I started my ‘adult life’ in the Royal Navy and often look back fondly to those times, especially at midday, tot time, sitting around the mess-table drinking my navy issue tot of rum and listening to mess-mates telling wildly exaggerated, humorous, often alcohol-enhanced yarns of their navy escapades, both at sea and ashore.
Sadly, many of those old shipmates have now passed on and crossed the bar. Many of their stories and much of their humor has died with them, unfortunately lost forever. To honour those old pals and to keep their memories, their yarns and their humour alive, I have gathered some of their stories and mine into a book form, and called it Navy Daze.
I’ve written it as if it’s my story, but I don’t intend taking all of the blame. Lots of other named and un-named dipsticks were just as drunk and much stupider than I was, but the point of the book is to celebrate the men and the humour of the 1950/1960s Royal Navy, which, because of the modern dreaded ‘political correctness,’ is rapidly disappearing.
Download Navy Daze (PDF, 2.30MB)
Roger (Jan) Meecham 