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MY LIFE (After the Navy)
IN A CONCH SHELL
William (Biff) Hawke
Obtain a Copy |
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AFFILIATES
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Once Upon the Brine
Life at Sea and Ashore in the
Canadian Navy during the Cold War
(1946-1989)
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Salty Dips from the Coxn’s Office
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Hello, Biff Hawke here. I’m the host of the ONCE UPON THE BRINE pages. Joe Fillion was my Cox’n back in the mid 1970s when I was on the Annapolis. Joe joined the RCN in 1953 as a Radar Plotter and retired in 2009 as Command Chief (Atlantic). He and I recently got back in contact and he contributed the following stories.
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Old Chum Wagers his Tot |
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By Joe Fillion CPO1 (Ret’d) |
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I was quartermaster on the brow of the Cayuga in 1961 and the Bosn's mate and I were on the morning watch. As it was getting daylight I noticed that a seagull had his foot stuck in the garbage bin on the jetty and couldn’t free himself. At that time we had a Newfie onboard, no names no pack drill; he was known as ‘Chum’ and he loved his tot. Furthermore, he never shared any of his rum with his messmates.
I considered that this might just be my chance to get old Chum's tot for a week. Not long after the paperboy delivered the morning papers to the brow, we made our plan and not long after along came Chum. I said to Chum, “You’re a Newfie; do you know how to catch a seagull?”
Chum replied, “You can't catch those shithawks".
Well I said, “Chum I will bet you a weeks tots that my Bosn's mate can do it.”
Chum replied, “Your on!”
As planed the Bosn’s mate took a newspaper, held it up in front of him, and walked over to the gash bin where he grabbed the seagull. He held it up in the air for a few seconds and then released it. Chum went below with a few unpleasant remarks. Grudgingly I got Chum's tot for a week.
I believe Old Chum has since crossed the bar, God bless him. |
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Here’s another one:
What? A Bear Trap with No Bait!
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By Joe Fillion |
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I spent seven and a half years on the Assiniboine; I went onboard as a Leading Seaman and left as a P1. On one occasion during my time on her we were deployed off the coast of Newfoundland to carry out rough weather trials for the newly developed ‘Bear Trap’, an apparatus for hauling hellos down to the flight deck.
As would have it we had dignitaries onboard from a bunch of foreign Navies. The Captain was in the hangar with the dignitaries explaining the operation of the trap, when up in the LSO’s compartment a voice was heard from one Leading Seaman Crane, “Sir, it won't work”, to which the Captain calmly replied, “LS Crane we are explaining this operation and I don't wish to be interrupted.”
With that Leading Seaman Crane replied, “There is NO DAMN BAIT in the trap”.
LS Crane was an Able Seaman again the next day.
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