Just been reading the E-mail version of the Navy News and there is an article about the Centenary Celebration of the tiffies and was pleasantly surprised to read the following;
A group of 20 promising young mathematicians and scientists who trained on a collection of wooden warship hulks in Chatham exactly 100 years ago were the first of an unbroken line of skilled Navy engineer apprentices which continues to this day.
And their successors are gathering in Portsmouth over the weekend to celebrate the centenary of this select band of brothers.
The growth of the German Navy at the turn of the last century was troubling the First Sea Lord of the time, Admiral Sir John Jackie Fisher, who feared the Continental powers navy would overtake the Royal Navy in terms of seagoing technical expertise.
His solution was a training scheme for Boy Artificers which, in his words, would prove second to none.
The first 20 scholars from the Royal Hospital School duly presented themselves at HMS Tenedos and became Jackies first class of Tiffies.
As an ex ERA I felt chuffed to read that our Old Boys were the "originals" and that the legacy of providing our boys still exists today.
Les Darley (Blake 51-55)
A group of 20 promising young mathematicians and scientists who trained on a collection of wooden warship hulks in Chatham exactly 100 years ago were the first of an unbroken line of skilled Navy engineer apprentices which continues to this day.
And their successors are gathering in Portsmouth over the weekend to celebrate the centenary of this select band of brothers.
The growth of the German Navy at the turn of the last century was troubling the First Sea Lord of the time, Admiral Sir John Jackie Fisher, who feared the Continental powers navy would overtake the Royal Navy in terms of seagoing technical expertise.
His solution was a training scheme for Boy Artificers which, in his words, would prove second to none.
The first 20 scholars from the Royal Hospital School duly presented themselves at HMS Tenedos and became Jackies first class of Tiffies.
As an ex ERA I felt chuffed to read that our Old Boys were the "originals" and that the legacy of providing our boys still exists today.
Les Darley (Blake 51-55)
