A willing foe and sea-room.
Our wives and sweethearts, usually with the reply "May they never meet!”—Traditional naval toasts of the Royal Navy
The above were among the quotes that appeared on the bulletin board each day when I was a naval officer cadet (Midshipman) in 1983. This piece is the result of a video (below) sent to me recently by Philip who was a cabin mate in Dragon Division.[1] The other Midshipmen belonged to Lion, Tiger and Wolf Divisions: named after some of the Missile Gunboats in the Navy. As I recall, 37 of us finally commissioned.
The location of the camp then was Sembawang and was once called ‘Terror camp’ after the British ship HMS Terror. The school has since been integrated with SAFTI Military Institute.
The video below highlights some of the camaraderie and fun moments that do not reflect the demanding, rigorous, and comprehensive nature of the course. Naturally, those details were rarely captured in pictures, and if so, would probably not make it into the public domain.
The Midshipman course may be one of our most sleep deprived experiences as shown in some of us taking a nap during a break (first frame, top right). A goal of the course was to keep us as sleep deprived as possible, within reason (it did not seem so then), so that we could operate under such conditions in future. Thus, we came up with creative means of finding sleep. One of the most memorable times was during the sea cruise training onboard RSS Resolution when those of us on the middle watch (12 - 4am) who were on engine room duty would cooperate among ourselves to create opportunities, in that large area with fans to help keep the environment cool, to get some sleep; a good spot being a space high above a passageway which we would climb into and was secluded enough to avoid detection for the most part.
The engine crew who knew the area well would sometimes notice us and tell us to be careful up there; on occasion they alerted us if the Duty Officer was passing through or any of our instructors came by to check on us.
There was the training onboard some of the patrol craft that took us well into the South China Sea. Once we were hit by the full fury of sea sickness from choppy waters which introduced us to a dimension of hell; many of us (the instructors and crew were fine) were almost incapacitated by nausea while forced to carry on (within reason) by using plastic bags to capture vomit while on the bridge so as not to mess the area. The sheer disgust of bile in a transparent bag in your hands was lost when you were wondering if you would make it through the day alive. There were also best forgotten moments of grappling with wind-blown puke trailing from mouths which we tried to avoid from some as we too leaned over the side of the bridge when we did not have the plastic bags: those moments were also inadvertently funny—almost like something out of Monty Python— and that helped me to get through that moment.
There were many other exercises that of course cannot be elaborated here but there was one incident which was a turning point for us. As in any group of people, especially men, there was the issue of personality clashes.
However, a bonding event for our batch was a physical training session one late afternoon in a field where we had to deal with a temporary replacement instructor who was sadistic. We were made to do all kinds of exercises including leopard crawls when we were in T-shirts and shorts. This produced abrasions on elbows, arms and knees because contact on the ground was forced by the instructor. Then we were made to run up and down the field mindlessly but after awhile, we decided almost as a body, to disobey the instructor and walk slowly.
This infuriated him and we continued to ignore him. Later some of our instructors noticed the injuries (the peeled off skin was hard to hide) and the situation was looked into; that particular instructor was never allowed to interact with us again; we were angry but cautioned by our instructors not to create any incident with him on our own. Some of us swore to look for him if/when we made it through commissioning. He had left the camp premises by the time we commissioned. Because we spoke up many times as a group on certain matters we were known as being ‘rebellious’. But that allowed us to finally forge a group identity.
The Midshipman School then paradoxically had a relaxed atmosphere that was belied by the constant possibility of expulsion from the course due to poor performance (there were also constant tests in areas of seamanship, navigation, gunnery, communications); the issue/display of leadership (and management) was pivotal. And indeed, some in the video did not make it through.
Still, there were good times some of which are captured below. Then there was the training with alcohol or being able to keep our heads while a steady supply was imbibed. The drinking challenges of seeing who could finish a full mug first against the instructors was a no-win for us; after starting to gain sea legs onboard vessels there was the matter of being steady on shore: some of us just downed too much beer too fast and then threw it all out again while instructors remained steady and laughed at us.
There was also a night of the unforgettable division war which involved us breaking all rules in a series of raids overnight, sabotaging one another stealthily (placing ketchup in parade shoes, ruining the next day’s uniform, pouring foot powder over someone who tried to sleep through the night), and ultimately using the fire hose to douse a group who tried to come over and launch an outright assault (all in the name of good fun, nothing hostile was intended). This is also what happens when you manage to carry on with less sleep.
It was controlled mayhem. It was also a time when political correctness barely existed, and greater latitude on certain fronts which would be unheard of today.
The next morning before booking out the instructor noticed us cleaning up all over the place and he said, “Division wars, right?” We smiled and just kept cleaning. He shook his head and said, “You people never change.”
We are older now, but perhaps some things don’t change. Here’s to the 10th Batch.
Note:
P.s. Philip, thanks for the video which I understand may be archived by the Navy Museum. The Dusty Springfield original in the video is good but the one I’ve always liked is the cover by Bay City Rollers from 1976. I think that’s the one most of us were familiar with then.
[1] Philip is one of the coordinators for this year’s 50th Midshipman Anniversary held at the SAFTI Military Institute. He appears in many of the pictures in the video, e.g., first frame, top left: raising a Tiger beer can. He was also known as ‘Ranger’ Neo because he wanted to be in the Army or even Commandos but was sent to the Navy for his National Service stint, and for creating taxing physical exercises for himself like running around a field with a backpack (filled with stuff for weight): never a naval officer training requirement then.
Still remember the book I was trying to read (a luxury) in the bunk when Philip got Anthony and Tai Siong to disrupt (second frame, bottom) any peace that temporarily existed. It was War and Peace .
Also remember on our 3-tonner journeys back from Pulau Brani naval base to camp sitting at the back and having Kim (first frame, bottom right picture, third from right) share the Walkman headphones; he had one in his ear and I had the other in mine as we listened to a cassette with 80’s music—the one he liked best was “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats.
[Picture credit: Republic of Singapore Navy.]
©2024 Sanjay Perera. All rights reserved.
Those were the good old days Sanjay. it wasn't hell, but it was not heavenly plain sailing either. I look back in nostalgia to the times we spent at Sembawang terror camp. SAFTI can never replicate let alone, replace the fond memories we had at Sembawang. I write this comment to draw our attention to our roots and the people we come across at our time in Midshipman School.
Personally, some of our senior officers, instructors and staff that we encountered are the most memorable. Here are some of the some of them (please pardon me if I get some of the names wrong):
Maj Hoon Sian Hock: CO Mids. He was the all conquering personality with many new initiatives and ideas that would modernise our training - Mids Final Exercise with the naval battle format and Group presentations of historic naval battles - mine was the battle of Tsushima (Japan vs Russia). There were many other mentions of Maj Hoon. To this day he is still in touch with many ex Naval officers. I still recall our final exercise of our infiltration of Brani Naval Base. We were of course unsuccessful lots of confused code words from the "Low Clouds" of Throw Smoke (TS) that we used.
Encik Hussien: Resident Warrant Officer - He was the drill instructor, disciplinarian on the parade square, and our morning muster instructor for march pass. Special mention must go to the ringing the naval bell and sounding the pipes. Anything that may go wrong, will go wrong at the daily muster - much to Encik Hussien dismay and our amusement. I'm sure there were many recollections of our fumbles every morning. Encik Hussein never fails to blurt out his famous remarks about the Midshipman, much to the laughter and sniggering from all of us and to the embarrassment of the "offender"... but we laugh at ourselves all the time - all in good spirits as we know it applies to all of us.
Seng Fatt: this was the go-to store if we needed any critical supply for our wardrobe malfunction. We had to pay a visit to Seng Fatt come what may - and for some of us, also have a conversation with his attractive daughters. To me, Seng Fatt also represents some link to the outside civilian world when we are in the confines of the Terror camp at Sembawang.
Helen the resident chef. Aunty Helen is our gastronomic saviour in the late hours of the night after our training sorties or night exercises. I remembered she served us meals at the early morning of 1 am after or combined exercise. What would we be without Aunty Helen.
Staff Sargent Lok Meng: One hell of a seamanship and gunnery instructor. No matter how sleepy you are, you will never fall asleep in his class. He is one of a kind, high octane energetic character. He goes from dramatic showmanship to relatable naval stories all wrapped into his lectures. It was witty, loud and comical at times. He was brash and confident when he was on stage, definitely an extrovert. Lok Meng was also our Mids soccer team goal keeper - other opposing teams found it strange that we had such a senior Midshipman in our midst. It does matter- he was a superb goal keeper.
There were many others who we hold dearly in our hard drive memories - LTA Nicholas Teo, LTA Aloysius Puah, Encik Jayaram, LTA Lee (Admin officer), CO RSS Resolution RV Simon, CO and EXO RSS Panglima. Yes and special mention must also go to our training ship RSS Panglima and Jolly Roger pontoon.
RSS Panglima: This was the grand old lady of the RSN. Our basic navigation, comms, and seamanship training was onboard this ship. It was especially memorable to sit on the deck and take in the sights of the Johor Straits during our down time. The ship was old and slow but it served its purpose as a basic training platform. Salute to RSS Panglima, wherever you are! I wished they had preserved this ship for its historical significance. Its the same sentiment I have with the rest of the Midshipman School building. Nothing can replace the collective memories of Sembawang Midshipman School for some of the batches that trained there. The Mids anniversary should have included a visit to this hallowed institution as the physical building is still there. That's my personal opinion.
There were a couple of songs that I have in mind that would represent the nostalgia of the times.
"Those good Old Dreams" by the Carpenters, 'Those were the days' by Mary Hopkins, and Times of your life' , by Paul Anka. Retro songs that many of our generation would know of and appreciate.
Of our Navy anthem, "Onward and Upward" instead encapsulates the progress and development of the RSN that our younger generation can relate to. On the 50th anniversary of Midshipman School, as we connect the old and the young in the Navy family.. we also don't want to forget your roots.