[SOC] Australia's Veteran's Magazine - 102 yr old Signalman's Article - [long]

Thu, 13 Mar 2003 07:44:14 -0500

Thanks for this, Ian.  Wonderful.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian C. Purdie" <[email protected]>
To: "Flying Pigs" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>; "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion"
<[email protected]>; "SOC" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 5:27 AM
Subject: [SOC] Australia's Veteran's Magazine - 102 yr old Signalman's
Article - [long]

> It wouldn't come as a huge shock to folks to know that I am a member of
> Australia's principal veteran organisation, the RSL, known as the Returned
> Services League.
>
> Each month we receive our magazine which has feature stories, anecdotes,
> letters to the editor etc. along with advertisements for funeral homes and
> retirement villages [all familiar?] and so forth.
>
> This month's issue features a young 102 year old 'Yeoman'. A signalman by
any
> other name [a living legend]:
>
> At the risk of prosecution [copyright], persecution and whatever - allow
me to
> relate his story [long]:
>
> ALBERT FLINT
>
> [Who did win the battle of Jutland? We spoke to a man with very firm ideas
on
> the subject - and he was there]
>
> Among the crowd at Earlwood-Bardwell Park RSL Club, one small figure
stands
> out: smartly dressed, wearing his service medals proudly. Albert Flint is
> fulfilling his daily independent ritual of meeting friends and enjoying a
> healthy meal, washed down occasionally by a glass of port.
>
> At 102, Albert [all photographs included show from early days - to the
present,
> a man of obvious strong personal character, the chin stands out, right
from age
> 12 to 102] is a legend in the district, always turning up to commemorative
> events, taking part in RSL sub-branch activities, and happy to share his
> memories of a long naval service that began in World War 1.
>
> "I was only 12 when I joined my first training ship" he says "and by the
time I
> was 14, I was in the Royal Navy as a signal boy. I followed my father into
the
> navy. He was on minesweepers."
>
> Albert is one of a tiny handful of surviving veterans of the biggest sea
battle
> of them all - 31st May, 1916, the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea [or
as the
> Germans know it, the Battle of Skagerrak]. It was the only action he saw
during
> WW1, but it was enough for a lifetime.
>
> Albert was on "The Dom": the battleship HMS Indomitable.
>
> "We struck rough weather and I'll never forget being seasick for half an
hour.
> Then I got over it. We were in the Third Battle Squadron. We could only go
25
> knots and were lagging behind. We lost 'Indefatigable', 'Queen Mary' and
> "Inflexible', and if we'd been able to go the same speed, we'd have gone
too."
>
> When she joined the battle, HMS Indomitable engaged the German ships
> 'Derfflinger', 'Seydlitz' and 'Pommern', and was soon under fire herself,
but,
> remarkably, took no casualties. The teen-aged signal boy was one of those
most
> exposed to the enemy shells.
>
> "I was on the bridge the whole time", says Albert. "I got very nervous -
and
> that's what eventually got me discharged, a nervous disability. You
couldn't
> see much - there was black smoke everywhere. All the ships were coal
burners
> and you couldn't see the signals".
>
> "It was terrifying. There was just smoke, and all the noise of the guns
firing,
> and the ship shaking. I wouldn't want to see another Jutland, that's for
sure."
>
> The Royal Navy fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, deployed 28 Dreadnought
> destroyers and 9 battle cruisers at Jutland; the German commander, Admiral
> Scheer, had 16 Dreadnoughts and 5 battle cruisers.
>
> The British lost 14 ships and 6,784 men compared with German losses of 11
ships
> and 3,058 men. Using those figures, Germany claimed victory. For Britain
it was
> a tactical loss but a strategic gain: the Germans remained blockaded in
their
> ports for the duration of WW1 and never went to sea again.
>
> Almost 87 years later Albert Flint has no doubt about Jutland being a
British
> victory.
>
> "They go around saying who won the Battle of Jutland - but who
surrendered?
> That's who the loser was".
>
> [edit - at 102 no one would dare disagree]
>
> And in his view Admiral Jellicoe was never given due credit. Even today
Albert
> is quite passionate on this point.
>
> "Beatty got all the glory and Jellicoe got was to be made Governor-General
of
> New Zealand. But Jellicoe never got all the messages he should have done
[sic].
> You couldn't see the signals - there was no visibility - and there was a
real
> mix-up in communications."
>
> Albert remained on HMS Indomitable for the rest of the war.
>
> "I have good memories of old 'Dom'. Our sleeping quarters weren't great -
we
> had hammocks slung down below decks. And we weren't allowed to smoke on
board
> or have a tot of rum until we were 18 - but I used to have a smoke when I
was
> ashore!"
>
> Albert stayed with the Royal Navy after the war and was posted to Malta to
join
> the Grand fleet, serving throughout the Mediterranean on a variety of
warships,
> including 'Eagle', 'Seraph', 'Ajax', 'Ramillies', 'Seaton', 'Hood',
'Vivid',
> 'Monarch', 'Trinidad' and 'Tedworth'.
>
> In 1925, as a yeoman, or leading signalman, he agreed to transfer to the
Royal
> Australian Navy for what wa supposed to be a two year assignment.
>
> The journey out was to be significant: asked to assist a female passenger
who
> was seasick, he met the woman's daughter and fell in love. Albert and
Sarah
> married and had two children; after Sarah's death he remarried but also
lost
> his second wife, Amy, due to illness. Today he lives alone, caring for
himself.
>
> Albert spent six years in the RAN, serving on the 'Canberra', 'Cerberus',
> 'Brisbane', 'Australia', 'ANZAC' and 'Penguin'. After his discharge in
1931 he
> worked as a gatekeeper at Concord Hospital [Vets hospital[, then as a
gardener
> at the adjoining Red Cross hostel, until he was 85.
>
> "I've been back to England twice but it's not the place I knew" says
Albert.
> "The house where I grew up in Battersea is still there though."
>
> Today, as a proud Australian, Albert Flint never fails to observe ANZAC
Day and
> Remembrance Day, usually laying a wreath with his sub Branch at the local
RSL
> Club. And there is one other day of commemorative significance marked on
his
> calendar.
>
> "21st October is Trafalgar Day and I join other members of the Royal Navy
> Association in laying a wreath at Kirribilli."
>
> The era of british sea power has long been extinguished, but the proud
naval
> tradition born of Trafalgar and Jutland continues to burn brightly in
Sydney,
> in the 'indomitable' form of Albert Flint.
>
> [This post pays homage to a very remarkable Albert. It also pays homage to
my
> father, Richard [Dick] Purdie, VK2RP, VK3RP, VK2ARP - SK. Yeoman and
Signalman
> - RAN 1916 -1928. Wireless Operator, Senior Training Officer, Signals
> Intelligence, Radar - 1930 - 1952]
>
>
> 72/73's
>
> Ian C. Purdie
> Budgewoi N.S.W. Australia - Co-ords S33�14', E151�34'
> VK2TIP "I'll give ya the TIP mate" QRP-L #1978. SOC #171 FP#91
> http://www.electronics-tutorials.com/
>
>
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