British anecdotes

Quick story, I was in the Marine Corps in 1970, and was in port at Subic Bay, Philippines. To go on liberty, we had to ride a bus from the ship, to the main gate. As I was waiting for the bus to load, I saw two sailors running, to catch the bus. They wore round, seemingly strange, hats. I thought I had seen all of the Navy's uniforms, but I was a Marine, and just dismissed it as a new item, the Navy had added, to it's wardrobe. Back then, when you were overseas, Americans, when meeting each other, for the first would ask "Where are you from, in the world?". To Americans the "world" meant the United States. When these two sailors boarded the bus they sat behind me. Being curious about their hats, I asked one of them where he was from, in the world. He promptly replied, Brtain. Still not thinking anything of it, I said "Britain? Britain where, Brtain, Connecticut, Britian, Massachusetts?" He said "no, Great Britain", then it dawned on me why their hats were so strange. No one ever accused me of being the sharpest tack, in the box. We ended up partying with them that night. I was amazed to learn that when they enlisted in their Navy, they signed on for 9 years.

hi Bruce, I was detached to RAF (Royal Air Force) Tenga, in Singapore in 1970. I Enlisted for 9 years when I started. You had the option of 5 or 9 but many stayed in for 22.  Welcome to POE (Pictures of England)

Thank you for the welcome, lancashirelove. Great site.

Diana, I am from Pittsburg, Kansas. It is in the southeast corner of Kansas. I will say though, as much as I love Kansas, one of my favorite places in the U.S. is Newport, R.I. I went there for my officers training, for the Navy. I like New England a lot.

Edited by: Bruce Kennedy at:5th February 2011 13:11

Welcome to POE from Anna and Ron, Bruce. As you have already noticed, a great website and forum, the best!

I agree and thank you.

Hi Bruce..welcome to POE!...I live in Oregon, but was born in Nebraska...and married an guy from Missouri..have been through your area an lot. We have an affilation goes back an long way with the Kennedy family and Hugh Martin...but one equally as well with Great Britain. Hope you enjoy your time here. 

Hi Bruce, welcome to POE...I guess I have to admit up to being born north of Chicago, and now living in Britain. World seems big sometimes, yet it so small, also.

Hello sk lawson. I grew up here, in Kansas. When I entered the Navy, I joined my first ship, at Swan Island,on the Willamette River, in Portland, Oregon. I had the fortune of attending the "Rose Festival", Portland is a lovely place. I don't know if you live near Portland, or have been to Portland. But if you haven't seen the "Rose Festival", you should go, sometime.