[BITList] Just for a Change

[fredmno at aol.com]

Salaams,
             thought an injection of ships might be welcome after Hugh's photos. Just finished a book called 'The Grand Scuttle', obviously about the Germans in 1919, however how many of you were aware its where the last German combatants were killed pertaining to the 1st WW, many shot whilst abandoning their sinking ships by trigger happy Brits, one a ships Captain? Or that until the outbreak of hostilities Britain's aim was to maintain a fleet that was equal to any other two fleets in the world combined, plus a few odd per cent thrown in for good luck, paranoid or what? Or that the only place one can acquire uncontaminated steel for the manufacture of measuring instrumentation in the nuclear industry is from these sunken ships, served some purpose I suppose. However I've left the BI BIT till last! My latest book is called 'Carrier Glorious' and is about our 2nd WW aircraft carrier, built on top of a battleship hull. It wasn't until the outbreak of war that the Fleet Air Arm became a solely naval enterprise, until then it was an impractical affair ran by bumbling idiots known affectionately as their 'Their Lordships' and 'Their Airships'. Flight crew and ground crew (ships air deck crew for the pedantic) had two ranks, one naval and the other RAF, whats more they didn't have to correspond in stature, a squadron Leader could carry the rank of Sub Lieutenant when onboard ship, his naval seniority commenced when he joined his first ship, funny how 
we finished up on the side of the winners!  

            After the completion of a British Naval exercise in the Medi in 1935 using elements of the Home and Mediterranean Fleets, over a hundred ships, doubt if we could muster that many ratings now, an Air Marshal was overheard to say that if the navy continued to make difficulties the Air Ministry would operate its own carriers. In the December an observer from HMS Courageous wrote to Admiral Keyes declaring that it was becoming  a fact when in Alexandria a British India ship (there you go) acting as a depot ship for flying boats was ordered to fly the RAF flag (it was stated that at the time the BI captain had had an apoplectic fit) A wee bit later when declaring that the flying boats were of the utmost importance to the containment of the Italians and could therefore not be left in the hands of the Navy a train of merchant ships including Lancastria and Neuralia (there it is again, a bloody BI ship) arrived in Navarino to set up a base, and yes, having been ordered to fly the RAF ensign. This exercise was canclled and the ships finished up in Alexandris flying what I don't know but it did help to bring to a head the importance of establishing the Fleet Air Arm, so theres something else we in BI can be proud of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                              0                            BR Fred in soddin freezin France

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