Many spars are believed to have come from this ship too. H.M.S. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. CMEM (M) Served from 1972 - 1987 Served in HMS Ganges. Helpful Report abuse Kindle Customer Sorting The Wheat From The Chaff Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2014 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. First time ever looking at any RN sights. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I heard many boys saying things like , dont bend over in front of the seamanship officer, or always face him dont turn around. The money belonged to the HMS Ganges Association for people who served at the former naval training base at Shotley Gate near Ipswich, Suffolk. One lad, a Geordie, was drafted early to a Destroyer bound for the Mediterraniann sailed from Plymouth He was washed overboard on his first few hours at sea..His parents never knew of the misery he suffered at Ganges. Once the situation eases a bit there will be tangible progress to be seen.. Maybe we boxed each other in the Shotley annexe! 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CLICK ABOVE TO OPEN GALLERY. Statistics for the 1930s indicate some 200 official canings per year in HMS Ganges alone, an average of four per week. Were you at HMS Ganges? For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Below are just some of our members who have served at HMS Ganges. This portion was taken from the foremast of the corvette Cordelia which was paid off . "In 1860 she was decommissioned and laid up, and in 1866 she was turned into a training ship, and her guns were removed. Recruits used to climb the 143ft (44m)-high mast in formation, with the "button boy" standing on a small, circular platform at the very top, hands-free, but with his legs resting against a metal supporting bar. 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. Aerial artist's impression of one of the green spaces earmarked for the former HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate. "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. 1903. This site uses cookies. July 27, Awarded the Freedom of Ipswich. 11.00 to 17.00 Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays between Easter and the end of October. Picture: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS, Independent Babergh District councillor for Ganges, Derek Davis. First Royal Navy ship to visit Eire, post independence? Even if it amazingly stayed put, as soon as I slammed the rifle onto the parade ground off it popped again. The HMS Ganges site was initially opened in 1904 acted as a boys training facility for the Royal Navy. Royal Navy 238217 Boy 2nd Class HMS Ganges II. CEM1 Served from 1972 - 1978 Served in HMS Ganges. 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. 1905. 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. interesting .. photos of the old pool. Thus was the nature of Ganges harsh training regime. GANGES; the ship had previously anchored out in the harbour below, at Shotley Gate, on the east coast opposite Harwich. I wrote this song a long time ago. I shuddered to the bone, as I'm sure did other boys. GANGES was the shore training establishment for boy entrants into the Royal Navy from 1905 until 1976. Martin Foster, 54, of Haig Road, Uxbridge, had already admitted two charges of fraud by abuse of position. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. contact the editor here. One not only suffered the punishment such as doubling up and down the steps of laundry hill with a 303 rifle held high. MT2 Served from 1965 - 2021 Served in HMS Ganges. A Gannett Company. If you cracked on and didn't buckle you were okay, but I wouldn't want to do it again. #42. The HMS Ganges training base, which opened in 1905, closed in 1976 and has remained derelict. 1927. They looked like what we didn't, sailors. JavaScript is disabled. At 14 he ran away to join the Royal Navy and 'signed on' for 12 years. 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 were stationed. Richard Dunn. HMS Ganges closed on June 6. Tony Hayden. I would like to see the mast and museum moved to the safety of HMS Raleigh though to ensure its upkeep and maintenance. Commander was Trick and a good egg. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. HMS Ganges as a training ship in the 1900s, HMS Ganges being broken up after training was transferred to the land base at Shotley, The boys climbed the mast whenever the base received high-status visitors, and as part of their training, The sailors in training doing exercises outside the gym, The honours board from the HMS Ganges, showing the victories of all the Royal Navy ships bearing the name. Steve Tarr. These were all regular happenings at Ganges. Name Hetzner Online GmbH - Contact Role. He had the misfortune to be placed under the care of two particularly brutal and drunken instructors whose continual bullying and abuse proved too much for this emerging free spirit, . Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Old men on the HMS Ganges Facebook page and it helps keep alive my time spent there. I told him "I don't give a flying feck!" Each evening after we had cleaned the mess, we took everything out of the locker rolled each item into a nine-inch sausage, tied white tape around both ends, and then placed every item on a blanket. Roger Jones, chairman at the HMS Ganges Museum said: "HMS Ganges was originally a ship of the wooden wall, launched in 1821. Indeed, I have never met a shipmate would ever claim otherwise. 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 The overall height is 143 feet 10 inches, with the button being 11 inches diameter and 3 inches thick. During Ganges's time in Cornwall allegations of harsh and brutal treatment were reported to the Admiralty.One wardroom steward shot himself over the matter, and the reports aroused indignation in the local community. H.M.S. All thanks to my Instructor CMEM LUCKENS . There were stories of many similar violations but none ever reported. Shotley Marina, Shotley Gate, Ipswich, IP9 1QJ. BBC Blue Peter presenter John Noakes attempted to climb to the top of the mast. He was the officer that tested us when we endeavoured to qualify with a bosuns pipe. Read about our approach to external linking. later times). 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. I knew only when it was over would I then be able to call myself a true Ganges Boy and, some years later, a real sailor. Initially, training continued to be carried out on the vessel, but after the completion of a shore-based facility at Shotley, the ship was sent to be broken up. Ganges training establishment. Royal Navy 238217 Boy 1st Class HMS Ganges II. Sadists most of them and that's from a 15 year old who was in a council care home before he joined, streetwise to fcuk and kept my head down. On his 15th Birthday he was sent, with 2000 other boys, to the notorious HMS Ganges training establishment at Shotley Point where a harsh regime held sway. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. "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? Free (donations towards running costs are welcome) what an incredible article, thanks for that dave, how far did you get up that mast? 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. I was so fearful of that oncoming event I was becoming a nervous wreck, each night reading the next day's daily orders, wondering if tomorrow would be the day I crapped my pants in public. "Boys came into Ganges at age 15 and went into the navy as men at 16. Engineer commander had been on Amethyst up the Yangtse and was quite sympathetic when he was OOD. Report abuse. HP10 9TY. contact the editor here. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Picture: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS, Aerial artist's impression of one of the green spaces earmarked for the former HMS Ganges site in Shotley Gate. HMS Ganges had a reputation for its harsh discipline. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. It was hoped that Developers Haylink Ltd would start work early this year, but their plans were scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's "It's very high - you get a good view though.". For breakfast porridge was on offer, that salt-coated gruel I'd been forced to eat every morning of my schoolboy days. 1914. Joined Ganges Feb '61..went through the same as everyone else. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. The Admiralty decided that the shore base should bear the name of the original training ship, HMS Ganges. Babergh District councillor Ganges, Derek Davis, said: From my own personal perspective I have seen how closely our officers and our planning team have worked with the owners of the site and I can imagine that once the lockdown is over and the guys get started, progress will be made very quickly. Read about our approach to external linking. If not, you would do it repeatedly, until you dropped dead if necessary. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant). If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to A history of the Royal Navy Training Establishment HMS Ganges. From the top of the mast, its a long way to come ! Click here to remove banner ads from this forum. HP10 9TY. She was based alternately in Falmouth, Harwich and Shotley . Helpful. Mr W Im sure the surprise and very welcome CD that popped through my letter box today was from you dear sir, so thanks very much and Im looking forward to listening to it very soon. Mr Davis added: They have had the last conditions, including the fire hydrants agreed. They were both Ordinary Seamen, one aged 17 and the other aged 18. Welcome Guest. Roe told me "I don't like you." Picture: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS (Image: CLAGUE ARCHITECTS). We had just finished PT before going to supper, so I was in shorts. Probably running away was the worse decision, they were always caught and returned to the camp. He was subsequently dismissed from the service and returned to civilian life. In 1907, its famous training mast was erected on the parade ground. From it came bloodcurdling cries of command, so frightening that I most surely would have obeyed them myself, if had I understood what they meant. . Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. You are using an out of date browser. 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. The Royal Naval Training Establishment Shotley (known within the Royal Navy as HMS Ganges) was established in southern Suffolk in 1905. At 14 he ran away to join the Royal Navy and signed on for 12 years. In the first week of January it was snowed even harder and it snowed until March. Dave Walton RN retired. 1976. Ganges will for ever be the legacy of every young boy who passed through those distant gates to emerge as a sailor and a man. Peter Ohara. Were you a 'button boy'? contact the editor here. She had taken on the previous duties from the wooden ship H.M.S. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. Welcome to our next documentary, investigating the decaying remains and iconic abandoned swimming pool of HMS Ganges Royal Naval training school, as well as . It was as we crossed the parade ground the whole bunch of us suddenly froze and spun to face a huge aircraft-hanger-of-a-building running along its length. Our abuse contact API returns data containing information belonging to the abuse contact of every IP address on the Internet. In 1905 when the Ganges vessel was finally retired (and towed away to Chatham), the training facility, still named HMS Ganges, moved ashore. Former recruit John Youngman said it would be "nice to see it restored to its former glory". Sad to see such an establishment close as it was so full of history and meant so much to so many. 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. 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