My Ships - HMS Dauntless
July 1st 1981 I sat on a Royal Navy bus that drove me through the gates of my very first Naval Establishment - or ship as they are known to naval folk. Living in the middle of rural Lancashire I had never had the opportunity to see any military bases/camps/ships first hand so really didn't know what to expect. I didn't expect what I saw though. My initial thought was 'The Great Escape'. Lots of dark brown wooden 'H' shaped buildings arranged in a secure compound. It was sunny, so probably looked a lot better than when first seen on a damp foggy day. That photo was taken sometime between 1945 and 1981. I doubt it ever looked any different during that time. I was in Hermes 13 Division. Hermes 14 was the very last division to pass out from HMS Dauntless so you could say I just scraped through. I feel like I can say I was one of the 'old school' Wrens because I did my training there. I spent some time six years later at HMS Raleigh which was to b...