Photo Of My Dad

I haven't seen this photo for a long time and came across it today as I was looking for something else.

On the back of the photo my dad has written 'My two mates and myself taken under one of the 8" guns - Gibraltar 1937.'

My dad is in the middle and would have been 17 at the time.  His records state that he joined the navy on 3rd November 1936 for a period of 12 years.  It also states that on his entry as a boy he was 5 feet 5 inches tall and had a 34 inch chest, brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.  The records also state that he had a slight scar on his left forearm.

When he advanced to a man's rating at the age of 18 he was still 5 feet 5 inches and his chest was 34 and half inches and he had a tattoo of a swallow on his left forearm.  

Listed on his records are all of the shore bases, ships and submarines he served on.  

He left the navy on 18th March 1946 and enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserves until 13th August 1949.

In later years he joined the Submariners Association and used to travel to Portsmouth for meet ups with fellow comrades.He absolutely enjoyed these meetings and met up with several people from his past.    

I'm so pleased that I have his records although there is so much more that I would have liked to ask him.