Abuse at Sharpness Seamans mission

[Lyle Allington]

Hope this doesn't come as a shock to anyone
Tonight my husband and I have watched a documentary about cadet abuse, and he told me of the
Experience he had on arrival at Sharpness, before joining the Vindicatrix in 1952
He was abused by the Padre at the Seamans mission
Of course this abuser will not still be alive, but he would no doubt have abused other boys in his position of trust
Does anyone know if this man was ever bought to justice please, thank you

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Dawn.
All news to me, I knew that the Padre who used to play the piano and have singsongs in the mission I still have the bible he gave everyone, he was a bit funny but in those days that is what we all probably thought a bit funny. He certainly never tried anything that i know of, but then I would have dropped him.
cheers Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Never heard of that one but not such a shock when you hear some stories.
But I do recall the barber who regularly came to cut the lads hair, as gay as they come and so open often offering to take the boys out for a fun time at night.
Not sure if any ever went.

[cappy]

remember that barber we were all worrying ...but no prob ......do recall on a tanker iwas on a guy almost cleaverd to death up the gulf for assaulting a ist tripper ...sadly the guy who took revenge was put ashore with the beast in mina al ahmadi .....a sad time the ship was not the same after that and the boy rating assaulted was a lost soul ...the same guy tried his hand with me before we sailed but a well aimed broon ale bottle bouncing of a bulkhead and shattering took a large lump of his ear leaving him never looking or speaking to me ever again.... strangly he was ex para but national service i think ....they were hard times .....predators and junkies ....dispose of them like rats ...sadly when we paid of in falmouth the coppers asked me about my assaulting him ..then said we will strike it out ..you could go inside for that ......dont know the final outcome of it all.....cappy

[j.sabourn]

Re the barber didn't anyone christen him the barber of Seville, or Sweeney Todd. ? JWS

[cappy]

john we had boxing at the vindi no prob with that ...having a real good set two ..not a prob ...but going to get me hair cut ...sitting with me hands on me nuts petrified ..but no prob ...lol cappy

Re the barber didn't anyone christen him the barber of Seville, or Sweeney Todd. ? JWS

[Lewis McColl]

In the 43 years I was at sea , unless I was very naive , I only ever remember two lads that were gay. One was the junior officers steward and the other was a 4th engineer.Him I beat the crap out off. He tried it on with me and when told in no uncertain terms to behave. He nearly drove another Junior Eng to suicide. I did not hang back.
The Steward was a good lad and a cracking sense of humour. In those days the whites (uniform) were made from Drill, being a rag ars- from Belfast I did not have a clue about using an iron or doing my own laundry, I had the best mum in the world. Anyway he showed me how to ensure my whites were immaculate, he would also give me a right bollocking if my cabin was untidy. To be honest sailing with him for 6 months and what he taught me set me up to be the reasonably tidy person I am today.He never made a move on me, maybe I was not his type. The junior officers on that ship were always the best turned out.We eventually lost him as a new oldman joined and he was promoted to the oldmans tiger, still he still took time to look after his boys as he would call us. He was a lovely man.

[John F Collier]

I never saw or heard of any sexual abuse when at the Vindi in 1955, there was some bullying between lads from different
cities etc but bullying is something you can deal with and put a stop to but as nobody tried to bully me so I wasn't bothered by it.
An adult abusing a youngster is a different kettle of fish I believe some victims have even topped themselves because of the
mental anguish it causes and in this gentlemans case he's kept it to himself until now when he is in his eighties and finally got
it off his chest, how often do you see scout leaders etc charged with these offenses, we've had a couple of cases recently of a
local kids football club coach and a scout leader, you have to wonder what screening process they go through before they can
work with children, I think these sexual predator's should be chemically castrated and locked up for life. JF
PS, The only thing I got from the Vindi barber was a lousy haircut, the worst I ever had.

[Lewis McColl]

I never saw or heard of any sexual abuse when at the Vindi in 1955,

PS, The only thing I got from the Vindi barber was a lousy haircut, the worst I ever had.

John I have a friend who is a scout master down in Rochester. Last year he was accused of an indecent act against a lad. Police got involved and thankfully my friend was cleared of any wrong doing. His accuser had thankfully posted on facebook how he was going to ruin this mans life days before he accused him of indecent assault, simply because he did not like him.
I have known this guy for 6 or 7 years and I can tell you there is NO WAY he would ever behave improperly towards a minor, he is a decent man and a good family man. He has since said good bye to the scout movement as it left him in a bad way being grilled by the police and called all sorts.
What happened to gobshite that accused him from the law nothing but we have heard through the grapevine his father nearly ended up in court for child abuse as he battered the wee barstard, well done dad.

[John F Collier]

John I have a friend who is a scout master down in Rochester.
, well done dad.

I wouldn't doubt that for one moment Lewis, the same thing happens with women falsely crying rape and ruining a innocent
mans life but sadly there are far too many genuine cases of child abuse, in the case of your friend it shows the other side of the coin and the fact that there are victims on both sides, sadly human nature can be very unpalatable at times. JF