大象传媒

Introduction

This article has been submitted to the 大象传媒 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website by Joseph Ritson, a volunteer story-gatherer for the 大象传媒 Radio Cumbria CSV Action Desk group of volunteers. The terms of the 大象传媒 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website have been read and understood.

Information for this article was obtained following an Armistice Day Anniversary Memorial Service held at St Nicholas's Church Gardens, Lowther Street, Whitehaven, Cumbria on Friday 11 November 2005. The service commemorated the victims of both World Wars and other conflicts past and present. It was organised by the West Cumbria Branch of the Normandy Veterans Association, although it was open to any member of the general public to attend.

Whitehaven Sea Cadets during the war

Among those present at the service were three friends who had been members of Whitehaven Sea Cadets during and just after the war years: Billy Gribbin, Ray Devlin and John McCrickett. Billy, Ray and John were also close neighbours at the time they were in the Cadets together. They all lived at Fell View Avenue on the Woodhouse estate on the western side of Whitehaven.

During the war, Whitehaven Sea Cadets had about 50 members, and originally met at a school on Irish Street. Towards the end of the war, after the threat of German invasion by receded, the Sea Cadets moved into a building on the Old Quay in the harbour area. In the early part of the war, the building had been used by the Royal Marines as part of the harbour defences. At the time of writing this article (November 2005) the Sea Cadets still occupy the same site on the Old Quay, although it has been extended and modernised over the years. In fact, earlier in 2005 the Sea Cadets celebrated their 60th Anniversary at the Old Quay.

The Commanding Officer of the Sea Cadets in the early years was Mr Percy Silbertson, a local industrialist whose family firm, L. Silbertson and Sons Ltd at the nearby village of Cleator made uniforms for the Armed Forces. Another local industrialist, Mr John Kennaugh arranged the purchase of a former ship's lifeboat to be used as a training ship by the Sea Cadets. Mr Kennaugh was a partner in a Liverpool maritime company.

Strangely enough, although Billy, Ray and John had all been in the Sea Cadets none of them actually ended up in the Royal Navy when they were called up to do their National Service after the war. Billy was called up to serve in the RAF while John served in the Army (Northumberland Fusiliers). Ray went into the Army, and became a paratrooper and later on a Territorial Army officer. At the time of writing Ray is the Secretary of the local Branch of the Parachute Regiment Association and a very knowledgeable local historian on mining and military matters.

Conclusion

Billy, Ray and John have attended several events commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War Two in 2005. These have included the official county of Cumbria 'Victory Parade' at Whitehaven in June and a 60th Anniversary Parade and service for 'VJ Day' at Egremont in August. On Friday 11 November 2005 all three attended the Armistice Day Anniversary service in St Nicholas's Church Gardens, Whitehaven, on a windy, showery morning.

Present cadets also remember and honour their forebears who died during the war years. The Air Force Cadets, Army Cadets and Sea Cadets all had representatives at Armistice Day Anniversary service. The bugler who played 'The Last Post' at this service was a Navy Cadet from the Workington Branch.

I would like to thank Billy, Ray and John for their assistance in writing this article.

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