Now we could be relied upon to be responsible at all times – yeah – right! I wouldn't say that we went out that often – but, when we did we tended not to hold back. Here is a very short tale of a particularly silly evening! Andy and I were serving at Royal Navy Hospital, Plymouth in 1977 and had had a couple of beers in the hospital club early one Saturday evening.

We now thought it was time to go 'ashore' for some fun. First port of call – the nurses quarters, seemed a good start to us. No takers here, unfortunately. Perhaps reputation went before us? No matter! We would go ashore anyway.

Andy insisted on driving the short distance into the town. We could easily have walked it. No matter. So of we went in Andy's pride and joy – a hotrod to be proud of. His car – a bright orange reliant robin! This was way before Derek Trotter! We parked up in a side street just of the main street in Plymouth – not a good idea in my humble opinion! This being a little bit rough to say the least.

We found ourselves in a favourite nightclub – I think it might have been the Spiders Web or something like that. We thought it would be a good idea to have ago at working our way through the optics. I think we made a pretty good job of it! Some hours later we made our way back to our transport – obviously somewhat worse for wear. Not a sensible move at all.

We were outraged to find that the 'Robin' had been broken into, evidenced by the broken window and the wires hanging from the dash were the radio used to be. Outrage! We would report this to the Police immediately.

Some time later we entered the Police station, a little unsteadily and presented ourselves to the desk sergeant and regaled him of the unsavoury and, frankly, outrageous incident. 'Right' he said, having taken down our particulars, he then asked us how had we got to the station. We replied 'we drove here in the Reliant Robin, of course!'

The sergeant, politely suggested that we get in a taxi to go back to the hospital and to turn in for the night. Why weren't we locked up. Fortunately, the hospital and the Police had an excellent relationship. This, however is probably the most stupid thing I have ever done!

Extract from  a Navy Lark – memoirs of a RN Medic

If you are single, Xmas in the Navy can be good fun, even when you are working.

Here's an example….

It's Xmas 1974, I am working on the officers ward at RNH Stonehouse in Plymouth. I have reached the heady heights of PMA (Probationary Medical Assistant). I am working the day shift over the Xmas period.

Xmas eve sees a pretty good 'thrash' going on in the Geneva club – the hospital bar. There is much alcohol and frivolity – a good evening is being had by all!

Note to self – in future try to keep alcohol consumption down to sensible levels when I have to work the following morning. On this occasion I fail to do this and get well into the fun! Frivolity and alcohol consumption goes on late into Xmas eve – no surprises there then!

The next morning sees me waking up not feeling quite as cheerful as the evening before. I have the mother of hangovers – take it like a man! I report for duty on the officers ward – smartly dressed in pristine ward whites, oh.. and 6 foot of tinsel wrapped around my neck. seemed like a good idea at the time – Xmas morning after all!

The sister in charge, takes one look at my sorry face (I must have looked terrible) and sends me to lie down in an empty room. This I do with gratitude and promptly fall asleep. Remember, I am supposed to be on duty.

Sometime later I am woken with a gentle shake. Let me explain something – it is a tradition for the senior officers of the hospital to do rounds on Xmas morning to spread some good cheer. I try to focus, still feeling bloody awful from the night before, this proves to be difficult. I am dazzled by the amount of gold braid that appears before my eyes!

It is, of course, rounds! There in front of me is a Rear Admiral, the Executive Officer, Matron and assorted others. Bloody hell! I must be deep in the mire. The Admiral wishes me a very merry Xmas, which I return. He about turns with the rest of the party and exits the room.

I promptly roll over and go back to sleep. To this day – I have no idea how I got away with it! I do remember that the Admiral in question was Rear Admiral Binns, he had come through the ranks – a fairly rare thing to achieve his rank (hell he was even rumoured to have tattoos!). Maybe, he remembered what it was like to be working on the wards at Xmas!

Extract from – a Navy Lark! - Memoirs of a Royal Navy Medic

Whilst working on the wards in Plymouth in 1975 I became very adept at "laying out" the deceased. No idea why – just didn't seem to bother me that much. I was often called upon to help on other wards when I was on night duty…….

One Saturday night I was called upon to help on one of the surgical wards. So of I trot to do my stuff. In this case the patient had died from gas gangrene and had unpleasant, bubbling lesions along his spine – yuk!

Now this meant taking precautions. So my colleague and I gowned up, complete with masks and theatre hats – all in white. We prepared the body and then placed it in the bier (a metal box on wheels – used to transport the patient to the morgue).

I set off – just me and the body to the morgue. It was around 0100 on a dark night. The morgue was behind the hospital, close to the officers ward block and near to the staff quarters.

As I rounded a corner, pushing the body ahead of me I saw three staff members, obviously returning from a good night out at the other end of the hospital block, hove into view. I was some distance away but managed to have quite an effect on these 'drunken sailors'. They yelled as one and ran as fast as their boozy legs would take them to the staff quarters and disappeared from view. Hells teeth! What rattled their cages?

Ah!! Of course!. Picture the scene. You are returning from a good Saturday night filled with beer, you round the corner of a building and what do you see in the distance? A shadowy all white figure alone in the dark. The dark of an old military hospital reputed to have a good few un-departed souls. Well, you don't believe in this sort of rubbish, but, there it is, right in front of your eyes! Your first ghost! Of course, you run as fast as you, bloody well can!

Probably, the first and last time I will ever have such a 'spirited' effect on people!

Extract from  a navy lark! – memoirs of a navy medic

RNH Stonehouse 1974

Every month or so, can't remember exactly, there would be a new class of nurses arrive for training. This was quite an event for most of the male staff at the hospital – probably a slightly scary one for the new nurses!…..

The hospital, of course, had it's own bar called the Geneva club. It was here that ratings would gather in the evenings for a few beers, a disco or as a prelude to a run ashore. This was also a place of ordeal for a new class of 'baby' nurses.

I remember these nights very clearly. Once the new nurses had settled into their new surroundings they would pay their first visit to the Geneva club. It must have seemed like a cattle market to them. Male staff members would be in attendance to 'welcome them' and eye up the new talent! I'm sure that this first visit to the club must have been an uncomfortable experience.

Of course, these freshly pressed nurses would soon become extremely comfortable in their new surroundings. Stonehouse was a great place to live and work.

However, I always felt some sympathy on these nights and, would often introduce myself to help them feel welcome. I knew many, many nurses during my time at Stonehouse, purely as friends. There was many a good night at the Geneva club!

Extract from  a navy lark! – memoirs of a navy medic