What has he come to tell them??
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wolves
Age: 57
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What has he come to tell them??
The RAF chappy with the life jacket on, must have come on board with something special to say... lots of service brass listening intently to him. Thoughts......
Last edited by boristhemini; 14th Jan 2009 at 12:58.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wolves
Age: 57
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Forgot to say, this is from a friends collection of pics, that belonged to his late grand father, that I'm trying to find out the history of.
I'm intrigued by this pic, purely because of the amount of services/nationalities involved.
I'm intrigued by this pic, purely because of the amount of services/nationalities involved.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wolves
Age: 57
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well S'land, my friends great uncle served from 43-48 in europe then west africa and his grandfather from dec 44-48 in europe and india........ We really do not know what is going on here. Is it a published photo he had a copy of (was this an important moment in military history?) or one he took himself of a strange gathering. Puzzling.
Actually S'land your last (deleted) post was quite funny!!
Actually S'land your last (deleted) post was quite funny!!
Cunning Artificer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The spiritual home of DeHavilland
Age: 76
Posts: 3,127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The brass may be interested, but all those guys leaning on the rail seem to be pre-occupied with something more important. The mail probably...
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Nottingham UK
Age: 85
Posts: 5,575
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The gentleman on the right of the photograph under the davit would appear to have RAF wings and judging by the board band on his epaulette right shoulder could possibly be an Air Commodore.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wolves
Age: 57
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fraid not tubs. We believe it was a pic taken by my friends late grandfather or his great uncle, who never spoke about their war days. We have other pictures, but none like this.
Boris,I have copied the picture and posted it on a maritime website,to try and get you a better answer.The legs at top left do not have bell bottoms so this may be a merchant ship.Which one is the person you know and which service were they in?
Have you tried the unithistories website to find out more about the officer?
Have you tried the unithistories website to find out more about the officer?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wolves
Age: 57
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Tubs. My friends Grand Father was in the Army (GSC and RPC Dec 44-Apr48)) but his Great Uncle was in RAF (43-48) serving mainly in West africa/India but also European theatre. We believe one of them took the photo themselves, or this is a published photo that he was given, that meant something to him and therefore kept. My friends G-Uncle had a pic of some sunderlands in Bathurst in'45 that he kept that was a multi edition photo handed out to those who took part in the ceremony. Could this be similar??? I doubt it as it is too informal for a MOD picture. what site have you posted to BTW?
thanks everyone
Ivan
thanks everyone
Ivan
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Wolves
Age: 57
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The legs at top left do not have bell bottoms so this may be a merchant ship.
My guess is that the photograph was almost certainly taken on board the fast minelayer HMS APOLLO, bringing General Eisenhower to Normandy on D-Day + 1, with other senior staff officers, including Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, the Flag Officer commanding the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force.
I almost forgot - What's the RAF brasshat with the lifejacket saying? - "I'm afraid we seem to have lost Ike"!
Jack
PS Actually, he was more probably saying "If there are no women and children on board, bags I first in the lifeboat"! Why? Because APOLLO ran aground that day and damaged her props, so the top team transferred to HMS UNDAUNTED - which could partly explain all the extra string messing up the upper scupper and the great interest being taken in what was going on in the background!
PPS The "un-bell bottomed" legs at the top of the picture almost certainly belong to the off-watch junior stoker who manages to get into almost every photograph of any big occasion in every ship, willy-nilly! In any case, most of the ship's company would have been wearing action working dress (No 8s) or, like our stoker friend, blue overalls.
I almost forgot - What's the RAF brasshat with the lifejacket saying? - "I'm afraid we seem to have lost Ike"!
Jack
PS Actually, he was more probably saying "If there are no women and children on board, bags I first in the lifeboat"! Why? Because APOLLO ran aground that day and damaged her props, so the top team transferred to HMS UNDAUNTED - which could partly explain all the extra string messing up the upper scupper and the great interest being taken in what was going on in the background!
PPS The "un-bell bottomed" legs at the top of the picture almost certainly belong to the off-watch junior stoker who manages to get into almost every photograph of any big occasion in every ship, willy-nilly! In any case, most of the ship's company would have been wearing action working dress (No 8s) or, like our stoker friend, blue overalls.
Last edited by Union Jack; 12th Jan 2009 at 22:43.
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Devon
Posts: 143
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If it is HMS Apollo then my guess this picture was taken 15 minutes after the grounding and all the brass are saying that time-honoured phrase...
"What are we going to do now?"
"What are we going to do now?"
.... There aren't many GI's in shot but it strikes me that none of them seem to be carrying the sort of kit you'd expect if they were about to disembark on D-Day ( weapons, packs, etc,) there's no sign of unit markings on helmets and non of them seem to be wearing any form of life preserver (even the primitive belt type life preserver used in the Normandy landings). The GI's all seem to be intenet on whatever is going on over the rail..
Add to that the distinctly non-military park bench that boris has pointed out and I wonder if this is a photograph taken on some sort of transport vessel arriving in port somewhere...either that or the RAF type has arrived alongside by Flying boat and that's what the G.I's are looking at.......
Add to that the distinctly non-military park bench that boris has pointed out and I wonder if this is a photograph taken on some sort of transport vessel arriving in port somewhere...either that or the RAF type has arrived alongside by Flying boat and that's what the G.I's are looking at.......