Hi Shippers

I my short time on the board you may have seen me using terms which you probably think what the hell is he talking about for example Sundodger and Bomber !!

Having been brough up in Royal Naval circles since I was a sprog (another naval term) it is just second nature to me which I have carried over into civilian life.

There is an excellent book available from Amazon either in paperback or hardback if you feel like splashing out that tells you what they all mean.

The book was written by a Doctor who did his training in the British NHS and then joined the Royal Navy - he explains in his first appointment in the RN he was assigned to the staff of RNH Gibraltar and he had all these sailors coming to see him - talking what he called a foreign language. So he set about writing a book listing them all.

In part it's hilarious - if you are interested in that sort of thing.

As a side line and nothing political meant here as I know we have people from many countries on the board but the same guy was the Chief Medical Officer is the British/Argentinian war for the Falklands in 1982 - he wrote a book called the Red and Green Life Machine about the times of the medical team - one of the best books I have ever read.

He also wrote a book with term an quotes from real confidential reports on officers in the RN called Staff in Confidence, again hilarious in parts.

The name of the doctor/author was surgeon Commander and later Captain Rick Jolly RN, who by the way was awarded the OBE for his efforts by the British and the equivalent by Argentina (in my humble opinion for what is counts the guy should have been Knighted - you will understand whatever country you originate from if you read the book) At one time there was a video on the tube called Falkland Island Combat medics.

Now my question of the day was Where Did the name of the hospital at Ajax Bay get the name "The Red and Green Life Machine come from"

Sadly Rick "Crossed the Bar" - another naval term in 2018 - his Funeral was at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, Cornwall not far from where he lived, the Coffin Bearers were members of his team from 1982. I had the privilege to meet him on three occasions and he remembered me each time


P