had been served, and with an eye on the time, the President called for order and proposed the Loyal Toast. In this Golden Jubilee year it was responded too with zest. He then gave a short speech in which he mentioned a few of the things that he remembered of their time in Cossack when he was an S.B.A. and the Admiral was a Sub-Lieutenant. He then presented the Admiral with an engraved tankard as a souvenir of the reunion and asked the Admiral to say a few words..
Admiral Eberle treated us to a short speech, sometimes witty, sometimes serious, but in which he stressed the importance of organisations such as ours in keeping up the standards which had been the core of our service lives. He sat down to rousing applause.
Mr. Ron Cousins, the Eastbourne Director of Tourism and Leisure, then gave a short speech in which he welcomed everyone to Eastbourne once again and enumerated some of the advantages of Eastbourne as a venue.