PART.5 H.M.S TIMBERTOWN 1914-1918 | friends-of-the-royal-naval-divisions-in-ww1.co.uk

THIS PART DEALS WITH H.M.S TIMBERTOWN AND DAILY LIFE, AND CONSISTS OF IMAGES OF THE CAMP ,AND ALSO THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY THE INTERNED SAILORS STARTED,

+++++++ THE TIIMBERTOWN FOLLIES,

OR THE WEVE GOT TO MUCH TIME ON OUR HANDS,

SECTION, " THE INCARSERATED BRIT SERVICEMEN AND THE NEED TO DRESS UP .

WHICH INCLUDES THEM PLAYING SILLY SODS! IN THE SNOW.

THE IMAGE ABOVE WITH THE

BLACK ARROW SHOWS WHERE

THE ENTRANCE, TO,

THE OLD TOWN GAOL,

THE CAMP WAS BUILT ON THE

GROUNDS BEHIND IT,

THE IMAGE ON THE RIGHT

SHOWS THE VIEW OF

THE ENTRANCE AS SEEN

FROM THE MAIN ROAD.BOTH

ARE AS THINGS ARE TODAY.

The images below come from 11 postcards from the camp,and i am truly indeted, to: Menno Wielinga ,

as they were a gift from him i know what it meant for him,to part with them , and he knew what they would mean to me,

i think the 1 next to the stack of cards showing the lads excercising , was an early one as it was printed in Groningen

the one below that one showing cast members of the TIMBERTOWN FOLLIES is dated the 13th of April 1917

and printed in "Britain" very touchingly you can still make out the writing , and it was from "your loving Charlie",

whom ever Charlie was , the other interesting thing is NO ADDRESS ! so possibly sent in an Envelope ?

The images on the slide show are from a TIMBERTOWN FOLLIES PROGRAMME , and camp magazine dated Feb 1916 in both ive shown a ,

glimpse of the contents

CHRISTMAS 1914 IN TIMBERTOWN...........................................

THE IMAGES BELOW SHOW 2 CHRISTMAS CARDS,

THE 1ST IS FROM COMMODRE HENDERSON SEEN HERE ON THE LEFT, WITH VICARS AND A RND OFFICER AND A DUTCH OFFICER?WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE "OBSERVERS" WINGS?

ON THE LEFT IS A CLOSE, UP OF THE ,IMAGE IN THE CARD ABOVE.

ON THE RIGHT IS THE FRONT OF A CHRISTMAS CARD,

DATED CHRISTMAS 1914,

BELOW IS THE INSIDE OF THE SAME CARD,

WILLIAM ANDERSON ,

IS THE SENDER

AND COLLINGWOOD BATTALION

THE ,UNIT,THE IMAGE BELOW

THIS ONE SHOWS WILL,SEATED ON,

THE LEFT,

WITH HIS OPPOS.

THE IMAGE ON THE LEFT,

SHOWS ITS NOT ONLY ,

LITTLE KIDS THROW SNOWBALLS,

BIG KIDS DO AS WELL.

THE IMAGES ON THE LEFT AND BELOW SHOW HOW CHRISTMAS WENT IN THE CAMP,

IN THE SERVICES AT CHRISTMAS THE OFFICERS SERVE CHRISTMAS DINNER TO THE JUNIOR RANKS , A COMPLETE TURN AROUND ,

OF THE STATUS QUO FOR ONE DAY.

THE NEXT SET OF IMAGES SHOW VARIOUS VIEWS ,

OF THE MEN IN AND AROUND THE CAMP,

AT VARIOUS TASKS ,

THE LAST BUT ONE SHOWS SOME ? MEMBERS ,

OF MESS NUMBER 16 ( COLLINGWOOD)

AND THE LAST IMAGE ,SHOWS THE CAVERNOUS? INTERIOR,

IN ONE OF THE BARACK BLOCKS WITH BUNKS UP TO 2 HIGH.

THE FRAMED IMAGE BELOW IS FROM AN ORIGINAL PERIOD,

MAGAZINE PAGE ,

SHOWING THE LADS ,

AND JUDGING BY THE RAFTERS SHOWING AT THE, TOP OF THE IMAGE IT LOOKS LIKE THE ORIGINAL PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN THE WOODEN BARACK BLOCKS OF H.M.S TIMBERTOWN ...

Something's never change,

for a very long time indeed in the Navy

this photo shows the lads in HMS timbertown queuing for their

(food) scran,

with their FANNYS in their hands,

apparently the word fanny goes back in the navy for centuries,

and meant a naval cooking pot?

each mess had a pot, to which the scran was tipped,

also a pot mess was a meal with everything slung in.

the practise for a rating to go to the galley to collect the rations , for the mess goes back centuries, also known as the cook of the grot,

someone was tasked with clearing up and washing the pots and plates and eating irons, and everybody took turns .

THIS SECTION DEALS W ITH THE TIMBERTOWN FOLLIES,

WHICH WAS THEIR VERSION OF THE AMATEUR DRAMATIC SOCETY BACK HOME, THE IMAGES BELOW ,

SHOW THEM IN ALL THEIR GLORIES .

SOMETIMES CAMP LIFE CONSISTED OF BOREDOM BOREDOM WITH A BIT OF BOREDOM THROWN IN,

IT WAS DECIDED THAT THE INTERNEES UNDER ARMED GUARD WOULD HAVE DAILY EXCERISE, MARCHES AROUND GRONINGEN TOWN , THE NEXT GROUP OF IMAGES SHOW JUST THAT.

THE TWO PICTURES BELOW ARE VERY INTERESTING , ESSENTIALLY THEY WERE TAKEN FROM NEAR ENOUGH THE SAME SPOT,

ON THE BRIDGE , WHAT MAKES IT REALLY INTERESTING , IS ??

THE 2 IMAGES WERE TAKEN 100 YEARS APART ......................

THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW COSMETIC CHANGES IN THE PASSING YEARS , LIKE THE TRAM RAILS HAVE GONE ,

THE BRIDGE RAILINGS HAVE BEEN REPLACED , BUT THE BUILDINGS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME ,

ALSO I AM STANDING IN NEAR ENOUGH THE SAME SPOT AS THE TWO CIVILLIANS IN THE ORIGINAL PHOTO,

THIS INTERMENT WAS SOMETIMES A BIT INFORMAL IN SOME RESPECTS

AND THIS PHOTO ON THE RIGHT, IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT FACT,

THIS DUTCH GUARD IS ARMED,

BUT FAST ASLEEP ????????

The images below

are from a letter from commodore Henderson to the

Royal Society of Arts London , and is dated the 9th of December 1916 and,Date stamped as being recieved on the 19th of December 1916 this is an extremely rare piece, as ive never,

seen any correspondance like it before its doubly special as its signed by the commodore himself,

it seems the men were able to take exams and get qualifications to ready them selves for better times .