D’You Hear There! Daily Pipes of the Royal Navy
144 pages
David Childs
Being asked to review a book the proceeds from whose sale will be going to support charity (Weldmar Hospicecare, the RNA and the China Fleet Country Club) could pose a slight moral dilemma: should one avoid criticism for the sake of supporting a good cause or be falsely ebullient for the same reason? Luckily, I would place this small light-hearted insight into life at sea, in the same company as the evergreen, brilliant Seamans Pocket Book which the Admiralty issued in 1943 and my copy of which I passed on, now with regret, to a favourite grandchild who was interested in the Royal Navy and now is not. In other words, it would make a good stocking filler for a young relative, to give them some idea as to what daily life on board ship is like.
The selection of main-broadcast pipes begins, appropriately enough with ‘Call the Hands’; the straight-forward version, no mention of ‘socks’ in this edition although it could have included the command ‘Don’t turn over, turn out.’ The reader is then taken through the daily routine of life onboard as reflected in the relevant pipes: ‘15 minutes to colours…’, Special Sea Dutymen…’, ‘Hands to Flying Station…’, ‘Free Gangway…’, ‘Stand by for rounds…’. All of these are followed by a paragraph or three explaining and commentating on the meaning of the pipe and the actions required but never in a dull informative way; there is much humour and obvious personal experience involved in describing each pipe. Inevitably, there are some omissions but every reader will have their own favourites that are not present such as, ‘Up spirits’ or ‘The 4.5’s are about to open fire’. I always wanted to board someone else’s ship and make the pipe, ‘Loyal men lay aft.’ That apart a good inclusion would have been some other historic pipes such as from the Falkland Islands War as the fleet came under attack or from HMS Amethyst trapped in the Yangtse (perhaps, a future edition?). But don’t wait, grab a copy as a stocking filler and know that Weldmar Hospicecare will benefit from your purchase.
