Today's picture from the Web!

[Novice]

Haha! That's what my dad used to say: 'Join the army James, it's great. You get to see the world, meet interesting people and then kill them.'

In many places it was "Get killed by them"...

[Colombamike]

My new hero

39 Km freefall skydive

[Radome]

What the...

[TimothyC]

It's one long first step.

[Zephyr]

A fairly unremarkable picture of an Ordinary Seaman who served during WW2.


So ... Why am I posting this? Well, because this Ordinary Seaman later went on to become an intelligence officer during the war, and after went on to become an actor. His name? Jon Pertwee, who any Doctor Who fans here will know as the 3rd incarnation of The Doctor.

And where was Ordinary Seaman Pertwee stationed prior to becoming an officer? Here is a little blurb:

Another actor fortunate not to have lost his life in the Battle of Denmark Strait was Ordinary Seaman Jon Pertwee. He had joined the crew of HMS Hood in November 1940 and was onboard Hood on 22nd May 1941 as she and HMS Prince of Wales left Scapa Flow. But at some stage during the two-day race to intercept Bismarck, it was decided to remove sixteen young crew members with Officer potential prior to the battle, Pertwee among them. They were told to pack their kit and be over the side in twenty minutes, where a trawler would transfer them to another ship and subsequently back to Portsmouth. Had he stayed on board he would certainly have been killed as his action station was "winding a small wheel in the bowels of the ship". Of the loss of Hood so soon after leaving her, he wrote: "It was a terrible, shocking thing, and I have never really got over it. To have had so many good friends die in the time it takes to snap your fingers."

(quoted from here)

Just thought that was kinda interesting.

[denodon]

In my opinion he was the best doctor but maybe that's because he's the one I saw first in tv re-runs.

[Thiel]

[KHT]

"Predatory hunting of turtles".

[Portsmouth Bill]

So ... Why am I posting this? Well, because this Ordinary Seaman later went on to become an intelligence officer during the war, and after went on to become an actor. His name? Jon Pertwee, who any Doctor Who fans here will know as the 3rd incarnation of The Doctor.

And where was Ordinary Seaman Pertwee stationed prior to becoming an officer? Here is a little blurb:

Quote:
Another actor fortunate not to have lost his life in the Battle of Denmark Strait was Ordinary Seaman Jon Pertwee. He had joined the crew of HMS Hood in November 1940 and was onboard Hood on 22nd May 1941 as she and HMS Prince of Wales left Scapa Flow. But at some stage during the two-day race to intercept Bismarck, it was decided to remove sixteen young crew members with Officer potential prior to the battle, Pertwee among them. They were told to pack their kit and be over the side in twenty minutes, where a trawler would transfer them to another ship and subsequently back to Portsmouth. Had he stayed on board he would certainly have been killed as his action station was "winding a small wheel in the bowels of the ship". Of the loss of Hood so soon after leaving her, he wrote: "It was a terrible, shocking thing, and I have never really got over it. To have had so many good friends die in the time it takes to snap your fingers."

I remember reading his autobiography,and in particular this episode. There was no doubt (in his mind) that the decision to save the the younger seamen was made in the full knowledge that the shup was on a suicide mission. He also writes elequently about the culture of shipboard life, such as the fact that there was never enough space to sling a hammock, so men sometimes slept on tables and in corridors. Also, the choice given him by older matlows: the choice between being a bastard or a cunt: the former were not bothered about promotion, while the latter were.

[heuhen]