205818 P.O. Louis George Weare Royal Navy HMS Nelson from:Portsmouth My father was a Portsmouth man - his father - my grandfather was Bristol born. My grandfather moved to Pompey at the age of 8 when his father (my great grandfather) moved from HMS Daedalus to HMS Victory, then a training vessel in harbour, (yes Nelson's old ship). All three were PO's and Chiefs (Plumber's mate). My Dad started off as a PO at Haslar Hospital and was a SB/PO. He had not been on HMS Nelson long when it hit a mine in the harbour. He said, 'It was a helluva ship, hard on the men, owing to having an Admiral on board and there were always many men in the jail at the stern end, nearly always stokers'. Then my father went on to HMS Penelope.
My late friend Ken Lisk, Killick, ended up in Nelson's jail. Ken was on HMS Tartar throughout the war, his torpedo officer was Ludovic Kennedy. I've seen the crew photo too. Its him alright.
My Dad ended in 1953 on HMS Mauritius in Ceylon. We then lived in Gosport. On demob we all moved up to Wales where my mother is from. My grandfather joined the RN in 1907 - 1929. My Gt.grandfather joined the RNAV in Bristol in 1887. In 1897 moved to Pompey, he was in the RN 1897 - 1919, but remained an artificer instructor on the old HMS St.Vincent also in harbour. He died in 1935. My grandfather died in 1965, he was born in 1888 the year of Jack-The-Ripper.
Both my sons are not naval for a change! One thing is certain, the Navy has certainly changed.
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