Men of Air
When I got to HMS Daedalus in July 1981, one of the first Naval traditions I was introduced to was the Field Gun Competition. The Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Crew (also known as ‘Men of Air’) was based at Daedalus where every summer about 50 or so big muscular men descended on the camp to train and compete in the Royal Tournament which took place at Earls Court in London for a couple of weeks. The history of the Field Gun event came from the Battle of Ladysmith in the Boer war when a group of sailors hauled gun carriages across the battle field. In doing so they had to be dismantled many times to get them over and across obstacles. They succeeded and have since been remembered by this battle of strength, skill and endurance between three Naval Crews. The Air Command, wearing green, Portsmouth wearing red and Devonport who wore blue. Racing against each other over a course to see who is the fastest to Get through two walls, over a chasm on a wire and reach the fi...