Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Poppy Wearing

Seems we had the same kind of Dads , but it took me hours to write that I kept walking away with tears streaming down my face at how I miss him and it only happens when I read his stuff . My dad Liked the German people he said they where just like us . But not the SS etc . I remember asking him once did you ever think we would loose and was told Never once did it enter my head I knew we were going to win it was only a matter of time, he said it in a tone that told me never ask that question again .I now see where I get my staying power from .

My grandfather, as a 21 year old lieutenant was the captain of CMB1 ( a 45 ft coastal motorboat) in the 1st world war. On 7th April 1917 he took part in a divisional CMB attack on a line of German destroyers off Zebrugge, which he engaged with his torpedo before himself being sunk by the enemy's guns. He was captured and imprisoned for the rest of the war, during which time he made several escape attempts. He was recommended for the VC by his divisional commander but got nothing as in WWI getting yourself captured precluded any kind of gallantry award. Once liberated he spent most of 1919 in Germany dealing with the welfare of British prisoners being returned home before returning himself. He was the scrum half for the Navy rugby team for a number of years. In WWII he was the deputy director of Naval Ordnance at the admiralty, responsible for procuring the navy's munitions. He lost two brothers in the trenches in WWI, and I remember him telling me that as a naval officer, even if you're going to die, at least you live in relative comfort until you do, rather than up to your ears in mud and rats. He too felt no personal animosity to most Germans;

There used to be a 55ft CMB at the British Military Powerboat trust at Marchwood, and earlier this year I was thinking about visiting it and taking along my father (also an retired RN officer), and my 106 year old grandmother. Unfortunately the collection ran out of funds and was dispersed, but whilst googling I did discover that contrary to my belief that no 45ft CMB's had survived, they have CMB 4 at Duxford. A trip up there is planned for next year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shmr/7435196282/in/photostream//
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shmr/7435185874/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shmr/7435232076/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shmr/7435243790/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shmr/7435255002/in/photostream

You can see in the photos that this design was one of the first boats to have a seaplane style stepped hull, to promote planing.

Lt Augustus Agar, the captain of CMB4 won the VC for a cloak and dagger operation against the bolsheviks in the Baltic in 1919, in which he attacked and sank a destroyer in an action not unlike the one in which my grandfather got sunk and captured.

It's quite topical really as what we were up to in WW1 with these craft is not unlike what the Iranian Navy seem to be developing at the moment - sticking massive weapons on tiny very fast speedboats. On the CMB the single torpedo was placed in the trough at the stern & then fired backwards; when the torpedo reached the end of it's leash it armed it & then scooted off under the hull.

After my grandfather's death in 1971 a copy of his report of the action and the loss of his vessel along with his account of his experiences as a POW were deposited with the Imperial War museum. In 1995 I was behind the bar in The Cricketer (the first pub I set up in Paris) when a very dignified gent in a Crombie came in and asked in a booming voice "Are you Giles ? Your grandfather and my father were in prison together." As you can imagine, this made everyone in the pub turn and stare. The man in question was a high court judge whose father had been in the same prison camp as my gramps.

Both my Grandfathers,and a very dear old friend of mine (born 1924) served in WW2,and survived,although my mothers father an engineer was on the S.S.Costa Rica,sunk near to Crete,2400 soldiers on board,no casualties,thank god....last week i picked up my new poppy during a short visit to Suffolk.I'll always have one.

Thanks to Dogman for starting a great thread here. I've read some touching stories, and maybe one of the orginal responders to the thread may have understood why so many people hold the poppy in such high regard.

Who would have thought all of this on a car forum!

I lost a great uncle in the first weeks of WW1. He was in his 40's, fought in Africa in his teens and rejoined the Marines when ar was declared. He died at Antwerp where I managed to track down his grave a couple of years ago. I think I was probably the first member of the family to visit it...which was quite sobering.
Another great uncle, his brother, died at Gallipoli. His other brother, my grandfather, joined the Royal Flying Corps and ended the war in Egypt instructing balloon observers, having been mentioned in dispatches. I have a number of his training photographs. At the start of WW2 he tried endlessly to rejoin the RAF (I have copies of all his letters pleading his case and the replies). He was in a reserved occupation as an electrical specialist and worked in radar development instead.

On my mothers side, my great uncle Seth joined the NZ Machine Gun Corps in 1916 with his best friend, both from Christchurch. He died at Passchendaele and I visited his grave at Tyne Cot last year and found the place where he died this year.....very poignant. My wife obtained all his army records from the New Zealand authorities who were extremely helpful and we discovered his war medals were given by his widow to his best friend who survived the war and then emigrated to Australia. By the power of the Internet and what seems to be a world wide interest in family history research, his family contacted my wife and returned the medals to us. I may be sentimental but I took them with me on my trip to where he died.

I've just thought of a further snippet that may be of interest to fellow motor enthusiasts regarding with my grandfather's WWII role of buying ordnance for the Navy. In the course of his work he met Archie Frazer Nash. After Frazer-Nash cars were sold to HJ Aldington in 1929 Archie had set up a company making radar platforms and hydraulic gun turrets for aircraft & ended up equipping many of our aircraft in the war, including the Lancaster and the Sunderland. He and my Grandpa became great friends, with Archie becoming my uncle's godfather.

On the lighter side of it I wrote down 10 pages all what my Dad had told me . Spoke to the R.E. Museum and they said I was a lucky person that my my dad had told me things ,could I send them a copy along with all his photos of the reg etc .

On a visit home the train stopped at Hartlepool my dad was asleep , so his brother James left him on the train and jumped off . My dad awoke to see it go past his home village and on to Newcastle upon Tyne . He had to catch another train back to Hartlepool .


While stationed in Gib on a hot sunny day a full platoon of men lay naked on the beack , when a priest and some nuns came riding past on horses . " They did not bat an eye lid ", said my dad , " even after the rude comments ".

After the end of the war while in control of German prisoners walking . My dad said the roads where filled Germans on German turned off the road and started to walk over a field. my dad thought he must be near his home and is eager to get back to his loved onesby taking a short cut . A Polish soldier lifted his rifle to take aim . A British captain put his pistol to the Poles head and said " the wars over now " , the Polish soldier lowered his rifle.

My dad and a fellow sapper laying booby traps and defusing German ones as they made their way up a street in Germany . They went into one house and set to work . Then out and into the street and into the next house to do the same . Half way up the street as they came out of the door onto the street , two German soldiers came out of next door . They had been setting them up and unknowingly my dad and his fellow sapper had been following them up the street. My dad said " he and his fellow sapper had no weapons so they ran like hell the opposite way from the Germans to the end of the street". When they reached the end of the street they peeped round to see the Germans had done the same and they where waving at them so my dad and his fellow sapper waved back .

While in Germany my dad and his fellow sappers where very hungry . They found a huge block of beef dripping stole some potatoes from a farm and decided they would all have some chips . It took ages as the dripping was so slow to melt and the chips where raw and horrid . They found out the large block of beef dripping was a block of candle wax .

While grabbing some sleep in the back of a wagon travelling somewhere in Germany he fell out ( one of many times ) onto the road he saw a motor bike speeding up to him . J. T. what are you doing on the road , it was a lad he knew from the next village to his at home . "Jump on the bike I will catch the wagon "

My mother told me he suffered badly from shell shock . It stopped in 1947 when my sister arrived sadly she past away a few months after birth and the shell shock returned . My mother said " he would grip the bed in his sleep start shaking and squeal out in his sleep ".
Then I came along in 1949 and he had no time for shell shock World War 3 had arrived .


and thats just a few

JTL, you really are a chip off the old block.............

Nice one JTL. The chap at the museum is quite right - it's great that you managed to glean all that stuff from your dad; it's what history is made of, and particularly family history.

I particularly love the chips cooked in candle wax story.

Dave, I dont judge myself good enough to walk in my dads shadow he was a far braver person than I could ever hope to be . He never swore , smoke or drank seldom lost his temper and was as cold as ice when under stress . The only time I ever saw him panic was the day I got married he was in a tizz telling me to get to the church on time constantly I just joked about it thinking well I am only getting married .