Yes indeed, they were the best of times and the worst of times. Other things we had to do included, clean a toilet with a toothbrush, polish a hundred square feet of block-wood flooring with a boot brush every night before going to bed, paint the inside of a dustbin white before putting your rubbish into it. ", The sailors in training doing exercises outside the gym (Image: HMS Ganges Museum). HMS Ganges (1821) This page summarises records created by this Organisation The summary includes a brief description of the collection (s) (usually including the covering dates of the. Ken Smith, who now lives in Brighton, sent me memories of arriving at HMS Ganges in the severe winter of 1963 and his fear of the dreaded mast. Ganges training establishment. We had no one to confide in, our instructors would more than likely told us not to tell tales. A historic Grade II listed former Royal Navy training mast has been taken down ahead of restoration work. Discipline was severe, routine constant and fear of punishment loomed at every turn. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Contents 1 Foundation and early history 1.1 Allegations of abuse 2 Ganges at Harwich 3 Ganges at Shotley 3.1 1906 changes 3.2 Later developments 3.3 First World War 3.4 Post war developments 3.5 Ganges in the Second World War 3.6 Postwar and closure 4 References 5 External links 1914. I heard many boys saying things like , dont bend over in front of the seamanship officer, or always face him dont turn around. Observer career path/ real life experience. Not to the required half-moon, but to the first platform, where, when authoritative eyes were averted, I dashed to the other side and climbed back down.. For spite I think, because it wasn't compulsory. and I got seven days 9s. HMS Ganges was also known as Shotley Training Establishment . Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 June 2021 . Engineer commander had been on Amethyst up the Yangtse and was quite sympathetic when he was OOD. . However, in the meantime we were still at the mercy of our instructors. HMS Ganges - part of front gate Having completed the New Entry training over at the Annex (I think it took six weeks), we then marched over to Drake 39 mess over in the Main Establishment. HMS GANGES 6th May 2009 - YouTube. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to Mr Jones said: "There is a lot of truth to the statement that you entered as a boy, but left as a man. I was at Ganges in 1955 and went to visit Shotley in 2005 and was surprised to see police signs near the old swimming baths. Tangible progress to transform a former Suffolk naval training base into nearly 300 homes, a sports park, shops and a GP surgery could be seen once the coronavirus lockdown is over. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. However, for most of us boys, qualifying meant we could wear the Bosuns chain with our uniform instead of a lanyard. JavaScript is disabled. I came across a clip on youtube that really saddened me and it tells its own story about the UK as it is now and the real fact that such things as pride, standards etc have long been lost and decay and neglect are the order of the day, I do not need to walk very far from my home to see with my own eyes the evidence all around me. Free (donations towards running costs are welcome) The Royal Navy training mast in Shotley Gate, pictured in 1936, was erected in 1907, A photograph of the base taken sometime in the 1950s (left), with recruits on the mast in 1937, with one recruit just about visible near the very top, John Youngman said his training at the site stood him in good stead for the rest of his life, Warning: Third party content may contain adverts, A pupil band from The Royal Hospital School performed at the event, It is expected to take at least a year to restore the mast at the tip of the Shotley peninsula, across the water from Felixstowe and Harwich. Nevertheless, as bad and as cruel as I have describe Ganges, I remain proud to call myself a Ganges Boy. H.M.S. All thanks to my Instructor CMEM LUCKENS . The pipe (whistle) was used aboard ship for passing orders and instructions. Real posh supercilious bastard. Ganges Museum is located at Shotley Gate near Ipswich, in what was the Enright Block, on the foreshore of the former H.M.S. I knew a gentleman who said when he was at Ganges in 1947 he had his first taste of hot food. I would imagine it will be a number of years before we see the final product but Ive seen first hand how quickly they can actually make progress once the builders get going. Sad to see such an establishment close as it was so full of history and meant so much to so many. Former recruit John Youngman said it would be "nice to see it restored to its former glory". Every letter, every strip of tape had to be in a perfect line. HMS Ganges was a training ship and later stone frigate of the Royal Navy. Statistics for the 1930s indicate some 200 official canings per year in HMS Ganges alone, an average of four per week. He was quite good too. Many spars are believed to have come from this ship too. Shotley Marina, Shotley Gate, Ipswich, IP9 1QJ. Allegations of Abuse. Read about our approach to external linking. The money belonged to the HMS Ganges Association for people who served at the former naval training base at Shotley Gate near Ipswich, Suffolk. 2023 BBC. There were stories of many similar violations but none ever reported. www.amazon.co.uk/H-m-S-Ganges-Dozen/dp/0906418003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269273975&sr=1-1, www.navy-net.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/t=134/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0.html, www.veterans-uk.info/vets_badge/vets_badge.htm. A question of Religion?Maybe MaybeNot???? This was where the roped rigging jutted out some ten feet - above it, the platform. Among his many punishments, he suffered cuts, a particularly brutal form of Naval punishment. One person found this helpful. Peter Cook. My DO was so unforgetable I can't remember his name, but he ponced around with his handky up his sleeve and a curled lip. We were ushered in as a group of naked boys and told to wash thoroughly. Thanks again, D. R. WALTON the only O.E.M. The test consisted of two lengths of the pool while wearing a boiler suit, then floating for five minutes. (LogOut/ Life on the ship was extremely hard, with a memorial in Mylor, Cornwall, recording the names of 53 people who died while training on it between 1866 and 1899. 1976. It had been HO (Hostilities-only) traing during the war. I told him "I don't give a flying feck!" Joined Ganges Feb '61..went through the same as everyone else. Heard so much about HMS Ganges though and it sounded very good for developing 'real sailors ' but as much as I hate to admit it I suspect it would have been too much for me . I knew that once the weather was respectable, when it was no longer dangerous, my skinny little skeleton would be transported, step by trembling step, up that perilous rigging. H.M.S. After such a long time I think it will be a welcome relief for a lot of people. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. H.M.S. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy, Please enter a password with 6 characters or more. The HMS Ganges training base, which opened in 1905, closed in 1976 and has remained . This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Picture: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS (Image: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS). First time ever looking at any RN sights. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. The Cattlemarket area of Ipswich would be busy at weekends with boys in full naval uniform. Rather than do the two as a pongo I signed on the dotted line for a dozen , best thing I ever did and I regret not staying in for the full time . Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Heard so much about HMS Ganges though and it sounded very good for developing 'real sailors ' but as much as I hate to admit it I suspect it would have been too much for me . This gallery has been set up as a home for images that have not so far been added to the Museums Official Website https://www.hmsgangesmuseum.com/ Download Citation | On Feb 1, 2023, Olivier Champagne and others published Future change in amplitude and timing of high-flow events in a Canadian subarctic watershed | Find, read and cite all the . Work on the scheme, which would see 285 new homes, a 60-bed nursing home, a large retail space and areas for medical services, will not be started until a spine road through the site, which will take the bulk of construction traffic away from main roads, is built. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant). They say you never forget the place and I agree. During the third disastrous week, it spent so much time on the deck I thought I might as well leave it there! Standing at 143ft, the mast is made up of three main parts; the main 75ft mast came from HMS Cordelia, a steam corvette built in Portsmouth, the top mast of 47.5 ft wooden ruffle box from HMS Agincourt, which was renamed HMS Boscawen, and then Ganges II. Click here to remove banner ads from this forum. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can There was also a degree of sexual abuse going on at Ganges, but we boys were too scared to ever complain or report such incidents. Boys were permitted to march through the streets of Ipswich with bayonets fixed. Learn how your comment data is processed. Network 157.90../16 Abuse Contact API. The next six years passed with regular naval detentions, ( Royal Naval Detention Quarters RNDQs Portsmouth) exhausting punishments, solitary confinements, ending with a twelve month sentence in the infamous HMP Corradino, Malta. Who would have believed us, this was 1955 words like pedophile and sexual abuse were unheard of. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. interesting .. photos of the old pool. She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976. 1959 and what a bugger Ganges turned out to be. For breakfast porridge was on offer, that salt-coated gruel I'd been forced to eat every morning of my schoolboy days. Once the situation eases a bit there will be tangible progress to be seen.. Mr Youngman, who joined the navy aged 15 in 1965, said he had previously climbed up to the top of the mast but "couldn't wait to get back down". Were you a 'button boy'? Several tales about bullying and the harsh regime generally, not so much about the famous and frequent official canings. attempted to climb to the top of the mast, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Fungus case forces Jack Daniels to halt construction, Aboriginal spears taken in 1770 to return to Sydney, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart. He was an Electricians Mate Class 1 and served in, 12/03/35-09/01/36 HMS Ganges. Looking pretty in candy-striped pyjama bottoms and naked chests, we were ordered across the parade ground, through the snow and ice, to the 'heads', that grown-up potty land, which had neither doors nor partitions around the bowls for privacy, to partake in our morning ablutions, a most embarrassing experience. It was at Shotley Point that the wooden ship HMS Ganges was berthed from 1899, and used as a cadet training ship for the Royal Navy. Graduating from Ganges held the promise of better times ahead, we would be real sailors, excited at the prospect of visiting far off and exotic lands. Royal Navy 238217 Boy 2nd Class HMS Ganges II. Mr Davis added: They have had the last conditions, including the fire hydrants agreed. Frederick "Ben" Rodgers author of "Lily & Me", "The Royal Navy & Me" and collector of Rover automobiles, Review from Newfoundland CraigChurchill. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. Royal Navy 238217 Ordinary Seaman HMS Niobe . Change). contact the editor here. Aerial artist's impression of one of the green spaces earmarked for the former HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate. To get to the platform you would climb out over the Devil's Elbow, legs dangling in the air, only your grip keeping you from certain death. HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships since from 1779, but in 1905 it was chosen as title for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich where about 500 boy recruits. Name Hetzner Online GmbH - Contact Role. I joined Ganges 30th June 1955 also as a boy telegraphist. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. The master at arms held a long thin bamboo cane, the instrument of the punishment. Picture: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS, Aerial artist's impression of one of the green spaces earmarked for the former HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate. The cinemas would be packed with rows of Ganges boys in uniform and the caf at the corner of St Stephen's Lane would sell them many cups of tea as they waited for their bus back to Shotley. Mast erected using the foremast of HMS Cordelia, which was broken up 1904. A Gannett Company. Sailors' uniforms were a familiar sight in our area until HMS Ganges closed in June 1976. Drake 39 mess At least the cubicles in the heads had doors on this time. However lessons, culminating in a test, were much more difficult. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. Roger Jones, chairman at the HMS Ganges Museum said: "HMS Ganges was originally a ship of the wooden wall, launched in 1821. An appeal by Woolverstone Parish Council was turned down two years later. The cold water often caused some boys to duck in and out of the water quickly or sometimes not at all. I joined up in 1968,three years after my brother, he hated it I was one off the sad ones that loved it, even the kit musters on the mast! Im here as my Son (15) wants to join the RN - Wellbeck route AIB soon. While the training ship was originally based in Cornwall, she was moved to Harwich, and then Shotley in the 1890s, in order to be closer to a centre of population. ', and he replied that it was the first time he had a warm bed, three hot meals a day, and a roof over his head that didn't leak. HMS Ganges moved moorings from Harwich to Shotley. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. Some 100 boy-sailors were in the canteen, chewing and chattering; clattering knives forks and spoons against plates and bowls. She was based alternately in Falmouth, Harwich (from 1899) and Shotley (from 1905). inaccuracy or intrusion, then please While I was going through the various calls I felt his hand slipping up the back of my shorts. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Abuse Details. 1905 to 1976 saw 150,000 recruits pass through HMS Ganges. The showers at Ganges were just one bare room with several shower heads, no privacy. CLICK ABOVE TO OPEN GALLERY. The water was freezing cold, we never had hot water. There was also a degree of sexual abuse going on at Ganges, but we boys were too scared to ever complain or report such incidents. JavaScript is disabled. "Most of what was on the site went to the naval museum in Portsmouth, but we have the honours board and figurehead from the original ship. They were both Ordinary Seamen, one aged 17 and the other aged 18. May 46 to HMS Wakeful, Training Flotilla for a twelve-week tour from . Doesnt sound too bad does it. It would not be an exaggeration to say not one of us had the slightest idea of what lay in store for the next year. The overall height is 143 feet 10 inches, with the button being 11 inches diameter and 3 inches thick. We were ordered to turn around and bend over, if the instructor was satisfied we were clean, we were allowed out. Commander was Trick and a good egg. Indeed, I have never met a shipmate would ever claim otherwise. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. She had taken on the previous duties from the wooden ship H.M.S. Every letter of our names had to be perfectly in line. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's John Garrett. I was sent to the training Ship HMS Ganges a cruel harsh 12 months lay ahead of me and thousands of other boys. First Royal Navy ship to visit Eire, post independence? Its really difficult to give a definitive time scale but once things get going I would imagine that progress will be very visible whereas a lot of the work going on over the past two or three years hasnt necessarily been seen by the public.. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. From the annexe, I had sometimes seen it, partly hidden by snowy skies as it towered above the buildings, and it looked frightening then, but now, marching beneath its cobweb rigging, it looked truly awesome. "A lot of the boys came from foster homes, or Barnardos. She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976. The facility remained there until its closure in June 1976, She was based alternately in Falmouth, Harwich and Shotley . If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Yes, I got it wrong! Welcome to our next documentary, investigating the decaying remains and iconic abandoned swimming pool of HMS Ganges Royal Naval training school, as well as . HMS Ganges. Royal Navy 238217 Boy 1st Class HMS Ganges II. Bob Roberts. The culprit was brought before the Commanders table, the punishment was awarded as six or twelve cuts. last entry 16.30 We are also please to welcome visitors at any other time by prior appointment - please telephone 01473 788315 or 01473 788723 to arrange this. Martin Foster, 54, of Haig Road, Uxbridge, had already admitted two charges of fraud by abuse of position. "They had a hard life, but they were fed and looked after. The one chippy bugger who thought it good fun to make you spar with him in the wash room (Annexe) I met up with in the Far Flung and gave him more than he gave me. He was subsequently dismissed from the service and returned to civilian life. Outbreak of World War One. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's The training was tough, brutal at times, yet many of those who came through remember HMS Ganges, at Shotley Gate, with a certain fondness. In 1907, its famous training mast was erected on the parade ground. NO FLOWERS FOR GEORDIE, HE'S NOT HERE TODAYTHE SEA HAS CLAIMED MY GEORDIE BOYPLEASE NO FLOWERS TODAYFIFTEEN YEARS OF LEARNING, HE'LL NOT GO DOWN THE MINESO WE TOOK HIM NEAR TO IPSWICH TOWNFAR FROM THE SEAMS OF THE TYNEIN A PLACE THEY STILL CALL 'GANGES' WITH TWO THOUSAND OTHER BOYSHE LEARNED TO SPLICE AND SAIL A BOATTALL ORDERS WERE HIS TOYSTHE 'BULLY BOYS' CAME NIGHTLY, DID THINGS A BOY COUNDN'T TELLBUT THEY MADE HIM WRITE IN HIS LETTERS HOME MAMMA YOU'R BOY'S DOIN WELLTHEN NEWS CAME OF SOME FIGHTING IN A FAR OFF DISTANT LANDWE NEED THOSE BOYS THUS SPAKE FOUR RINGSIN OUR BIG SHIPS THEY CAN RIDEIT'S WRITTEN ON HIS PAPERS, TWAS NOT THE DEED OF A MAN BUT A WAVE THAT TOOK MY GEORDIE BOYFIVE MILES OFF PLYMOUTH SOUNDSO NO FLOWERS FOR GEORDIE HE'S NOT HERE TODAY THE SEA HAS CLAIMED MY GEORDIE BOYPLEASE NO FLOWERS TODAY. Back in the mess, this safe haven shielding us from those torturous sounds, the junior instructors' suspiciously cheerful faces greeted us. http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/hms-ganges-swimming-pool-shotley-may-2015.t96792, Anniversary Toast - HMS RALEIGH 25th Oct 2009, Telegraph: "Captain Peter Grindal Obituary", Future Ford vehicles could repossess themselves, 10 myths told by Covid 'experts' now debunked. I did climb that mast. Like lots of other boys I ran away from home when I was 14 yrs old and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman 2nd class. HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships from 1779 onwards, but in 1905 it was chosen for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich, where about 500 boy recruits were. 4 reviews When Peter Broadbent entered HMS Ganges, the toughest training establishment for young recruits to the Royal Navy, he was a naive 15-year-old Yorkshire schoolboy, entranced with the idea of seeing the world, proud of his drainpipe trousers and DA hairstyle, and eager to meet girls. If you cracked on and didn't buckle you were okay, but I wouldn't want to do it again. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Mr Jones also offered reassurance around the historic mast, despite fears about its dilapidated state. "I remember another of the Ganges boys, they were talking to a visitor at the museum, and she said 'it was quite brutal, wasn't it? Maybe we were unlucky with Instructors as one was Court Marshalled, discharged and sent to prison for so called abuse. AboutPressCopyrightContact. Picture: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS, Independent Babergh District councillor for Ganges, Derek Davis. GANGES; the ship had previously anchored out in the harbour below, at Shotley Gate, on the east coast opposite Harwich. Early in 1940 Admiralty decided to close Ganges as a Boys Training Establishment and in April it became a Hostilities Only Training Establishment. St George IOM Boys training 3/5/45 Christmas leave 45 took all kit and returned to Ipswich station, then by the ubiquitous 3 ton Bedford to Shotley where we reopened HMS Ganges as a boys establishment.
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