Uniform

[Des Jenkins]

Hi Mike
I wore my Vindi uniform when I joined my first ship, then used it for working in, was Peggy from Cardiff to Galveston, then on the trip back I was on deck as the other deck boy took his turn as mess boy.
didn't have Jeans, on thee pounds a month, two for my Mum out of reach, still wearing the trousers on my second trip to Aus, where I managed to buy a pair of jeans.
Looked in my wardrobe the other day still got some white Raelbrook shirts from the 70s in there, don't even own a suit these days.
Cheers Des
Unlike John S, I have donated my body to a teaching Hospital in Canberra. Free funeral for what is left over.

[j.sabourn]

Won’t be much left Des after the soup has been made .Cheers JS
PS I was 13 before I got a pair of long pants , the excuse being it was best to let the air get to your knees , that together when 21 was cleaned out in BA by ship thieves whilst I lay in my bunk after a night ashore gave me a fetish for owning plenty of pairs of trousers .:JS

[J Gowers]

My first ship as J/E was with Denholms the Burmah Zircon (ex Naess Sovereign) and I joined it in dry-dock in Marseille, 29^th January 1974 . I was talked into going to sea by some of the journeymen (mech fitters) I served my apprenticeship with, many of them had done time in the Merchant Navy instead of National Service. I was told by one of them to wear my uniform when joining a ship. I also had a trench coat which I was wearing as it was raining heavily that day. As I was going up the gangway the deck cadet spotted me and thought I was French Customs so he ran into the accommodation and told the guys, who proceeded to hide the booze. I did not live that down for the whole trip. When I eventually got to the engineers they took the piss out of me for wearing the uniform and would not let me go and change it. It was late Sunday afternoon and the ship was on shore power and we were all crammed in one small cabin can’t remember going to bed that night as I was pretty full of Oranjiboom beer. An apprentice who I served my time with also joined the same ship and was wearing a uniform but on going through Gatwick airport and luckily for him a MN C/E spotted him as a first tripper and told him to change out of the uniform before he got to the ship.
Later that year I sailed on the Denholms box boats and most of the guys were regulars and most had kaki uniforms, these were actually American work clothes bought usually in Sear Roebuck. You could wash them stick them in the tumble dryer no need to iron as they were perma press great hard wearing gear. With Denholms I saw guys in all shades of uniform blues, whites, greys and kakis. My blue uniform was purchased in Paisley’s in Glasgow where Denholm’s had an account I think they paid so much of it but do not remember. I never wore the blue jacket in my 15 years in the MN and in the later years stopped taking it with me. I still have that blue jacket with 3/E braid on it in my wardrobe and in the pocket is 3/E and 2/E epaulettes, many time over the years I have thought of tossing them in the bin but can never get around to it.

[happy daze john in oz]

For a couple of weeks at home still wore the Vindi 'uniform and going to the UCL training center in Woolwich had to wear it.
Got first UCL ship and no more Vindi ones, not sure where it went, most likely to the bin.

Uniform on UCL supplied.
On NZ Shipping Company had to have their buttons on all uniforms, the bludgers made us pay for them.