We arrived back in the U.K two weeks before Christmas, back to Portland, and with the whole family coming to Portland to spend Christmas with us, Life was hectic but very enjoyable. In the January I went to Portland Top Hill S/M school, which for me was a fifteen minute walk, Kelvin went to a school in Weymouth, and during that time, both our parents sat Kelvin and I down saying they were planning to adopt a new sister for us. Now years later I was told by my mother, that father was having problems in the sexual department, but at 15, I was still somewhat innocent with regards that side of the girl boy relationship, it was only in the March, when they had chosen the baby they wanted, and were signing the final documents that something crazy happened, mother collapsed in the chair, and the on site doctor arrived to take a look at her, he then told my father. "better not sign those papers Mr Palmer, your wife is pregnant." So the papers were left unsigned and both my mother and father came home.
I joined the Royal Navy on the 7th June 1960 as a boy seaman, I had wanted to be a chef, but father said no, it was seamanship or nothing, so I became a boy seaman, On the night before I left to join up, my father took me to the hospital to see my mother and say good by, there were a few tears, mostly on her side, but as we parted she said. "Sweetheart, don't forget to write." Back at home sat in the lounge my father bless him tossed a book at me, saying read chapter 8 and 9, as I opened the book to read, I was confronted with pictures of the male and female body, and the reproductive organs, I then started to read, and although I understood some of it, chapter 9 went into deeper things like the diseases that you can catch in that area, which I had no idea about. But once I had finished, and had handed the book back, all my father said to me was. "Try and remember what you have read, you will need that knowledge where you're going."
I stayed at H.M.S.St Vincent for just over a year, as I have said, I hated school, apart from Malta, and when I left school on the Friday afternoon, I had assumed that my school days were over. No such luck, at the training school in Gosport, I had to go to school every day, one week in the mornings, one week in the afternoon, the rest of our time was spent learning seamanship, then in the last three months I was told I needed to specialise, I was given the choice, gunnery, radar or anti submarine. I chose gunnery. As for the school work, I was doing very well in history, except it was naval history, but I still loved it, I did well in navigation, and my English was ok, where I was failing was on my most hated subject maths. After a whole year at St Vincent I had passed out in seamanship and gunnery, but not schooling, however, the schoolmaster we had there, Mad Mick we called him, arranged with those in authority to give me two months one to one schooling, I just couldn't master it, A sailor gets paid £25 a week, out of this he gives his wife £5 a week, he has a mess bill of £2 a week, his laundry bill is £1 a week. He doesn't drink his rum ration so gets three pence a day for that, he also gets 5 shillings a week as he is the ships butcher, how much does he have at the end of every week. I read these questions over and over, and all I saw was a load of letters and numbers, them Mad Mick showed me. "Forger the letters," he said. "Look at thee numbers." This huge light went on in my head, and I set down on paper the numbers, then realised it was purely adding and subtraction. I completed the test paper, followed by another, then another, every day it was the same, one paper after another and I was getting all the questions right. Then one afternoon sat with Mad Mick he took this load of exam papers from a large envelope and put them on my desk. "Right Palmer," he said, you have three hours to complete the following exam papers. naval history, navigation maths and English. As I completed every paper it was taken away and marked, I left the maths paper until last, I knew that if needed I would have those extra minutes needed if I had done wrong. At the end of the time, I was sat at my desk the sweat rolling down my back. Mad Mick was marking the final paper. He looked at me a smile on his face, then leaving me in the classroom on my own he left. Coming back into the room with my divisional officer they stood in front of me, then Mad Mick said. "Congratulations Palmer, you have finally passed your school exams, not only that, you have passed to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, you will never need to enter a classroom again unless you want to try for Officer training. I was told, that what I had achieved, was that I would be able to go to the rank of Chief Petty Officer without taking any more schooling, whereas most only pass to the rank of Leading Hand, and if they want to progress beyond that, they have to sit, what I sat to get the higher grade.
I left H.M.S. St Vicent and went to the gunnery school on the outskirts of Plymouth, I was there for a few months learning the basics of gunnery, then I joined my first seagoing ship H.M.S. Barrosa in April 1962, she was a battle class destroyer but had had a few alterations, like a double bedstead arial stuck on the mast. we were told, that if we went to war, we had a life expectancy of eight minutes, but I am happy to say that did not happen.
I hated this ship, the leading seaman in charge had decided that he didn't like me, and made my life hell, to be honest, I would have been better off being on Nelson's Victory, the beatings would have been a little less harsh. Almost from day one I was on number 9 punishment, up early, work in the galley for an hour, breakfast, then a full mornings work, lunch a full afternoons work followed by more work then change into number threes and muster with other defaulters for rounds then more work, and that was only in harbour, at sea, you still had to do your sea duties and the extra work as well. I did the first fourteen days, and on the last morning overslept, so, another fourteen days, I missed Gibraltar, I missed Malta, in fact, I missed everywhere and the leading hand of my mesas was loving every moment of it, if he could keep young Palmer like this, then great, We were doing gun running patrols in Borneo, and on the last week I was detailed off to get into white shorts white front and be on the gangway at midday, which I did, Able Seaman Harrison and one other guy escorted me ashore, for four hours leave under guard, no shops in this little backwater, a couple of bars, and a coffee house. We walked around the village for an hour or so, then went to the coffee house for a drink. Harry seemed interested in my situation and we talked about it, though he didn't really believe me about the hate of our mess L/H.
Back on the ship I continued with my punishment, then we sailed to Hong Kong, still not permitted to go ashore, but we did have local people on board selling gear, like watches and jade trinkets, I bought a watch, paid half and arranged to pay the rest on the next payday. As I was making the payment, the LH dragged me away saying. "You pay your bloody mess funds before these slant eyed wapps, then dragging me into the small square above the mess hatch he laid into me with the rope's end he always carried, But I was ready this time, I grabbed for the rope and pulled it from his hand, saying. Hit me again and I'll drop you." then I hit him as hard as I could, he slid down the bulkhead landing in a heap on the deck, however at the same time, the ships policeman had been in his cabin, had heard the noise and stepped out, as he did he saw the leading seaman slide to the floor. "Right Palmer," he said. "You're in real trouble now, hitting a senior rate is 30 days in D. Qs." I was fuming. "Ok." I shouted, let's go, right this minute." I turned and made my way to the cabin flat where defaulters were held. " Go on then." I said. " get the bloody Jimmy out here and let's get this sorted once and for all. With the Jimmy stood behind the table the charge was related to him, he looked at me, but I was so angry by now he realised that I was going to have my say, I ripped the shirt off my back and showed him the rope marks and old bruises. "Who did this to you Palmer." the Jimmy asked, so I told him, and about the fact that I had been on punishment since leaving England. The Jimmy left the table telling me to stay put, then I heard my leading hand being piped for to attend the captain's table. with the captain, Jimmy and the leading hand, I told my story, the captain looked at my back. After some time of whispering between the captain and the Jimmy, all punishment was stopped, the leading hand was to ditch the rope's end, and I was to be given the chance to prove myself. At the table, Harry was called as a witness with regards the run ashore in Borneo, and he said. " We had no problems Palmer did everything we told him to do, he made no attempt to make a run for it, in fact, we were all back on board well before the four hours." He then said. "Palmer's not a bad person, he just needs a little guidance, If you're happy for me to look after Palmer, I feel sure I can prove to everyone that Palmer will make a good able seaman." I was then taken to the sickbay to be seen by the ships doc, he looked at the marks on my back and gave me some cream to rub into them. The leading hand refused to speak to me, he didn't lose his rate but was given a very strong warning, that this was not Nelson's navy, this was the modern navy and the cat of nine tails was no longer in use in the modern navy.
Harry did take me under his wing, and as he said. "When I wash, you wash, when I shower, you shower, and when I go ashore, you go ashore." So your's truly did, Then one evening in June, the 28th to be exact Harry said to me, it's your birthday, your 18, get dressed in your number 6 suit, we are going ashore. As around seven we were in a taxi heading somewhere in Singapore, we came to this beautiful big bungalow, we both got out and
Harry knocked on the door, this little old lady came to the door and Harry pushed me inside saying to the lady." I give you the boy, give me back the man." I was then escorted to an empty room with a bed in it and a shower, The girl that came into the room was about my own age, she smiled at me. "You take off clothes," she said, then removing her sarong so that she was also naked she took me into the shower and washed us both, then having dried us both I was asked to lie on the bed, need I say more, except to say there was a tap at the door and Harry was there. "Ok mate." he said, then looking at the girl still lying on the bed naked he said. " the taxi's outside waiting to take you back to the ship, you need to be back by midnight. I left the room and headed back to the ship. The following morning Harry came back on board just before breakfast looking very pleased with himself, seems he had taken over from me, but had stayed with her for the night saying. " she was a bit of alright, well worth all night in." Two weeks later I was again in front of the captain, only this time it was to be rated up to Able Seaman, extra money and extra privileges, but still, our leading hand refused to talk to me, dishing out his orders through a third party. but life on board was getting a little better for me at any rate.
I flew home in October 1963, we had been away from England for the best part of 18 months, and in that time we had only lost one member of the ship's company, he had been shot by gun runners, still very painful, I was on the open bridge at the time and saw the whole thing, and on remembrance day, he is the one man that gets my two minutes silence, and I see the whole event in my head as if watching it on YouTube. On the flight back to England I ended up sat next to the one man that made this ship so miserable, we had to sit together for 18 hours, he treated me like something on the heel of his shoe for over a year, but on the flight home, he said to me. "Palmer, when you came on board and came into my mess I took one look at you and decided that you were the one I was going to go for, yes, I gave you hell, but the strange thing is, you took it, then as any man would have done you cracked and hit me, hit me hard, I then watched you become a real man under Harry's guidance, now, your one of the best, put it there." we shook hands, and all the hate melted away. At the airport in England, he said. "Peddler, do you fancy a pint." he then walked me into, not the bar, but a milk bar, and there with other members of the crew, we drank a pint of milk each, the first pint of the white stuff in 18 months, and believe me it went down better than any beer brewed in the U.K.
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