By Mr Derek Berry, AM
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| The new "New Place" and the ship - 1930s |
On 6 July 1996 with my friend Malcolm Smith, ex RN, we drove to the plinth marking the old site of TS MERCURY in the village of Hamble. I cannot describe my feelings standing there as I had done 55 years ago, and the memories came flooding back.
As a young boy I was fascinated with the sea and travel and at age 11, I went on an organised school visit to Portsmouth for the purpose of visiting Portsmouth harbour to see the warships and explore the Dockyard, Naval Barracks, and HMS VICTORY. From then on my fate was sealed, I wanted to be a Sailor.
At the beginning of the Second World War we were living in a small village in Kent where my poaching forays helped eke out the meat ration. On one occasion this resulted in an encounter on the land of a retired Admiral. The said gentleman advised me that a career in the Navy would be good for my high spirits, he also suggested an alternative!
Having considered the alternative, I took the obvious choice and in early 1941 took advantage of the Kent County Council scholarship scheme for boys who intended to make the Royal Navy or Merchant Navy a career. I gained entry into the Training Ship MERCURY which consisted of a ship originally called GANNET, built in Sheerness in 1878. The ship was moored in the Hamble river a few miles from Southampton with a shore establishment on the river bank.
On 1 September 1941 aged 14, I travelled with my father to Hamble to join the MERCURY. On arrival the officers and staff met the parents of the new boys, paying particular interest in my father who was an officer in the Army. Suddenly it was time for my father to leave a firm handshake and a quick wave as he disappeared out of sight. There was no time for tears...MERCURY Lesson No. 1 "MERCURY boys don't cry."
He left me with an inscription inside my bible; 'Proverbs Chapter 2'. I was now completely on my own and there would be no turning back. I had commenced a great adventure of life at sea.
The next 12 months would be the hardest in my Naval career, with strict discipline, poor and insufficient food and corporal punishment. The Chief Officer in front of the assembled ship's company administered the cane, at other times lesser punishments including bread and water eaten amidships would be awarded. The Chief Officer, Dick Fraser, was a Merchant Navy officer in the position of Executive Officer. He was big and left none of us in any doubt as to his physical capabilities. He was also a skilled teacher in Mathematics and Navigation.
Mrs. Fry, nicknamed Ma, arrived. She was a small lady dressed in what resembled a First World War WRENS uniform. She appeared harmless enough walking with the aid of a stick, however, we quickly found out that she was tough, handy with her stick and never to be underestimated because of her age.
She surveyed the collection of boys ranging in age ranged from 11 to 14, welcoming us by waving her stick to emphasize any point she made. This included how lucky we were in being selected and in her care. She ran off a list of all the things we could be punished for!...MERCURY Lesson No. 2 - "Cleanliness is equal to Godliness."
I do not remember the Commandant, Commander C B Fry RNR appearing at all. "C B" had been a distinguished scholar at Oxford and an excellent sportsman and athlete who had represented England at several sports. Known best for cricket, having captained the English side just prior to the First World War, he was in his late 60s. He was a great coach and MERCURY produced sports teams that were capable of beating much older local teams. He did not become too involved with the running of the establishment, preferring it to be run by others.
Names were replaced with a number, mine being 132; this was sewn onto my uniform like a convict. During kitting up our boots were stowed away and almost forgotten, only to be used at Divisions or outside the establishment gate. We always went barefoot!
Our few personal effects of a photograph of the family, writing paper, pen and ink, bible and prayer book were kept in individual "ditty boxes" about the size of a shoebox. With the box went a key attached to a lanyard and a brass plate with official number on it.
Combs were confiscated; they would be no longer required. The Bosun, as the barber, quickly removed any vestige of hair; unfortunately this part of our indoctrination was not painless, the shears were blunt and pulled hair out by the roots, the scissors were the same. This did not worry the Bosun who was completely oblivious to any struggle or cries of pain as each boy was 'scalped'!
We were now completely demoralized; disorientated; unrecognizable, homesick and wishing we had not passed the bloody scholarship. We were then taken to the dining hall for a meal, if you could call it that. Finally all boys were marched to the jetty and taken by boat to the ship where we were introduced to sleeping in hammocks.
As the days passed, we discovered how we stood in this new life: we were always wrong! However it did not take long to settle in and we felt proud of ourselves at being able to handle the routine that ran day after day, with monotonous regularity.
0515: Call the hands - lash up and stow hammocks, slackness could invite a bucket of cold seawater.
0530: Scrub down decks using hand scrubbers on hands and knees, drying with deck cloths. During winter months boys could be seen holding back their tears with the cold, the deck cloths used to freeze overnight and were like stiff boards in the morning.
0600: Boats crews manned the boats to row all hands ashore, the crossing being made regardless of the weather, with an officer in the boat who constantly shouted and sometimes hit a boy for not keeping stroke. Usually, this was due to the oar being too big for the boy.
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| The Ship in the 1920s |
We concentrated on our scalps, believing that it helped the hair to grow, not that it made any difference. As soon as it did, you were off to the Bosun for a repeat performance with the shears.
0700: Breakfast was normally porridge in bite size lumps with sugar and milk, and cocoa without milk or sugar because you'd had it on your porridge! The senior boy supervised his messmates, standing over them with the soup ladle to back up his authority. The tables and stools were pure white and woe betides a boy spilling anything on them. The wooden deck was scrubbed pure white; it never got scuffed because we always had bare feet.
0815: Commence instruction.
On occasions we rowed back to the ship for Gunnery or Boatwork. During gunnery we learnt to load the 6-inch guns with imaginary ammunition, if you failed to pay attention they soon found a real one for you to hold for a while.
Boys who could not swim were invited to learn by being secured to the end a long rope and suspended over the ship's side. It was the responsibility of each boy to personally secure the rope with a bowline. On one occasion a boy nearly drowned when the bowline came undone!...MERCURY Lesson No. 3 - "Learn bends and hitches as soon as possible."
Ashore, we learnt seamanship theory. The Bosun was proud of his model forecastle with its anchors and cables. We repeated in a singsong manner all 32 points of the compass clockwise, if you got too smart you were invited to do it in reverse. During this exercise the Bosun rapped boys over the head with a steel rod each time a mistake was made.
One day, 121 decided he had enough of being hit on the head and took the rod, bending it into a horseshoe. As he was a very big boy and came from the East End of London, the Bosun, who was not so big decided that discretion might be wiser than valor!
The Chief Officer, in teaching Mathematics and Navigation, had an excellent way of demanding attention; he had a pet rock prominently and permanently displayed to the class on his desk. If you failed to pay attention or started to nod off you could be certain the rock would come your way with a word of warning, "Catch." He also wielded a billiard cue with some dexterity!... MERCURY Lesson No. 4 -"Pay attention at all times."
Other instruction consisted of Parade Drill, Signalling, Field Gun and the TS MERCURY Band. All boys at some time or other did some sort of musical training.
1200: Lunch.
After lunch we were marched to the Sports Field, where at the bottom overlooking the river, were 10 single type sentry boxes, which were in fact our heads (or toilets). To engage in a bodily function one had to have his name ticked off by the boy holding the Head Ledger, who provided a Head Ticket, a lump of wood with a number hung outside to indicate engaged.
The Matron checked the ledger daily, those who had not had their bowels open were summoned to the Sickbay for her special mixture, and it was dynamite!...MERCURY Lesson No. 5 - "Never go sick."
1300: Back to instruction.
1700: Evening meal.
The cook was not highly qualified; the vegetables were never properly cleaned and food did not seem to be a priority at MERCURY. There was a food shortage in England due to the war; it was probably considered sufficient: however, we were always hungry.
In summer after the evening meal, we would march to the sports field. Sometimes Commander Fry would quietly appear and speak to boys or coach them in sport. He was always very polite but seemed somewhat shy and lonely.
On some Thursdays we would be organized for boxing, not normally matching two boys of the same height or build. Whether this was by design or purely coincidental we were never to know. Ma Fry watched closely with clenched fingers on her stick, at times she was heard to say, "Make him bleed Boy" The winner sometimes got a small bar of chocolate which he always shared with the loser... MERCURY Lesson No. 6 - "Never be selfish."
On rare occasions we were issued with cocoa and ships biscuit before rowing back on board for the night. During the march to the pierhead many a boy snuck off into the garden and pulled out carrots to eat. The winter months were pitch black and the only light to prevent a collision in the boat was a candle in a lantern.
2030: Hammocks were rigged, we then stood by them to sing the evening hymn "The day thou gavest Lord is ended". It was beautifully sung echoing across the water and people came from miles around to listen to it. At 2100 everyone turned in, and due to the day's exertions the majority would be asleep before the lights went out.
On Saturdays we scrubbed everything that did not move. After cleaning up we dressed in our uniform for inspection by Ma Fry and the Chief Officer. One particular drill was with our gym shoes held in our left hand parallel to the deck, toes of the gym shoes pointing to the inspecting officer. Our lanyards showing polished tally and ditty box key were then draped over the shoes so they could be inspected. In our right hand we held our toothbrush and clean handkerchief.
At the order "Show Teeth" the toothbrush was placed under the lower lip with bristles to the front and the handkerchief hanging down over the chest. We were then required to put on our best grin with mouths open so that Ma could see we had cleaned our teeth, and that the toothbrush was not worn out! ...MERCURY Lesson No. 7 - "You must have an eye for detail."
At lunchtime the Chief Officer offered good news by announcing the winner of best mess during rounds that morning. The prize, a cake baked by the cook. The mess that won it considered it a punishment to have to eat it.
Once the good news was announced the Chief Officer presented the bad news, reading out any offences or misdemeanours committed by individual boys from the Defaulters Book. There were no witnesses: "the instructor was always right". He then awarded punishment for offences such as:
Talking in an improper place;The punishments awarded varied from:
Talking when we should have been listening;
Walking when we should have been running;
Showing disrespect by running when we should be walking across the Quarterdeck;
Loss of kit;
Not paying attention in class; and
For dirty kit or being slovenly dressed.
Doubling up and down the sports field hill;Serious offences such as:
Pumping water to the header tank in the laundry;
Cleaning out the overflow sewerage tank;
Loss of privilege of being able to spend our own weekly pocket money (from parents); to:
Bread and water amidships (lunch time only and eaten standing in centre of dining hall).
Running away (desertion);would result in six strokes of the cane, administered in the Gym in front of a full ships company. The offender would be spread-eagled over the vaulting box...MERCURY Lesson No. 8 - "Be smart, don't get caught."
Behaving with contempt to an officer; and
Answering back, rudeness or smoking;
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| Inspecting the Mess Hall - 1956 |
Many times a boy wrote home saying he had been "head boy" (the one who issued the head tickets and then emptied the pans). How proud his parents were to hear that after only three weeks their son was the Head Boy.
"The Day of Rest" was spent mainly in church, with the overpowering smell of incense. This was hard to take on an empty stomach before breakfast. Occasionally we were allowed to wear our boots and were taken for a walk outside the gates. We passed an Army Camp where soldiers took pity on us, throwing cigarettes to the boys. Those who got caught received the cane. However corporal punishment did not deter repeat performances...MERCURY Lesson No. 9 - "Take your punishment like a man."
Over the 12 months I was there the routine hardly ever varied except once when my parents came down and took 121 and myself ashore for the day. On 9 September I joined the Royal Navy...
Suddenly the lightning flashed and the thunder roared, bringing me back to reality. Malcolm had quietly been taking photographs of me with the plinth and the river in the background. He said, "Ma Fry must be listening up top". I replied "I doubt if she had made it there" whereupon the heavens opened up pouring with rain, bringing a comment from Malcolm, "She must have heard you!"
When the rain stopped we called at No 41 Mercury Gardens, explaining the reason for my visit. The lady informed us that the church had originally stood at the rear of her house, I assumed I was standing on the quarterdeck! In August, I visited my homeport Chatham Dockyard, finding the remains of the old training ship in dock being renovated to the tune of 2 Million Pounds and renamed GANNET. She looked so small from the time when as a 14-year-old I had scrubbed her decks. We took a photograph of me at the pump where I had worked many times drawing icy cold water from the Hamble River.
Some of the boys lost their lives during the Second World War, a few before reaching the age of 18. I hope that the restoration of GANNET will be a memorial to their sacrifice and a constant reminder of the challenge offered to so many in their youth.
There was great pride in being a MERCURY Boy; it was the toughest training ship in the British Isles. Its success can be seen in the Old Boys Association list of members where many reached senior positions in both the Royal and Merchant Navies. Several ex MERCURY Boys commanded ships in the Australian National Line with many more holding responsible positions throughout the world.
It did not do me any harm. I am grateful for the opportunity to have trained at MERCURY. This initial training shaped my future career in the Navy and my principles in life to this day. An emotional reminder of those days will always be the sound of the Evening Hymn.
The motto "Men are the Souls of Ships" would not be accepted today because of political correctness; however, it stood the test of time for us wherever we were in the world. We came away from MERCURY with three ideals:
You never ever throw the towel in the ring.What else did we need to face a world fraught with danger? This is the challenge we should be offering our youth of today.
You must always have pride in your ship and your work.
You must always be loyal to your shipmates.