August 2008
The
August meeting did not have a guest speaker so the evening was taken up with three talks by our members.
The first talk was provided a talk on the history of two Arctic Medals. One was to a Marine on HMS Cerebus and the
other to a Marine on HMS Hawke. The first medal was to Pte Joseph Healey for the Franklin Expedition in 1845 to explore the
‘North West Passage’ and map the many islands. This was not the first expedition to this region. The two ships,
H.M.S. Terror and H.M.S. Cerebus were well equipped. During the winter of 1845/46 the expedition became stuck in the ice for
the winter. The following winter they spent the winter in the Franklyn Channel again stuck in the ice. Finally, they remaining
119 crew (9 had died earlier in the expedition) to abandon the ships and strike out for safety. Unfortunately, all perished
during their attempt. In 1980’s a body was found frozen and extremely well preserved in the ice. The body was discovered
to be John Torrington, a member of the expedition. When the body was examined, it was found to have high levels of lead that
would have come from the tins their food was stored in.
The second Arctic Medal was to Assist. Engineer 3rd class Thomas Bertrum on the sloop H.M.S. Pheonix, a
screw-driven support ships. It would seem that he was also present in the Crimea. His service records show him to have been
a rogue and of unsatisfactory character.
The second talk was on Group Captain V Gaskell-Blackburn, who was born in Leeds in 1892 and who learnt to fly a Bristol
bi-plane at Brooklands, taking his Pilot’s certificate in September 1913. After joining the RFC, he took part in the
Cuxhaven Raid on Christmas Day 1914, piloting an Admiralty Type 74 ‘Folder’ No. 814; in operations against the
Konigsberg in East Africa in July 1915; Mesopotamia Operations 1915, where he was awarded the bar to his DSC. Gaskell-Blackburn
was MID (London Gazette 8.12.15) and awarded the DFC, and for subsequent service in the Ctesiphon operations gained two MID’s
(London Gazette 5.5.16 and 13.7.16) and a bar to his DFC. Appointed Lieutenant Colonel in the newly formed Royal Air Force,
he was awarded the AFC in 1919. He retained his links with the Senior Service by gaining permission to wear a beard. He took
command of No 55 Bombing Squadron at Mosel and was finally awarded a MID for active operations in Iraq during 1920-21. He
was finally placed on the Retired List as a Group Captain in 1947 and died in October 1956.
The final talk was on the ‘Tale of 3 Pistols’. The first was on the Colonel Sam Colt, the second on a Robert
Adams pistol and lastly the Luger pistol of 1900. In each case, the talk gave a potted history and went through the various
pros and cons of each weapon.
All together a very enjoyable evening was had by all.
